List columns with indexes in PostgreSQL

Question

I would like to get the columns that an index is on in PostgreSQL.

In MySQL you can use SHOW INDEXES FOR table and look at the Column_name

Answer 1

When playing around with indexes the order of which columns are constructed in the index is as important as the columns themselves.

The following query lists all indexes for a given table and all their columns in a sorted fashion.

SELECT
  table_name,
  index_name,
  string_agg(column_name, ',')
FROM (
       SELECT
         t.relname AS table_name,
         i.relname AS index_name,
         a.attname AS column_name,
         (SELECT i
          FROM (SELECT
                  *,
                  row_number()
                  OVER () i
                FROM unnest(indkey) WITH ORDINALITY AS a(v)) a
          WHERE v = attnum)
       FROM
         pg_class t,
         pg_class i,
         pg_index ix,
         pg_attribute a
       WHERE
         t.oid = ix.indrelid
         AND i.oid = ix.indexrelid
         AND a.attrelid = t.oid
         AND a.attnum = ANY (ix.indkey)
         AND t.relkind = 'r'
         AND t.relname LIKE 'tablename'
       ORDER BY table_name, index_name, i
     ) raw
GROUP BY table_name, index_name

Answer 2

Similar to the accepted answer but having left join on pg_attribute as normal join or query with pg_attribute doesnt give indices which are like :
create unique index unique_user_name_index on users (lower(name))

select 
    row_number() over (order by c.relname),
    c.relname as index, 
    t.relname as table, 
    array_to_string(array_agg(a.attname), ', ') as column_names 
from pg_class c
join pg_index i on c.oid = i.indexrelid and c.relkind='i' and c.relname not like 'pg_%' 
join pg_class t on t.oid = i.indrelid
left join pg_attribute a on a.attrelid = t.oid and a.attnum = ANY(i.indkey) 
group by t.relname, c.relname order by c.relname;

Answer 3

The raw info is in pg_index.

Answer 4

Here's a function that wraps cope360's answer:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION getIndices(_table_name varchar)
  RETURNS TABLE(table_name varchar, index_name varchar, column_name varchar) AS $$
  BEGIN
    RETURN QUERY
    select
    t.relname::varchar as table_name,
    i.relname::varchar as index_name,
    a.attname::varchar as column_name
from
    pg_class t,
    pg_class i,
    pg_index ix,
    pg_attribute a
where
    t.oid = ix.indrelid
    and i.oid = ix.indexrelid
    and a.attrelid = t.oid
    and a.attnum = ANY(ix.indkey)
    and t.relkind = 'r'
    and t.relname = _table_name
order by
    t.relname,
    i.relname;
  END;
  $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Usage:

select * from getIndices('<my_table>')

Answer 5

RESULT OF QUERY:

table |     column     |          type          | notnull |  index_name  | is_index | primarykey | uniquekey | default
-------+----------------+------------------------+---------+--------------+----------+-   -----------+-----------+---------
 nodes | dns_datacenter | character varying(255) | f       |              | f        | f          | f         |
 nodes | dns_name       | character varying(255) | f       | dns_name_idx | t        | f          | f         |
 nodes | id             | uuid                   | t       | nodes_pkey   | t        | t          | t         |
(3 rows)

QUERY:

SELECT  
c.relname AS table,
f.attname AS column,  
pg_catalog.format_type(f.atttypid,f.atttypmod) AS type,
f.attnotnull AS notnull,  
i.relname as index_name,
CASE  
    WHEN i.oid<>0 THEN 't'  
    ELSE 'f'  
END AS is_index,  
CASE  
    WHEN p.contype = 'p' THEN 't'  
    ELSE 'f'  
END AS primarykey,  
CASE  
    WHEN p.contype = 'u' THEN 't' 
    WHEN p.contype = 'p' THEN 't' 
    ELSE 'f'
END AS uniquekey,
CASE
    WHEN f.atthasdef = 't' THEN d.adsrc
END AS default  FROM pg_attribute f  
JOIN pg_class c ON c.oid = f.attrelid  
JOIN pg_type t ON t.oid = f.atttypid  
LEFT JOIN pg_attrdef d ON d.adrelid = c.oid AND d.adnum = f.attnum  
LEFT JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace  
LEFT JOIN pg_constraint p ON p.conrelid = c.oid AND f.attnum = ANY (p.conkey)  
LEFT JOIN pg_class AS g ON p.confrelid = g.oid
LEFT JOIN pg_index AS ix ON f.attnum = ANY(ix.indkey) and c.oid = f.attrelid and c.oid = ix.indrelid 
LEFT JOIN pg_class AS i ON ix.indexrelid = i.oid 

WHERE c.relkind = 'r'::char  
AND n.nspname = 'public'  -- Replace with Schema name 
--AND c.relname = 'nodes'  -- Replace with table name, or Comment this for get all tables
AND f.attnum > 0
ORDER BY c.relname,f.attname;

Answer 6

\d tablename shows the column names for me on version 8.3.8.

 "username_idx" UNIQUE, btree (username), tablespace "alldata1"