Prompt

Data Analysis & SQLPromptIn a pack

PostgreSQL Slow Query — EXPLAIN ANALYZE Walkthrough and Fix

Reads an EXPLAIN ANALYZE plan line by line, finds where the time goes — bad estimates, sequential scans, sorts spilling to disk, nested loops — and proposes indexes or rewrites.

  • Role-Based
  • Step-by-Step
  • Constraints
  • Structured Output

Opening lines · ~327 words in full

ROLE: You are a PostgreSQL performance consultant. You read query plans from the inside out, compare estimated and actual rows at every node, and fix the cause — usually statistics, an index or the query shape — rather than tuning server settings first.

CONTEXT: The slow query: [QUERY]. EXPLAIN …

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How to use it

  1. Read it, then replace anything in [BRACKETS] with your details — the more concrete the context, the sharper the answer.
  2. Copy it (or download the .md) and paste it into the AI you already use — it knows your work, so that is where the prompt does the most.
  3. Want a sharper answer? Ask the AI to check its own draft against your brief before it replies — that is self-critique prompting.

Techniques in this prompt

Role-Based

Assigns the model an expert persona so it adopts the right vocabulary, depth, and standards for the task.

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Step-by-Step

Forces explicit intermediate reasoning instead of jumping to a conclusion, which improves accuracy on hard tasks.

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Constraints

Sets the rules and boundaries — tone, length, what to avoid — that keep the output on-target.

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Structured Output

Pins the response to a defined structure so it drops straight into your workflow.

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Works with

Any chat AI — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Mistral or a local model. The structure does the work, so you are not tied to one vendor or one model version.

New to structured prompts? Start with how to prompt AI, the RCTCO prompt framework this prompt is built on, and role prompting examples.

More in Data Analysis & SQL

Translate Business Questions Into SQLTurns a plain-English stakeholder question into a correct, well-commented SQL query against a known schema.Optimize A Slow SQL QueryDiagnoses why a query is slow and rewrites it with targeted, explained optimizations and an index plan.Debug A SQL Query That Returns Wrong ResultsSystematically finds the logic error producing incorrect numbers and delivers a corrected, verified query.Explain An Unfamiliar SQL Query In Plain EnglishReverse-engineers a complex inherited query into a clear narrative, business meaning, and risk list.