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Subject: BUG #19505: Some weird spikes postgresql processes in database (up to
 200k sometime) without apparent reasons.
To: pgsql-bugs@lists.postgresql.org
From: PG Bug reporting form <noreply@postgresql.org>
Cc: maxim.boguk@gmail.com
Reply-To: maxim.boguk@gmail.com, pgsql-bugs@lists.postgresql.org
Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:36:47 +0000
Message-ID: <19505-7ec445dffe2732d2@postgresql.org>
Auto-Submitted: auto-generated
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 <https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/19505-7ec445dffe2732d2%40postgresql.org>
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The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference:      19505
Logged by:          Maxim Boguk
Email address:      maxim.boguk@gmail.com
PostgreSQL version: 18.4
Operating system:   Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
Description:       =20

I started investigation of this issue after found that process count of
postgresql on my replica sometime jump to 200k+ (with max_connections=3D1000
and real connections under 100 most time).
Somehow single (seems random by always heavy/analytical) query spawn
thousands of the threads and tens thousands of parallel workers.

After some logging I caught one snapshot (ps -u postgres -L -o
pid,tid,ppid,lstart,args -ww 2 ) with 39257 processes:

[postgres@db ~/tmp]$ zcat ps-L-2026-06-02_17-40-22.gz | wc -l
39257

Main content is:
PID          TID               PPID  StartTime
command
2158552 2158552  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:17 2026 postgres: 18/main:
background_shared db [local] SELECT

Then:
The same PID but 1620 different TIDS.
PID          TID               PPID  StartTime
command
#main process
2158557 2158557  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:18 2026 postgres: 18/main:
background_shared db [local] SELECT
#1620 threads
2158557 2158607  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main:
background_shared db [local] SELECT
2158557 2158608  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main:
background_shared db [local] SELECT
2158557 2158609  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main:
background_shared db [local] SELECT

Then, 37571 rows!!! of:
PID          TID               PPID  StartTime
command
2158579 2159176  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main: parallel
worker for PID 2158557
2158579 2159179  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main: parallel
worker for PID 2158557
2158579 2159183  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main: parallel
worker for PID 2158557
2158579 2159196  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main: parallel
worker for PID 2158557
2158579 2159198  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main: parallel
worker for PID 2158557
2158579 2159202  948705 Tue Jun  2 17:40:20 2026 postgres: 18/main: parallel
worker for PID 2158557

I double checked the query (it had been logged in database log): it run with
6 worker processes and without any issues on manual run.

Related db configuration:
max_connections =3D 1000
max_worker_processes =3D 128              # (change requires restart)
max_parallel_workers_per_gather =3D 16    # limited by max_parallel_workers
max_parallel_workers =3D 64
io_method =3D io_uring                    # worker, io_uring, sync
io_max_concurrency =3D -1         # Max number of IOs that one process
jit =3D on (usual suspect in case of weird things going on)

Given that situation happens like 1-10 times per hour (and lead for short LA
spikes up to 10000) - it's seriously affect the database replica
performance.

No external/non-standard/C extensions except of pgq and postgis loaded into
the database.

I can look for any additional information and  perform any local research
but currently I'm out of ideas what my next steps should be.

PS: it's seems that the issue could be triggered by different queries, but
not the one particular.