If the storage capacity of a Cloud SQL instance is larger than your application needs, then you can manually reduce, or shrink, your storage capacity to a smaller size.

Depending on underlying disk size, storage shrink operations might incur considerable downtime. If your instance requires limited downtime, rather than using storage shrink capabilities, we recommend migrating your data to a new, smaller instance using Database Migration Service.

For more information, see About storage shrink.

Feature

The QueryData tool lets you to query the data in your database using conversational language and build data agents. For more information, see QueryData tool overview. This feature is available in (Preview).

The preview release increases the accuracy of SQL generation with value search queries which match values and their context within a database. Value search queries trigger automatically.

Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL now offers conversational analytics, which lets users query their operational data using natural language. This feature is powered by the Conversational Analytics API, which can help you translate complex human dialog into precise database queries to provide actionable insights. This feature is in Preview. For more information, see Conversational analytics for Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL overview.

Breaking

Vector assist (Preview) is temporarily disabled for all Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instances.

You can now cancel an in-place major version upgrade operation during the main upgrade phase, when the upgrade is actually being performed.

For more information, see Cancel the major version upgrade.

Feature

Multi-region backup vaults for Cloud SQL enhanced backups are generally available (GA).

This feature lets you store your backup data in multi-region storage locations, providing higher availability and protection against regional outages.

For more information, see Enhanced backups.

Feature

Cloud SQL supports cross-project PITR operations for instances protected by backup and DR (GA).

This feature lets you restore a Cloud SQL instance to a project other than the project where either the source instance or the backup vault is located.

For more information, see Perform a cross-project PITR.

You can now enable automatic server certificate rotation for your Cloud SQL instance. This feature is specifically designed for instances utilizing the Certificate Authority Service (CAS). Automatic server certificate rotation helps you maintain high security standards while removing the operational burden of manual rotation.

For more information about enabling automatic server certificate rotation for your instance, see Enable automatic server certificate rotation.

You can now execute SQL statements using the Cloud SQL Data API for administrative queries.

It now takes less time to create a Cloud SQL instance when point-in-time recovery (PITR) is enabled, as it is by default in the Google Cloud console. During instance creation, PITR now initially uses an instant snapshot instead of a standard backup. and then later converts the snapshot to a standard backup in the background to support restore operations.

Gemini Cloud Assist investigation capabilities are now supported in Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL (Preview).

For more information, see Troubleshoot slow queries with AI assistance.

Cloud SQL now provides brute-force detection and protection for your Cloud SQL instances. This helps protect your instances from brute-force access attempts by identifying the source and mitigating the risk caused by these attempts. For more information, see Use brute-force protection.

After March 17, 2026, when you enable the Cloud SQL Admin API (sqladmin.googleapis.com)`, the Cloud SQL remote MCP server is enabled automatically.

The Cloud SQL remote MCP server is in Preview.

Deprecated

Control of MCP use with organization policies is deprecated. After March 17, 2026, organization policies that use the gcp.managed.allowedMCPServices constraint won't work, and you can control MCP use with IAM deny policies. For more information about controlling MCP use, see Control MCP use with IAM.

New best practices are available for securing generative AI agents using Model Context Protocol (MCP) with Google Cloud databases. This guide covers key security measures like least privilege, native database controls, and secure agent design to help you build safer AI applications. For more information, see Best practices for securing agent interactions with Model Context Protocol.

You can now use the Cloud SQL remote MCP server. The Cloud SQL remote MCP server lets you interact easily with Cloud SQL instances from LLMs, AI applications, and AI-enabled development platforms.

This feature is in Preview.

You can now update the server certificate authority (CA) mode of an existing Cloud SQL instance. You can update existing instances that use the per-instance CA option (GOOGLE_MANAGED_INTERNAL_CA) to use the shared CA option (GOOGLE_MANAGED_CAS_CA) or the customer-managed CA option (CUSTOMER_MANAGED_CAS_CA).

For more information about the different server CA mode options, see Certificate authority (CA) hierarchies.

You can now assign database roles to built-in database users and IAM database users when you create or update users. For more information about assigning roles, see built-in database authentication or IAM database authentication.

Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL now supports fast clone operations within the same zone (GA).

For more information, see Clone an instance.

