PG Explain Visualizer

Visualize PostgreSQL EXPLAIN ANALYZE output directly inside VS Code -- no need to leave your editor or paste into external tools.

Features

Interactive Plan Tree -- See every node in a hierarchical tree with timing bars that show where your query spends its time
Exclusive vs Total Time -- Instantly identify the slowest nodes with proportional timing bars
Row Estimation Accuracy -- Spot planner misestimates that could indicate missing statistics or need for ANALYZE
Statistics Breakdown -- Per-table, per-node-type, and per-index stats with percentage bars and drill-down
Parallel Query Support -- Correctly handles Gather / Gather Merge nodes and adjusts times for parallel workers
Dual Format Support -- Works with both TEXT and JSON output from EXPLAIN
Theme Aware -- Automatically adapts to your VS Code light or dark theme
Buffer Analysis -- Toggle buffer stats to see shared hits, reads, and writes per node

Run your query with EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) in any PostgreSQL client
Copy the output into any editor tab in VS Code
Select the text
Right-click and choose PG Explain: Visualize Selection

Or use the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and search for PG Explain: Visualize Selection

In the Plan tab, use the settings bar to toggle:

Toggle	Description
time	Show/hide timing bars (exclusive and total)
rows estimation	Show/hide actual vs estimated row counts
cost	Show/hide planner cost estimates
buffers	Show/hide buffer usage in expanded node details

Tab	Description
Plan	Interactive tree view of the query plan
Stats	Aggregated stats per table, node type, and index
Query	Query text (available with JSON format input)
Raw	Original EXPLAIN output as plain text

EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = 1;

EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS, FORMAT JSON) SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = 1;

Both formats are auto-detected -- just paste or open the output and the extension handles the rest.

Use EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) instead of plain EXPLAIN to get actual execution times and buffer stats
Click on any node row to expand its details (filter conditions, index conditions, buffer breakdown, etc.)
In the Stats tab, click any row to expand and see individual node contributions
The extension correctly accounts for parallel workers -- times shown under Gather nodes reflect wall-clock time, not accumulated CPU time

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and build instructions.

MIT