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The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable."], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/12/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span></dt><dd>\n<p>If this parameter is set to <code class=\"literal\">read-write</code>, only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query <code class=\"literal\">SHOW transaction_read_only</code> will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns <code class=\"literal\">on</code>, the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, <code class=\"literal\">any</code>, regards all connections as acceptable.</p>\n</dd></dl></div>", "manual_path": "libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "source_option": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "declaration": "\"target_session_attrs\", \"PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS\", DefaultTargetSessionAttrs, NULL, \"Target-Session-Attrs\", \"\", 11, offsetof(struct pg_conn, target_session_attrs)", "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_notes": [], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_data": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "definition": "If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable.", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable."], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "6ae6edc94376b21b5a6a987fe4009ebca89d32c001eb10cf3a55c51f06f11840", "default_evidence": ["If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable."], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. 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These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable."], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/13/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span></dt><dd>\n<p>If this parameter is set to <code class=\"literal\">read-write</code>, only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query <code class=\"literal\">SHOW transaction_read_only</code> will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns <code class=\"literal\">on</code>, the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, <code class=\"literal\">any</code>, regards all connections as acceptable.</p>\n</dd></dl></div>", "manual_path": "libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "source_option": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "declaration": "\"target_session_attrs\", \"PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS\", DefaultTargetSessionAttrs, NULL, \"Target-Session-Attrs\", \"\", 11, offsetof(struct pg_conn, target_session_attrs)", "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_notes": [], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_data": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "definition": "If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable.", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable."], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "6ae6edc94376b21b5a6a987fe4009ebca89d32c001eb10cf3a55c51f06f11840", "default_evidence": ["If this parameter is set to read-write , only a connection in which read-write transactions are accepted by default is considered acceptable. The query SHOW transaction_read_only will be sent upon any successful connection; if it returns on , the connection will be closed. If multiple hosts were specified in the connection string, any remaining servers will be tried just as if the connection attempt had failed. The default value of this parameter, any , regards all connections as acceptable."], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, "14": {"facts": [{"label": "Client library", "value": "libpq 14.24"}, {"label": "Manual definition", "value": "Documented"}, {"label": "Source environment fallback", "value": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS"}, {"label": "Compiled fallback expression", "value": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}], "tables": [{"key": "environment", "rows": [{"name": {"url": "/docs/14/libpq-envars.html", "text": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS"}, "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "title": "Environment fallback", "columns": [{"key": "name", "label": "Variable"}, {"key": "description", "label": "Documented behavior"}]}], "keyword": "target_session_attrs", "related": [{"url": "/docs/14/libpq-pgservice.html", "label": "Connection service file"}, {"url": "/docs/14/libpq-pgpass.html", "label": "Password file"}, {"url": "/docs/14/libpq-envars.html", "label": "All libpq environment variables"}], "release": {"ref": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v14.24/postgresql-14.24.tar.bz2", "label": "14.24", "major": "14", "channel": "stable", "manifest": {"pdf": {"A4": {"url": "/files/documentation/pdf/14/postgresql-14-A4.pdf", "bytes": 14354704, "pages": 2944, "sha256": "8bc6b9dd7b246888bb77f0a5e8c39a2eae52e9926569832669c7d1600becb27c", "built_at": "2026-09-26"}, "US": {"url": "/files/documentation/pdf/14/postgresql-14-US.pdf", "bytes": 14242178, "pages": 3102, "sha256": "b7ecb5a5f62d8b9f73a69e25a7d26ba285373bc53168a553bff7b77955506db4", "built_at": "2026-09-26"}}, "tree": "14", "index": "index.html", "major": "14", "pages": 1158, "release": "14.24", "source_url": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v14.24/postgresql-14.24.tar.bz2", "svg_assets": 3, "source_mode": "en HTML verified against the pinned official archive", "source_sha256": "a7fa7ed3d558172355f51406097a7bd4f6b473be80f311ef7cda96bf383d8897"}, "revision": "588700d46356d8837c77c7c0a4e71e645fe6535983b8f1830aa8f2e4e41c40ae", "evidence_kind": "English manual and source declarations", "source_sha256": "a7fa7ed3d558172355f51406097a7bd4f6b473be80f311ef7cda96bf383d8897"}, "sources": [{"url": "/docs/14/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "file": "libpq-connect.html", "label": "14.24 English manual \u00b7 libpq-connect.html", "anchor": "LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "sha256": "4cacc729dd3093cfa7b6528d9a22800392070b8eba1106da9a3d540629ae98a8"}, {"url": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v14.24/postgresql-14.24.tar.bz2", "file": "src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c", "label": "14.24 