Improving the Heroku Postgres extension experience

Change effective on 27 March 2023

Heroku Postgres requires extensions to be installed in the heroku_ext schema as part of our efforts to improve database security. We’ve received valuable feedback from our users and we’re improving the experience of using Heroku Postgres extensions.

We’ve implemented alternative security measures so users can install extensions outside of the heroku_ext schema. Users can opt in to this new configuration by setting the --allow-extensions-on-public-schema flag at provision time. This flag works for all Standard, Premium, Private, and Shield Heroku Postgres plans.

$ heroku addons:create heroku-postgresql:standard-0 \
  --allow-extensions-on-public-schema

All existing databases will continue to require extensions to be installed in the heroku_ext schema. In the near future, we’ll provide a method to change this configuration on existing databases.

See the Extensions, PostGIS, and Full Text Search Dictionaries on Heroku Postgres article for more details on Heroku Postgres extensions.