Publication

Publication is a PostgreSQL logical replication object that defines a set of tables whose changes are made available for replication. It lives on the publisher (the source database) and can be consumed by one or more independent subscribers, each with its own subscription.

How to create one #

You declare it with CREATE PUBLICATION, listing the tables to include. From version 15 onward you can also add a WHERE clause to filter replicated rows:

CREATE PUBLICATION my_pub
  FOR TABLE customers, orders
  WHERE (status = 'active');

What it doesn’t carry #

A publication transports DML changes (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, TRUNCATE) but not DDL: schema changes (ALTER TABLE, CREATE INDEX) must be applied manually on both sides of the replication, or via external orchestration tooling. Sequences are also not replicated by default.

When to use #

Typically for cross-version PostgreSQL migrations, CDC integration into a data warehouse, or selective replication of table subsets to staging nodes. A single publication can feed multiple subscribers in parallel, each at its own consumption pace.