setup-postgres

Lightning-fast Postgres setup for GitHub Actions that just works. Cross-platform, unconfined, and ready for all environments GitHub Actions supports.

Features

• Pure Speed: Binary-based installation that gets you running in seconds
• Zero Friction: No Docker, no package managers - just what you need
• Universal: Works across every OS and architecture GitHub Actions supports
• No yaml hassle: Environment variables pre-configured for immediate use in following steps, without intermediate yaml

Get Started

steps:
  - uses: bmizerany/setup-postgres@v3
  
  # Your steps here
  - run: psql 'SELECT 1'
  - run: go test ./...
  - run: bun test

That's all it takes. No configuration needed.

Core Features

Version Support

The default version is 17.2.0.

Install any Postgres version using standard semantic versioning (X.Y.Z). We pull directly from the embedded-postgres project's verified binaries.

Browse available versions here.

Versions can be specified using the version input:

steps:
  - uses: bmizerany/setup-postgres@v3
    with:
        version: 16.4.0

Environment Configuration

Your workflow steps automatically get these environment variables:

Variable	Purpose	Default
PGHOST	Connection host	localhost
PGPORT	Connection port	5432
PGUSER	Username	postgres
PGPASSWORD	Password	postgres
PGDATABASE	Target database	postgres
PGDATA	Data directory	runtime path
DATABASE_URL	Connection string	DSN format

The DATABASE_URL uses DSN format for maximum flexibility. For URL format, construct it like this:

postgres://$PGUSER:$PGPASSWORD@$PGHOST:$PGPORT/$PGDATABASE

Configuration Options

Inputs

Name	Purpose	Default
version	Postgres version	17.2.0

Outputs

For advanced workflow configuration:

Name	Purpose
dsn	Database connection string
data	Postgres data directory

Performance Notes

This action runs Postgres in fast mode, disabling fsync and full_page_writes. Perfect for CI/CD, not recommended for production. Your tests will fly.

Acknowledgments

Built on the shoulders of giants:

• embedded postgres project for their essential binary distributions
• The Postgres community for their foundational work

Contributing

We value collaboration:

• Open issues for features and bugs
• Discuss major changes before PR
• Small fixes welcome anytime
• Be kind, or else

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*Note: This project thrives because of community support. Consider supporting the embedded postgres project if you find value here.*​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​