List columns with indexes in PostgreSQL

Question

Create some test data...

create table test (a int, b int, c int, constraint pk_test primary key(a, b));
create table test2 (a int, b int, c int, constraint uk_test2 unique (b, c));
create table test3 (a int, b int, c int, constraint uk_test3b unique (b), constraint uk_test3c unique (c),constraint uk_test3ab unique (a, b));

List indexes and columns indexed:

select
    t.relname as table_name,
    i.relname as index_name,
    a.attname as column_name
from
    pg_class t,
    pg_class i,
    pg_index ix,
    pg_attribute a
where
    t.oid = ix.indrelid
    and i.oid = ix.indexrelid
    and a.attrelid = t.oid
    and a.attnum = ANY(ix.indkey)
    and t.relkind = 'r'
    and t.relname like 'test%'
order by
    t.relname,
    i.relname;

 table_name | index_name | column_name
------------+------------+-------------
 test       | pk_test    | a
 test       | pk_test    | b
 test2      | uk_test2   | b
 test2      | uk_test2   | c
 test3      | uk_test3ab | a
 test3      | uk_test3ab | b
 test3      | uk_test3b  | b
 test3      | uk_test3c  | c

Roll up the column names:

select
    t.relname as table_name,
    i.relname as index_name,
    array_to_string(array_agg(a.attname), ', ') as column_names
from
    pg_class t,
    pg_class i,
    pg_index ix,
    pg_attribute a
where
    t.oid = ix.indrelid
    and i.oid = ix.indexrelid
    and a.attrelid = t.oid
    and a.attnum = ANY(ix.indkey)
    and t.relkind = 'r'
    and t.relname like 'test%'
group by
    t.relname,
    i.relname
order by
    t.relname,
    i.relname;

 table_name | index_name | column_names
------------+------------+--------------
 test       | pk_test    | a, b
 test2      | uk_test2   | b, c
 test3      | uk_test3ab | a, b
 test3      | uk_test3b  | b
 test3      | uk_test3c  | c

PostgreSQL (pg_indexes):

SELECT * FROM pg_indexes WHERE tablename = 'mytable';

MySQL (SHOW INDEX):

SHOW INDEX FROM mytable;

\d table_name shows this information from psql, but if you want to get such information from database using SQL then have a look at Extracting META information from PostgreSQL.

I use such info in my utility to report some info from db schema to compare PostgreSQL databases in test and production environments.

Just do: \d table_name

But I'm not sure what do you mean that the information about columns is not there.

For example:

# \d pg_class
       Table "pg_catalog.pg_class"
     Column      |   Type    | Modifiers
-----------------+-----------+-----------
 relname         | name      | not null
 relnamespace    | oid       | not null
 reltype         | oid       | not null
 reloftype       | oid       | not null
 relowner        | oid       | not null
 relam           | oid       | not null
 relfilenode     | oid       | not null
 reltablespace   | oid       | not null
 relpages        | integer   | not null
 reltuples       | real      | not null
 reltoastrelid   | oid       | not null
 reltoastidxid   | oid       | not null
 relhasindex     | boolean   | not null
 relisshared     | boolean   | not null
 relistemp       | boolean   | not null
 relkind         | "char"    | not null
 relnatts        | smallint  | not null
 relchecks       | smallint  | not null
 relhasoids      | boolean   | not null
 relhaspkey      | boolean   | not null
 relhasexclusion | boolean   | not null
 relhasrules     | boolean   | not null
 relhastriggers  | boolean   | not null
 relhassubclass  | boolean   | not null
 relfrozenxid    | xid       | not null
 relacl          | aclitem[] |
 reloptions      | text[]    |
Indexes:
    "pg_class_oid_index" UNIQUE, btree (oid)
    "pg_class_relname_nsp_index" UNIQUE, btree (relname, relnamespace)

It clearly shows which columns given index is on this table.

# \di

The easies and shortest way is \di, which will list all the indexes in the current database.

$ \di
                      List of relations
 Schema |            Name             | Type  |  Owner   |     Table     
--------+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------
 public | part_delivery_index         | index | shipper  | part_delivery
 public | part_delivery_pkey          | index | shipper  | part_delivery
 public | shipment_by_mandator        | index | shipper  | shipment_info
 public | shipment_by_number_and_size | index | shipper  | shipment_info
 public | shipment_info_pkey          | index | shipper  | shipment_info
(5 rows)

\di is the "small brother" of the \d command which will list all relations of the current database. Thus \di certainly stands for "show me this databases indexes".

Typing \diS will list all indexes used systemwide, which means you get all the pg_catalog indexes as well.

$ \diS
                                      List of relations
   Schema   |                   Name                    | Type  |  Owner   |          Table
------------+-------------------------------------------+-------+----------+-------------------------
 pg_catalog | pg_aggregate_fnoid_index                  | index | postgres | pg_aggregate
 pg_catalog | pg_am_name_index                          | index | postgres | pg_am
 pg_catalog | pg_am_oid_index                           | index | postgres | pg_am
 pg_catalog | pg_amop_fam_strat_index                   | index | postgres | pg_amop
 pg_catalog | pg_amop_oid_index                         | index | postgres | pg_amop
 pg_catalog | pg_amop_opr_fam_index                     | index | postgres | pg_amop
 pg_catalog | pg_amproc_fam_proc_index                  | index | postgres | pg_amproc
 pg_catalog | pg_amproc_oid_index                       | index | postgres | pg_amproc
 pg_catalog | pg_attrdef_adrelid_adnum_index            | index | postgres | pg_attrdef
--More-- 

With both these commands you can add a + after it to get even more information like the size - the disk space - the index needs and a description if available.

$ \di+
                                 List of relations
 Schema |            Name             | Type  |  Owner   |     Table     | Size  | Description 
--------+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------+-------+-------------
 public | part_delivery_index         | index | shipper  | part_delivery | 16 kB | 
 public | part_delivery_pkey          | index | shipper  | part_delivery | 16 kB | 
 public | shipment_by_mandator        | index | shipper  | shipment_info | 19 MB | 
 public | shipment_by_number_and_size | index | shipper  | shipment_info | 19 MB | 
 public | shipment_info_pkey          | index | shipper  | shipment_info | 53 MB | 
(5 rows)

In psql you can easily find help about commands typing \?.

Combined with others code and created a view:

CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW view_index AS 
SELECT
     n.nspname  as "schema"
    ,t.relname  as "table"
    ,c.relname  as "index"
    ,pg_get_indexdef(indexrelid) as "def"
FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
    JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid        = c.relnamespace
    JOIN pg_catalog.pg_index i ON i.indexrelid = c.oid
    JOIN pg_catalog.pg_class t ON i.indrelid   = t.oid
WHERE c.relkind = 'i'
    and n.nspname not in ('pg_catalog', 'pg_toast')
    and pg_catalog.pg_table_is_visible(c.oid)
ORDER BY
     n.nspname
    ,t.relname
    ,c.relname;