Database Configuration

For production deployments, run Permify with PostgreSQL instead of in-memory storage.

Production Default: Pgcat

For multi-replica Permify deployments, use pgcat in session mode and connect Permify through pgcat.

database:
  engine: postgres
  writer:
    uri: postgresql://postgres:DB_PASSWORD@pgcat:6432/permify?plan_cache_mode=force_custom_plan&default_query_exec_mode=cache_describe
  reader:
    uri: postgresql://postgres:DB_PASSWORD@pgcat:6432/permify?plan_cache_mode=force_custom_plan&default_query_exec_mode=cache_describe
  max_connections: 1
  min_connections: 0

See full setup guide: Database Pooling with Pgcat

Supported PostgreSQL versions

PostgreSQL 13.8+ is supported.
Permify validates PostgreSQL version during startup and returns an error for older versions.

For Watch API usage, also enable:

track_commit_timestamp = on
See Watch API setup: Watch API requirements

Recommended runtime settings (direct Postgres)

database:
  engine: postgres
  uri: postgresql://postgres:DB_PASSWORD@postgres:5432/permify?sslmode=require
  auto_migrate: true
  max_connections: 20 # typical range: 15-25, tune to DB limits and workload
  min_connections: 2  # typical range: 1-3
  max_connection_lifetime: 30m
  max_connection_idle_time: 5m

Deployment Deploy on AWS ECS, ECR & EC2

Introduction

Getting Started

Modeling Guides

Setting Up

Operations

Integrations

Use Cases

Migration

Production Default: Pgcat

Supported PostgreSQL versions

Recommended runtime settings (direct Postgres)

​Production Default: Pgcat

​Supported PostgreSQL versions

​Recommended runtime settings (direct Postgres)

​Related guides

Production Default: Pgcat

Supported PostgreSQL versions

Recommended runtime settings (direct Postgres)

Related guides