I built IndexPilot, a Postgres index checker, by accident

Jai Thakur set out to build a DNA‑inspired database, but the effort morphed into IndexPilot, an open‑source utility that evaluates proposed PostgreSQL indexes [devto]. IndexPilot pulls query fingerprints from pg_stat_statements, inspects existing indexes, and can generate hypothetical plans via the HypoPG extension. For each candidate index it returns a verdict—such as worth_benchmarking, existing_overlap, or redundant—along with evidence explaining the decision [devto].

The tool does not run migrations, create or drop indexes, nor does it execute EXPLAIN ANALYZE. It is intended for use in pull‑request reviews, especially when an AI‑generated migration suggests a new index. Limits include an inability to prove production‑level speed gains or to measure actual disk consumption.

A sample run ships with a cleaned‑up workload snapshot; in the example the verdict existing_overlap indicates the proposed index duplicates one already present in the catalog. IndexPilot outputs results in JSON, Markdown, or plain text, making it easy to integrate into CI pipelines.

Thakur positions IndexPilot as a pre‑flight check that sits before broader migration linters or index advisers, asking a narrower question: “Is this index worth adding?” The project is published on GitHub, and the author invites community feedback on its usefulness and on the criteria reviewers apply before accepting new indexes.