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pg_tre

A native PostgreSQL 18+ index access method for fast approximate (fuzzy) regular-expression matching over text columns.

pg_tre turns the classic "find text that looks like this, maybe with a typo" problem into a SQL-composable indexed query. A three-tier filter funnel (range bloom → trigram posting trees → per-tuple bloom) narrows the candidate set before any heap recheck, with the TRE library performing the exact edit-distance match.

SELECT id FROM docs
WHERE body %~~ tre_pattern('(error){~1}.*(42[0-9]){~0}', 1);
-- Bitmap Index Scan on docs_tre  →  sub-millisecond on 10k rows.

Where to start

  • User Guide — installation, operators, query syntax, tuning, and worked examples. Start here.
  • Design — architecture of the three-tier funnel and the on-disk structures.
  • On-disk page format — byte-level page layout reference.
  • Performance — measured numbers and methodology.
  • Testing — the regression / sanitizer / stress apparatus.