You can build data agents that interact with the data in your database using conversational language. Use these data agents as tools to empower your applications. For more information, see Data agents overview. This feature is available in Preview, and access to it requires a sign-up.

Cloud SQL enhanced backups are now generally available (GA).

With enhanced backups, backups are managed and stored in a centralized backup management project that leverages the Backup and DR service, and provides enforced retention, granular scheduling, and longer retention.

Enhanced backups now also support point-in-time-recovery (PITR) after instance deletion.

For more information about the available options and their limitations, see Backup options. For more information about enhanced backups pricing, see Backup and DR pricing.

PostgreSQL version 18 is now generally available for Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL.

You can now use Database Migration Service with Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL when using PostgreSQL version 18.

To upgrade your instance to PostgreSQL 18, see Upgrade the database major version in-place.

The following extensions are also now available for PostgreSQL 18:

• pg_hint_plan
• pgrouting
• anonymizer
• pg_wait_sampling
• tds_fdw
• plpgsql_check

For more information about these extensions, see Configure PostgreSQL extensions.

Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL now supports Vector assist (Preview).

Vector assist is a Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL extension that simplifies the deployment and management of your Cloud SQL vector workloads. It helps you set up production-ready vector search capabilities, such as embedding generation, query optimization, and index creation.

For more information about vector assist, how it works, and its limitations, see Vector assist overview.

Feature

The rollout of the following minor version and extension upgrades is complete:

Minor versions

• 13.22 is upgraded to 13.23.
• 14.19 is upgraded to 14.20.
• 15.14 is upgraded to 15.15.
• 16.10 is upgraded to 16.11.
• 17.6 is upgraded to 17.7.
• 18 is upgraded to 18.1.

Extensions

• Pgvector is upgraded from 0.8.0 to 0.8.1.

To use these versions of the extensions and plugins, update your instance to [PostgreSQL version].R20251004.01_19.

If you use a maintenance window, then the updates to the minor, extension, and plugin versions happen according to the timeframe that you set in the window. Otherwise, the updates occur within the next few weeks.

For more information on checking your maintenance version, see Self-service maintenance. To find your maintenance window or to manage maintenance updates, see Find and set maintenance windows.

Cloud SQL now offers a free trial instance for both existing and new Google Cloud customers. A free trial instance lets you test advanced Cloud SQL capabilities and features for up to 30 days without any financial commitment.

For information about a free trial instance, and its inclusions and conditions, see Free trial instance overview.

Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL now supports read pool autoscaling (GA), which helps you more easily manage your application's workload needs.

This feature automates read pool scale in and scale out operations based on one or both of the following conditions:

• Allowed CPU usage of the read pool
• Allowed number of client connections to the read pool

The rollout of the following extension versions, plugin versions, and extension support is underway:

Extensions and plugins

• plpgsql_check is upgraded from 2.8.1 to 2.8.3 for PostgreSQL versions 14 and later.
• pg_wait_sampling is upgraded from 1.1.6 to 1.1.9 for PostgreSQL versions 13 and later.
• tds_fdw is upgraded from 2.0.4 to 2.0.5.

The following extensions are available for PostgreSQL 18:

• anon
• pg_hint_plan
• pg_wait_sampling
• plpgsql_check
• tds_fdw

To use these versions of the extensions and plugins, update your instance to [PostgreSQL version].R20251004.01_14.

If you use a maintenance window, then the updates to the minor, extension, and plugin versions happen according to the timeframe that you set in the window. Otherwise, the updates occur within the next few weeks.

For more information on checking your maintenance version, see Self-service maintenance. To find your maintenance window or to manage maintenance updates, see Find and set maintenance windows.

The rollout of the following extension versions and plugin versions is underway:

Extensions and plugins

• pg_squeeze is upgraded from 1.8 to 1.9 for PostgreSQL version 13 and later.
• pg_cron is upgraded from 1.6.4 to 1.6.7 for PostgreSQL version 10 and later.
• postgis is upgraded from 3.5.2 to 3.6.0 for PostgreSQL version 13 and later.
• rdkit is upgraded from 4.6.1 to 4.7.0.

To use these versions of the extensions and plugins, update your instance to [PostgreSQL version].R20251004.01_07.

