House Style and Postgres Philosophy

Rule

Write readable, explicit SQL for PostgreSQL 18+: the database owns data integrity through constraints, the application owns business logic, and data is modeled relationally first.

Why

These defaults keep schemas, queries, and migrations consistent across write paths.

Do

• Assume PostgreSQL 18+ for new work and follow each page’s fallback for older targets.
• Use constraints for integrity and keep workflow decisions in application code; database logic is limited to the cases sanctioned by functions and triggers.
• Model core data relationally; use JSONB and arrays only for their documented cases.
• Prefer decomposed queries and route live schema changes through the safe schema migration workflow.

Avoid

• Do not treat this overview as a substitute for the relevant owner page.
• Do not use a version-gated feature before confirming the target version.

Example

-- Integrity belongs in the database.
ALTER TABLE payments
  ADD CONSTRAINT payments_amount_check CHECK (amount > 0);

-- Refund eligibility remains application logic.

Exceptions

• Older target databases: keep these conventions but substitute the fallbacks named in each page’s Version Notes.
• Analytics and reporting contexts may relax query-shape rules where a page explicitly says so; schema rules still apply.