Always use in your application code. Quick Decision Flowchart Is this a single, absolute moment in time? │ ├── YES (e.g., created_at, updated_at, event start time for global users) │ → Use TIMESTAMPTZ │ └── NO (e.g., "Every day at 9 AM" recurring alarm) → Use TIMESTAMP + store time zone separately in another column Pro Tip: TIMESTAMPTZ Does NOT Store the Time Zone This is the #1 misunderstanding. TIMESTAMPTZ does not save 'America/Chicago' or '+05:30' . It converts your input to UTC, stores UTC, and discards the original offset.
If you care when something happened, use TIMESTAMPTZ . Your future self (and your global users) will thank you. Have a horror story about timestamps gone wrong? Share it in the comments below!
If your column is TIMESTAMPTZ , but your application sends a naive timestamp, PostgreSQL will assume the timestamp is in your session's time zone. If your server is in UTC and your user is in Sydney – .
Chances are, you chose the wrong PostgreSQL temporal data type.
Always use in your application code. Quick Decision Flowchart Is this a single, absolute moment in time? │ ├── YES (e.g., created_at, updated_at, event start time for global users) │ → Use TIMESTAMPTZ │ └── NO (e.g., "Every day at 9 AM" recurring alarm) → Use TIMESTAMP + store time zone separately in another column Pro Tip: TIMESTAMPTZ Does NOT Store the Time Zone This is the #1 misunderstanding. TIMESTAMPTZ does not save 'America/Chicago' or '+05:30' . It converts your input to UTC, stores UTC, and discards the original offset.
If you care when something happened, use TIMESTAMPTZ . Your future self (and your global users) will thank you. Have a horror story about timestamps gone wrong? Share it in the comments below! postgres timestamp vs timestamptz
If your column is TIMESTAMPTZ , but your application sends a naive timestamp, PostgreSQL will assume the timestamp is in your session's time zone. If your server is in UTC and your user is in Sydney – . Always use in your application code
Chances are, you chose the wrong PostgreSQL temporal data type. TIMESTAMPTZ does not save 'America/Chicago' or '+05:30'
Clyde Chen