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pgvet allows you to customize which rules are applied to your SQL files using the --rules and --exclude flags.

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Default Behavior

When you run pgvet without any rule selection flags, it runs all default rules: 
pgvet migrations/
The default rule set includes:
  • select-star
  • limit-without-order
  • not-in-subquery
  • for-update-no-skip
  • distinct-on-order
  • null-comparison
  • update-without-where
  • delete-without-where
  • insert-without-columns
  • ban-char-type
  • timestamp-without-timezone
  • order-by-ordinal
  • group-by-ordinal
  • like-starts-with-wildcard
  • offset-without-limit
See the Rules Reference for details on each rule.

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Selecting Specific Rules

Use the --rules flag to run only specific rules: 
pgvet --rules=select-star,delete-without-where schema.sql
This runs only the select-star and delete-without-where rules.

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Rule Name Format

Rule names are:
  • Case-sensitive
  • Comma-separated (no spaces)
  • Matched exactly
# Correct
pgvet --rules=select-star,null-comparison migrations/

# Also correct (spaces are trimmed)
pgvet --rules="select-star, null-comparison" migrations/

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Excluding Rules

Use the --exclude flag to run all default rules except the ones you specify: 
pgvet --exclude=select-star migrations/
This runs all default rules except select-star.

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Exclude Multiple Rules

You can exclude multiple rules using a comma-separated list: 
pgvet --exclude=select-star,limit-without-order,not-in-subquery migrations/

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Combining —rules and —exclude

When you use both flags together, pgvet:
  1. First selects only the rules from --rules
  2. Then removes any rules listed in --exclude
pgvet --rules=select-star,delete-without-where,update-without-where --exclude=select-star migrations/
This runs only delete-without-where and update-without-where.

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Opt-in Rules

Some rules are opt-in and not included in the default set. To use them, you must explicitly enable them with --rules.

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multi-statement

The multi-statement rule is opt-in: 
pgvet --rules=multi-statement migrations/
This rule detects when multiple SQL statements are present in a single query block, which can cause issues with CTE visibility.
The multi-statement rule has error severity, unlike most default rules which are warning level.

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Enabling Opt-in Rules with Defaults

To run all default rules plus opt-in rules, list them explicitly: 
# Run only the opt-in rule
pgvet --rules=multi-statement migrations/

# Run a specific subset including an opt-in rule
pgvet --rules=multi-statement,select-star,delete-without-where migrations/
Currently, multi-statement is the only opt-in rule. Future versions may add more opt-in rules for specialized analysis.

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Common Configuration Patterns

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Focus on Dangerous Operations

Run only rules that detect potentially destructive operations: 
pgvet --rules=delete-without-where,update-without-where migrations/

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Exclude Stylistic Warnings

Run all default rules except stylistic ones: 
pgvet --exclude=select-star,order-by-ordinal,group-by-ordinal migrations/

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CI/CD: Fail Only on Errors

If you want to run a strict check in CI, enable only error-level rules: 
pgvet --rules=multi-statement migrations/
Since multi-statement has error severity, this ensures your CI only fails on critical issues.

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Development: Run All Rules

During development, you might want to run all rules including opt-ins. Since there’s currently only one opt-in rule, you can enable it alongside defaults by excluding nothing: 
# Default rules only
pgvet migrations/

# With opt-in rules (must specify explicitly)
pgvet --rules=multi-statement,select-star,limit-without-order,not-in-subquery,for-update-no-skip,distinct-on-order,null-comparison,update-without-where,delete-without-where,insert-without-columns,ban-char-type,timestamp-without-timezone,order-by-ordinal,group-by-ordinal,like-starts-with-wildcard,offset-without-limit migrations/
For most users, the default rule set provides comprehensive coverage. Start with the defaults, then customize based on your team’s specific needs and SQL patterns.

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Viewing Available Rules

To see all available rules and their descriptions: 
pgvet --help
The help output shows:
  • All default rules
  • Opt-in rules
  • Each rule’s description
Example output: 
Default rules:
  select-star               SELECT * in outermost query is fragile — list columns explicitly
  limit-without-order       LIMIT without ORDER BY produces non-deterministic results
  ...

Opt-in rules (use --rules to enable):
  multi-statement           Multiple statements in a single query block — CTEs from the first statement are not visible to subsequent ones

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