Change hypertable chunk intervals

Adjusting your hypertable chunk interval can improve TimescaleDB performance. This applies to both regular and distributed hypertables. For more information, see best practices for time partitioning.

Check current setting for chunk intervals

Check the current setting for chunk intervals by querying the TimescaleDB catalog.

SELECT h.table_name, c.interval_length
  FROM _timescaledb_catalog.dimension c
  JOIN _timescaledb_catalog.hypertable h
    ON h.id = c.hypertable_id;

The result looks like this:

table_name | interval_length
-----------+-----------------
metrics    |    604800000000
(1 row)

note

Time-based interval lengths are reported in microseconds.

Change the chunk interval length when creating a hypertable

The default chunk interval is 7 days. To change this when creating a hypertable, specify a different chunk_time_interval when calling create_hypertable or create_distributed_hypertable.

SELECT create_hypertable(
  'conditions',
  'time',
  chunk_time_interval => INTERVAL '1 day'
);

In this example, the table to convert is named conditions, and it stores time values in a column named time.

Change the chunk interval length on an existing hypertable

To change the chunk interval on an already existing hypertable or distributed hypertable, use the function set_chunk_time_interval:

SELECT set_chunk_time_interval('conditions', INTERVAL '24 hours');

In this example, the hypertable is named conditions.

important

When you change the chunk_time_interval, the new setting only applies to new chunks, not to existing chunks. In practice, this means setting an overly long interval might take a long time to correct. For example, if you set chunk_time_interval to 1 year and start inserting data, you can no longer shorten the chunk for that year. In this situation, you can create a new hypertable and migrate your data.