libpq connection option declarations", "sha256": "8dbe7c41927bd93713fce72495616fab20f888775fc95c01a6f2f710087caff7", "archive_sha256": "a7fa7ed3d558172355f51406097a7bd4f6b473be80f311ef7cda96bf383d8897"}, {"url": "/docs/14/libpq-envars.html", "file": "libpq-envars.html", "label": "14.24 English manual \u00b7 libpq-envars.html", "anchor": "", "sha256": "0222834e8076ac3a09545133c2a98dbfdd094dc589bcea847934931d1903a76f"}, {"url": "/docs/14/libpq-pgservice.html", "file": "libpq-pgservice.html", "label": "14.24 English manual \u00b7 libpq-pgservice.html", "anchor": "", "sha256": "0208611ef07704d22d30b69db7132fb062f8caf3a3bd38a77f23c3696a447cb9"}], "sections": [{"title": "Default resolution and service-file precedence", "paragraphs": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:"], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/14/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span></dt><dd>\n<p>This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:</p>\n<div class=\"variablelist\">\n<dl class=\"variablelist\">\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">any</code> (default)</span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>any successful connection is acceptable</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">read-write</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the <code class=\"varname\">default_transaction_read_only</code> parameter must be <code class=\"literal\">off</code>)</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">read-only</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">primary</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>server must not be in hot standby mode</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">standby</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>server must be in hot standby mode</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">prefer-standby</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in <code class=\"literal\">any</code> mode</p>\n</dd>\n</dl>\n</div>\n</dd></dl></div>", "manual_path": "libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "source_option": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "declaration": "\"target_session_attrs\", \"PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS\", DefaultTargetSessionAttrs, NULL, \"Target-Session-Attrs\", \"\", 15, offsetof(struct pg_conn, target_session_attrs)", "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_notes": [], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_data": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "definition": "This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). 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These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:"], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/15/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span></dt><dd>\n<p>This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. 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It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. 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These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:"], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/16/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span> </dt><dd>\n<p>This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:</p>\n<div class=\"variablelist\">\n<dl class=\"variablelist\">\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">any</code> (default)</span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>any successful connection is acceptable</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">read-write</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the <code class=\"varname\">default_transaction_read_only</code> parameter must be <code class=\"literal\">off</code>)</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">read-only</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">primary</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>server must not be in hot standby mode</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">standby</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>server must be in hot standby mode</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">prefer-standby</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in <code class=\"literal\">any</code> mode</p>\n</dd>\n</dl>\n</div>\n</dd></dl></div>", "manual_path": "libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "source_option": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "declaration": "\"target_session_attrs\", \"PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS\", DefaultTargetSessionAttrs, NULL, \"Target-Session-Attrs\", \"\", 15, offsetof(struct pg_conn, target_session_attrs)", "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_notes": [], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_data": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "definition": "This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. 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These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. 