Last updated: 03/26/2025

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🛡️ Preventing WAL Growth with Heartbeats

This solution is specifically designed for low-traffic or idle databases. Active databases don’t need this feature as their WAL naturally resets with regular data changes.

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Setup Steps

  1. Create and configure the heartbeat table:
-- Create the heartbeat table
CREATE TABLE test_heartbeat_table (id text PRIMARY KEY, ts timestamp);

-- Grant necessary permissions
GRANT SELECT, UPDATE ON TABLE test_heartbeat_table TO artie;

-- Insert initial record
INSERT INTO test_heartbeat_table (id, ts) VALUES (1, NOW());

-- Once enabled, Artie will run this command every 5 minutes to update the heartbeat table:
UPDATE test_heartbeat_table set ts = now() where id = '1';
  1. Enable heartbeats in your pipeline’s advanced settings.

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Troubleshooting Guide

If you’re still experiencing WAL growth after enabling heartbeats, check these common issues:
1

Table Existence

Verify test_heartbeat_table exists in your database
2

Publication Configuration

-- Check if the table is included in your publication
-- For Artie pipelines, the publication name should default
-- to `dbz_publication` (unless changed under Pipeline advanced settings)
SELECT pubname, tablename
FROM pg_publication_tables
WHERE tablename = 'test_heartbeat_table';
3

Permission Issues

Confirm the service account has proper write permissions
4

Long-Running Queries

-- Check for queries that might block replication
SELECT
  pid,
  now() - pg_stat_activity.query_start AS duration,
  query,
  state
FROM pg_stat_activity
WHERE (now() - pg_stat_activity.query_start) > interval '1 minute';