If you use a maintenance window, then the updates to the minor, extension, and plugin versions happen according to the timeframe that you set in the window. Otherwise, the updates occur within the next few weeks.

For more information on checking your maintenance version, see Self-service maintenance. To find your maintenance window or to manage maintenance updates, see Find and set maintenance windows.

Cloud SQL now proactively detects and works to cancel high memory usage connections to prevent out-of-memory (OOM) failures. For more information, see Cancelled queries due to high memory usage.

Cloud SQL Enterprise edition now supports a new machine series called the N4 machine series. This machine series provides balanced price-to-performance and uses the Hyperdisk Balanced storage. You can create custom machine types for the N4 machine series with up to 80 vCPUs and up to 640 GB memory. The N4 machine series is generally available (GA).

For more information about the N4 machine series and its availability, see Machine series overview.

Feature

The C4A machine series is now generally available (GA).

The C4A machine series is supported for Cloud SQL Enterprise Plus edition instances, and provides optimized price-performance and delivers predictable high performance for high demand Cloud SQL workloads. It uses the Hyperdisk Balanced storage.

For more information about the C4A machine series and its availability, see Machine series overview.

You can now assess the upgrade readiness of your Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL instances before a major version upgrade by running a precheck. This precheck either confirms your instance can be upgraded, or lists issues and their solutions that need to be fixed prior to upgrading. For more information, see Assess upgrade readiness for your instance.

Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL now supports PostgreSQL version 18 in Preview.

PostgreSQL 18 is a newly supported version. We strongly recommend that you review the changes in the release and validate the readiness of your instance thoroughly prior to upgrading your instance to this version.

The following information applies to flags and extensions for PostgreSQL 18:

Flags

The following new flags are available for PostgreSQL 18 only:

• autovacuum_vacuum_max_threshold
• autovacuum_worker_slots
• enable_distinct_reordering
• enable_self_join_elimitation
• io_max_concurrency
• io_method
• io_workers
• log_lock_failures
• max_active_replecation_origins
• track_cost_delay_timing
• vacuum_max_eager_freeze_failure_rate
• vacuum_truncate

For more information, see Configure database flags.

Extensions

The following extensions aren't available for PostgreSQL 18:

• pgRouting
• plpgsql_check
• pg_hint_plan
• pgrouting
• anonymizer
• pg_wait_sampling
• tds_fdw

For more information, see Configure PostgreSQL extensions.

To create a new instance using PostgreSQL 18, see Create instances.

You can now use Gemini's capabilities to fix errors in a query within Cloud SQL Studio (Preview).

Cloud SQL Managed Connection Pooling is now generally available (GA). Managed Connection Pooling lets you scale your workloads by optimizing resource utilization for Cloud SQL instances using pooling. You can now also use IAM authentication to secure connections when using Managed Connection Pooling.

For more information, see Managed Connection Pooling overview.

You can now provision, manage and query your databases using the dedicated Gemini CLI extension for Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL. The extension provides full lifecycle control of your database—from provisioning instances, to exploring schemas and troubleshooting issues—from your command-line interface.

For more information, see Use Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL with MCP, Gemini CLI, and other agents.

Feature

You can now retain point-in-time recovery (PITR) logs for an instance after its deletion for a specified retention period. These logs can be used to restore the deleted instance to a specific point in time. For more information, see Restore a deleted instance using PITR.

The rollout of the following minor version upgrades is complete:

Minor versions

• 13.21 is upgraded to 13.22.
• 14.18 is upgraded to 14.19.
• 15.13 is upgraded to 15.14.
• 16.9 is upgraded to 16.10.
• 17.5 is upgraded to 17.6.

Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL adds support for the following extensions:

Extensions

• plpgsql_check 2.8 is available for PostgreSQL version 14 and later.
• roaringbitmap 0.5 is available for PostgreSQL version 12 and later.

To use these minor versions and the new extensions, update your instance to [PostgreSQL version].R20250727.00_23.

If you use a maintenance window, then the updates to the minor, extension, and plugin versions happen according to the timeframe that you set in the window. Otherwise, the updates occur within the next few weeks.

For more information on checking your maintenance version, see Self-service maintenance. To find your maintenance window or to manage maintenance updates, see Find and set maintenance windows.