Configuring a Penumbra node to write events to postgres

In order to store ABCI events in Postgres, an operator must configure CometBFT to use an external database:

1. Create a Postgres database, username, and credentials, and document the DATABASE_URL used to authenticate as that user.
2. Apply the CometBFT schema (opens in a new tab) to the database: psql -d <DATABASE_URL> -f <path/to/schema.sql>.
3. Edit the CometBFT config file, by default located at ~/.penumbra/network_data/node0/cometbft/config/config.toml, specifically its [tx_index], and set:
   1. indexer = "psql"
   2. psql-conn = "<DATABASE_URL>"
4. Run pd and cometbft as normal.

The format for DATABASE_URL is specified in the Postgres docs (opens in a new tab). After the node is running, check the logs for errors. Query the database with SELECT height FROM blocks ORDER BY height DESC LIMIT 10; (you can connect to the database to run queries like this one using psql -d <DATABASE_URL>) and confirm you're seeing the latest blocks being added to the database.

Typically an operator sets up PostgreSQL event ingestion as a precursor to the more dev-friendly pindexer; read on to learn how to configure pindexer.