November 2026 Summaries

CockroachDB has introduced an open-source plugin for ChatGPT and Codex that provides database-specific guidance for developers and AI agents working on schema design, SQL optimization, migrations, cluster operations, multi-region deployments, security, and maintenance. Version 0.1.3 includes 34 task-specific skills that help agents account for distributed-database considerations such as write hotspots, index tradeoffs, transaction behavior, locality, latency, resilience, and migration rollback planning. The plugin can work from user-provided schemas, query plans, and requirements without a connection, or optionally connect through MCP to CockroachDB Cloud or supported self-hosted environments to access current schemas, cluster details, query plans, running queries, and limited query results. Its recommended workflows focus on designing scalable multi-tenant schemas, planning low-downtime PostgreSQL migrations with MOLT tools, and diagnosing slow queries using evidence such as execution plans, statistics, and runtime context. Access is governed by a user’s existing CockroachDB permissions, with constrained write capabilities limited to creating resources and no tool for deleting databases, while optional local hooks can identify common issues and block explicit destructive commands. The plugin is available through the ChatGPT and Codex plugin directory, with a Codex CLI package on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license.

CockroachDB 26.4 introduces features aimed at reducing operational overhead for teams running payment, ledger, and other critical workloads. It enables annual skip-level upgrades from one .4 release to the next, expands support for active-active two-data-center deployments through transactional logical replication, and improves recovery with read-available online restores, encrypted backup support, and recovery-point monitoring. Security additions include passwordless OIDC login, workload identities mapped to SQL users, optional root-login disablement, table-level audit logging, post-quantum TLS, stronger credential redaction, and explicit privileges for external storage access. Observability enhancements provide persistent statement, transaction, and contention insights, complete SQL CPU measurements, richer session history, regional metrics, and stable SQL views for operational queries, while Resource Manager can reserve minimum CPU capacity for critical workloads. Other updates include lower-cost TTL processing, locality-aware imports, Avro changefeed support for read-only schema registries, a preview node-to-node RPC framework, and expanded PostgreSQL compatibility such as temporary-table behavior, statement-level triggers, transition tables, enhanced RETURNING support, and additional SQL features. Version 26.4 is rolling out to selected CockroachDB Cloud clusters, with self-hosted binaries expected shortly afterward, and upgrades require moving through version 26.2 and reviewing tightened security defaults.