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There are six modes:</p>\n<div class=\"variablelist\">\n<dl class=\"variablelist\">\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">any</code> (default)</span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>any successful connection is acceptable</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">read-write</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the <code class=\"varname\">default_transaction_read_only</code> parameter must be <code class=\"literal\">off</code>)</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">read-only</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">primary</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>server must not be in hot standby mode</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">standby</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>server must be in hot standby mode</p>\n</dd>\n<dt><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">prefer-standby</code></span></dt>\n<dd>\n<p>first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in <code class=\"literal\">any</code> mode</p>\n</dd>\n</dl>\n</div>\n</dd></dl></div>", "manual_path": "libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "source_option": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "declaration": "\"target_session_attrs\", \"PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS\", DefaultTargetSessionAttrs, NULL, \"Target-Session-Attrs\", \"\", 15, offsetof(struct pg_conn, target_session_attrs)", "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_notes": [], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_data": {"keyword": "target_session_attrs", "definition": "This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. 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Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, "18": {"facts": [{"label": "Client library", "value": "libpq 18.6"}, {"label": "Manual definition", "value": "Documented"}, {"label": "Source environment fallback", "value": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS"}, {"label": "Compiled fallback expression", "value": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}], "tables": [{"key": "environment", "rows": [{"name": {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "text": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS"}, "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "title": "Environment fallback", "columns": [{"key": "name", "label": "Variable"}, {"key": "description", "label": "Documented behavior"}]}], "keyword": "target_session_attrs", "related": [{"url": "/docs/18/libpq-pgservice.html", "label": "Connection service file"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-pgpass.html", "label": "Password file"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "label": "All libpq environment variables"}], "release": {"ref": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2", "label": "18.6", "major": "18", "channel": "stable", "manifest": {"pdf": {"A4": {"url": "/files/documentation/pdf/18/postgresql-18-A4.pdf", "bytes": 15865106, "pages": 3154, "sha256": "19512c405da53f9f7fcf0abba359223aa65f021be025bf3411381918f92e3190", "built_at": "2026-09-26"}, "US": {"url": "/files/documentation/pdf/18/postgresql-18-US.pdf", "bytes": 15748059, "pages": 3328, "sha256": "facbe6c229e598b872d3d98bef53308f46e06746006fa4590de9a7de9dd46319", "built_at": "2026-09-26"}}, "tree": "18", "index": "index.html", "major": "18", "pages": 1148, "release": "18.6", "source_url": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2", "svg_assets": 3, "source_mode": "en SGML built with pinned official archive", "source_sha256": "555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f"}, "revision": "ee8d1a3612338fd9adf250730cb640fcc5233b5491337cc00a316a44e3a0b9f8", "evidence_kind": "English manual and source declarations", "source_sha256": "555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f"}, "sources": [{"url": "/docs/18/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "file": "libpq-connect.html", "label": "18.6 English manual \u00b7 libpq-connect.html", "anchor": "LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "sha256": "c26a7fc3dcda6066cfe540641ae2690faf3d3c03277f30b4dfc2328ab45c212f"}, {"url": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2", "file": "src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c", "label": "18.6 libpq connection option declarations", "sha256": "44a6e386cbfd67ebe768d6ef5493098119c2e6b4796239d53e5ed7b122b206a5", "archive_sha256": "555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "file": "libpq-envars.html", "label": "18.6 English manual \u00b7 libpq-envars.html", "anchor": "", "sha256": "d64db73f3d48127bb984a5f775e77b7bcca2ba4bd218333cf24a45fcdd7c4363"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-pgservice.html", "file": "libpq-pgservice.html", "label": "18.6 English manual \u00b7 libpq-pgservice.html", "anchor": "", "sha256": "6035a3f0ee1d0fd80db5bf58834390b884eecd23206659bdf6f07560deea5aa7"}], "sections": [{"title": "Default resolution and service-file precedence", "paragraphs": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:"], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span> </dt><dd>\n<p>This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. 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It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. 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Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. 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These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified using the servicefile key word in a libpq connection string or by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes:"], "environment": [{"name": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "source_url": "/docs/devel/libpq-envars.html", "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "manual_html": "<div><dl class=\"variablelist\"><dt id=\"LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS\"><span class=\"term\"><code class=\"literal\">target_session_attrs</code></span> </dt><dd>\n<p>This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. 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It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified using the servicefile key word in a libpq connection string or by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}}}, "snapshot": {"facts": [{"label": "Client library", "value": "libpq 18.6"}, {"label": "Manual definition", "value": "Documented"}, {"label": "Source environment fallback", "value": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS"}, {"label": "Compiled fallback expression", "value": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}], "tables": [{"key": "environment", "rows": [{"name": {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "text": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS"}, "description": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."