Asynchronous IO in Postgres 18 TL;DR

Postgres 18 just dropped with a bunch of goodies—UUIDv7, an improved Over EXPLAIN module, composite index skip scans—and the headliner: asynchronous I/O. The latest release lets you pick between io_method=worker, the new io_uring backend, or stick with good old synchronous I/O, dramatically boosting how the database handles disk operations without blocking your queries.

Under the hood, the team tackled tricky challenges around integrating async I/O into Postgres’s architecture, rolled out support for backend writers, and is already eyeing direct-I/O tweaks and better worker optimizations. It’s a big step towards non-blocking, high-throughput database workloads—though the roadmap shows there’s still room to grow.

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