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Constructive Introduces pgpm: A Game-Changer for PostgreSQL Development

Constructive, an innovative open-source platform, has unveiled its latest offering, pgpm, designed to revolutionize how developers manage PostgreSQL for large-scale application development. Announced on December 17, 2025, pgpm serves as a PostgreSQL package manager that enhances modularity and brings forth a refined approach to database management, closely mirroring modern application development practices.

Addressing the Need for Modularity

In the realm of application development, teams are often hampered by the limitations of traditional database structures. While PostgreSQL extensions have served as a critical packaging mechanism for sharing database logic across projects, they pose several challenges. These include restrictions on managed services and difficulties in safely sharing application-layer SQL. pgpm addresses these issues by offering a means for teams to break down intricate databases into distinct modules.

With pgpm, database concerns such as authentication, billing, and audit logging can be compartmentalized into specific modules, each with defined dependencies and independent testing protocols. This level of organization not only simplifies database management but also enhances collaboration among developers by establishing clear ownership boundaries.

Greg Kemnitz, co-founder of Wirekite.io and former Chief Programmer for the Postgres Project at UC Berkeley, commented on the product's significance. He stated, "What pgpm is doing isn't extension management—it's application-level modularity for Postgres. This distinction matters because it allows developers to conceptualize their databases similarly to how they view their applications: as composable, installable building blocks."

Enhancing Application-Layer Modularity

At its core, pgpm innovates the way developers interact with database architectures by operating at the application layer. This functionality allows for defining schemas, tables, policies, and business logic directly in SQL. Unlike other existing solutions, pgpm modules are crafted in pure SQL and can operate without sticking to system-level features. Thus, they facilitate consistent deployments across local environments, CI, and even managed PostgreSQL services—all without needing provider approvals.

Composability and Scalability

Dan Lynch, Founder and CEO of Constructive, emphasized that pgpm is defining a new category in database management, delivering the same level of composability and reusability at the database layer that developers in modern ecosystems, like npm, have come to expect. With the ability to build a module once and publish it for universal use, pgpm accelerates the development process while building on shared and versioned components rather than redundant SQL.

Key Features of pgpm

1. Separation of Concerns - Developers can decompose complex databases into well-defined modules, ensuring clarity and ownership.
2. Composable Architecture - Modules come with explicit dependencies that follow an automatic and deterministic deployment order.
3. Application-Layer Modularity - Reusable schemas and policies in pure SQL are designed for seamless integration.
4. Idempotent Migrations - This ensures that deploying, reverting, and verifying scripts promotes safe and repeatable changes.
5. Robust CI/CD Testing - Teams can isolate tests using ephemeral databases and verify critical elements like Row-Level Security policies.
6. npm-like Distribution - Modules can be easily published and installed across different projects with minimal effort.
7. Compatibility with PostgreSQL Extensions - Modules can optionally be packaged as native PostgreSQL extensions for traditional deployments.
8. Transactional Safety - Deployments occur in transactions, effectively enabling automatic rollback in case of failures.

Real-World Application and Testing

This modular approach has already proven effective in complex real-world scenarios. For instance, the Constructive team successfully packaged the entire Supabase PostgreSQL infrastructure as a set of pgpm modules. This allowed for real PostgreSQL-based CI testing, improving security measures and creating closer alignment between development and live environments.

Additionally, pgpm’s modular structure integrates flawlessly with modern Object Relational Mappers (ORMs) such as Drizzle. This synergy enables development teams to work with type-safe application code alongside reliable database modules, ensuring no extra layers of abstraction complicate their interactions with PostgreSQL.

Getting Started with pgpm

Teams interested in leveraging pgpm can begin with a simple setup, initializing a workspace, creating modules, and deploying them to PostgreSQL through a familiar package-based workflow. Workspaces facilitate a structured approach to development, promoting modular design and test-driven methodologies from the outset, resulting in quicker iterations and scalable databases.

Availability

As of now, pgpm is available for use via npm. More information can be explored at pgpm.io, with comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and courses available at constructive.io/learn.

About Constructive

Constructive stands at the forefront of open-source modular PostgreSQL solutions, unifying reusable modules, deterministic migrations, and robust test-driven tooling to craft a secure architecture. This facilitates predictable and verifiable database behavior, catering to the needs of modern application development workflows, complete with stringent Row-Level Security practices.

In summary, pgpm is set to redefine how developers interact with databases, offering a more streamlined and efficient solution for managing large-scale application data.