}], "title": "Environment fallback", "columns": [{"key": "name", "label": "Variable"}, {"key": "description", "label": "Documented behavior"}]}], "keyword": "target_session_attrs", "related": [{"url": "/docs/18/libpq-pgservice.html", "label": "Connection service file"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-pgpass.html", "label": "Password file"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "label": "All libpq environment variables"}], "release": {"ref": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2", "label": "18.6", "major": "18", "channel": "stable", "manifest": {"pdf": {"A4": {"url": "/files/documentation/pdf/18/postgresql-18-A4.pdf", "bytes": 15865106, "pages": 3154, "sha256": "19512c405da53f9f7fcf0abba359223aa65f021be025bf3411381918f92e3190", "built_at": "2026-09-26"}, "US": {"url": "/files/documentation/pdf/18/postgresql-18-US.pdf", "bytes": 15748059, "pages": 3328, "sha256": "facbe6c229e598b872d3d98bef53308f46e06746006fa4590de9a7de9dd46319", "built_at": "2026-09-26"}}, "tree": "18", "index": "index.html", "major": "18", "pages": 1148, "release": "18.6", "source_url": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2", "svg_assets": 3, "source_mode": "en SGML built with pinned official archive", "source_sha256": "555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f"}, "revision": "ee8d1a3612338fd9adf250730cb640fcc5233b5491337cc00a316a44e3a0b9f8", "evidence_kind": "English manual and source declarations", "source_sha256": "555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f"}, "sources": [{"url": "/docs/18/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "file": "libpq-connect.html", "label": "18.6 English manual \u00b7 libpq-connect.html", "anchor": "LIBPQ-CONNECT-TARGET-SESSION-ATTRS", "sha256": "c26a7fc3dcda6066cfe540641ae2690faf3d3c03277f30b4dfc2328ab45c212f"}, {"url": "https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/source/v18.6/postgresql-18.6.tar.bz2", "file": "src/interfaces/libpq/fe-connect.c", "label": "18.6 libpq connection option declarations", "sha256": "44a6e386cbfd67ebe768d6ef5493098119c2e6b4796239d53e5ed7b122b206a5", "archive_sha256": "555610c24d53e4316da5b7d3fc25c279d96856d5e0e23ee308c328c5fa881d9f"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-envars.html", "file": "libpq-envars.html", "label": "18.6 English manual \u00b7 libpq-envars.html", "anchor": "", "sha256": "d64db73f3d48127bb984a5f775e77b7bcca2ba4bd218333cf24a45fcdd7c4363"}, {"url": "/docs/18/libpq-pgservice.html", "file": "libpq-pgservice.html", "label": "18.6 English manual \u00b7 libpq-pgservice.html", "anchor": "", "sha256": "6035a3f0ee1d0fd80db5bf58834390b884eecd23206659bdf6f07560deea5aa7"}], "sections": [{"title": "Default resolution and service-file precedence", "paragraphs": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, {"title": "Environment variable evidence", "paragraphs": ["PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS behaves the same as the target_session_attrs connection parameter."]}], "signature": "target_session_attrs", "documented": true, "description": ["This option determines whether the session must have certain properties to be acceptable. 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It's typically used in combination with multiple host names to select the first acceptable alternative among several hosts. There are six modes: any (default) any successful connection is acceptable read-write session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off ) read-only session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse) primary server must not be in hot standby mode standby server must be in hot standby mode prefer-standby first try to find a standby server, but if none of the listed hosts is a standby server, try again in any mode", "documented": true, "environment": "PGTARGETSESSIONATTRS", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "compiled_default_expression": "DefaultTargetSessionAttrs"}, "comparison_hash": "c66b8f5bf0ca0f898f8ff39c1588e0405c263592f5997098b467b8064bd9c45b", "default_evidence": ["session must accept read-write transactions by default (that is, the server must not be in hot standby mode and the default_transaction_read_only parameter must be off )", "session must not accept read-write transactions by default (the converse)"], "precedence_evidence": ["The following environment variables can be used to select default connection parameter values, which will be used by PQconnectdb , PQsetdbLogin and PQsetdb if no value is directly specified by the calling code. These are useful to avoid hard-coding database connection information into simple client applications, for example.", "Service names can be defined in either a per-user service file or a system-wide file. If the same service name exists in both the user and the system file, the user file takes precedence. By default, the per-user service file is named ~/.pg_service.conf . On Microsoft Windows, it is named %APPDATA%\\postgresql\\.pg_service.conf (where %APPDATA% refers to the Application Data subdirectory in the user's profile). A different file name can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE . The system-wide file is named pg_service.conf . By default it is sought in the etc directory of the PostgreSQL installation (use pg_config --sysconfdir to identify this directory precisely). Another directory, but not a different file name, can be specified by setting the environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR .", "Connection parameters obtained from a service file are combined with parameters obtained from other sources. A service file setting overrides the corresponding environment variable, and in turn can be overridden by a value given directly in the connection string. For example, using the above service file, a connection string service=mydb port=5434 will use host somehost , port 5434 , user admin , and other parameters as set by environment variables or built-in defaults."]}, "comparison": {"left": "17", "right": "18", "status": "unchanged", "diff": ""}}