Re: BUG #19410: Cannot ser client_encoding

"David G. Johnston" <david(dot)g(dot)johnston(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> On Saturday, February 14, 2026, PG Bug reporting form <
> noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org> wrote:
>> [ SET doesn't persist across sessions ]

> Everything you’ve shown worked as expected.

Indeed. I suggest reading

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/config-setting.html

which not only explains that the effects of SET are per-session,
but lists all the other ways to adjust a server setting.

> If you want to always use UTF-8 I’d suggest you figure out how to configure
> your client to do so. psql will then just auto-detect whatever is actually
> in use. It doesn’t really make sense to use SET with client_encoding.

Yeah, that's an orthogonal issue: you really need client_encoding to
match whatever your terminal window is using, or non-ASCII characters
won't display correctly. So letting psql deduce it from environment
is usually the right thing.

regards, tom lane