🖥️ Using psql

psql is the command-line tool for interacting with your PostgreSQL database. SuperStack makes it easy to run psql inside the container using a helper script.

📟 Open a psql Shell

To connect interactively:

bin/postgres

Example output:

psql (17.5 (Debian 17.5-1.pgdg120+1))
Type "help" for help.

app=#

🗒️ By default, bin/postgres opens a psql shell. You can also run other commands in the container like bin/postgres bash if needed, or psql explicitly with bin/postgres psql.

🔹 Run Inline SQL Commands

You can also run SQL directly without opening an interactive shell:

bin/postgres -c 'select * from movie;'

✅ Because bin/postgres defaults to psql, you don’t need to type psql explicitly.

⚙️ Customize psql Behavior

You can persist your preferences using .psqlrc and .inputrc.

🔧 Step 1: Create a config directory

mkdir -p postgres/rc

📄 .psqlrc

Create postgres/rc/.psqlrc with your preferred settings:

\pset pager off
\setenv PAGER 'less -S'

See the official psql reference for all available options.

📄 .inputrc

Create postgres/rc/.inputrc to set readline behavior:

set editing-mode vi

🔗 Step 2: Mount and apply the configs

Add to your compose.override.yaml (this file is for development-only overriding of compose.yaml):

compose.override.yaml

services:
  postgres:
    volumes:
      - ./postgres/rc:/rc:ro
    environment:
      PSQLRC: /rc/.psqlrc
      INPUTRC: /rc/.inputrc

🔁 Step 3: Restart the Postgres container

docker compose up -d --force-recreate postgres