# arkhipov/temporal_tables

Temporal Tables PostgreSQL Extension

Repository: https://github.com/arkhipov/temporal_tables
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/temporal_tables
Language: C
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-01-12T09:37:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 51/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 62, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4945, "days_push": 233, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1048, forks 52 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:22.567283+00:00)

## What it is
A PostgreSQL extension written in C that implements system-versioned temporal tables, automatically archiving old row versions into a history table on update or delete. It is distributed via PGXN and supports PostgreSQL 9.2 and higher.

## Use cases
- track full change history of rows in postgres tables
- keep an audit trail of every update and delete in a database
- query what a record looked like at a past point in time
- implement system-versioned temporal tables in postgresql
- archive old row versions automatically into a history table
- store historical records with valid-time periods in sql

## When to choose
- you need automatic, trigger-based row versioning with history tables in PostgreSQL
- you want a mature, battle-tested C extension rather than hand-written triggers
- you need to reconstruct historical row states for auditing or time-travel queries

## When to avoid
- you need application-period (valid-time) temporal tables, which are not supported
- you are on PostgreSQL 13+ and prefer the built-in system-versioning or range types
- you use a database other than PostgreSQL

## Facets
- artifact type: plugin
- maturity: stable
- function: database
- domain: databases, developer-tools
- platform: windows, self-hosted
- tags: postgresql-extension, temporal-tables, system-versioned-tables, history-tables, audit-history, sql2011, pgxn, c-extension, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- arkhipov/temporal_tables (main) score 51

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:22.567283+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:00:41.441611+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/arkhipov/temporal_tables (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:22.567283+00:00, sha 2fbf086bd80c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.