PostGIS 3.5+ Knowledge Patch

Claude's baseline knowledge covers PostGIS through 3.4. This skill provides features from 3.5 (Sep 2024) onwards.

Source: PostGIS news at https://postgis.net/news/

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed descriptions, code examples, and full context on each change, consult:

• references/postgis-3.5-3.6-details.md — Detailed changelog organized by topic (breaking changes, new vector/raster/topology/SFCGAL functions)

3.5.0 (2024-09-25)

Requires: PostgreSQL 12-17, GEOS 3.8+, Proj 6.1+. SFCGAL 1.5 for all SFCGAL features.

Breaking Changes

Change	Impact
SFCGAL ST_* → CG_* prefix	All SFCGAL functions renamed. Old ST_ names deprecated.
ST_DFullyWithin semantics	Now ST_Contains(ST_Buffer(A, R), B). May return different results.
ST_AsGeoJSON(record) signature	Can promote column as Feature id. Materialized views need rebuild.
ST_GeneratePoints seed	Seeded random points produce different results. Regenerate if needed.
ST_Clip variants replaced	New touched param added. Materialized views need rebuild.

New Functions

Function	Purpose
ST_HasZ(geom) / ST_HasM(geom)	Boolean Z/M dimension checks
ST_CurveN(geom, n) / ST_NumCurves(geom)	CompoundCurve accessors
ST_RemoveIrrelevantPointsForView(geom, ...)	Viewport-based simplification
ST_RemoveSmallParts(geom, ...)	Remove small polygon parts (slivers)
TopoGeo_LoadGeometry(topo, geom, tol)	Load geometry into topology
CG_Visibility(polygon, point)	Visibility polygon (SFCGAL)
CG_*Partition functions	Polygon partitioning algorithms (SFCGAL)
ST_ExtrudeStraightSkeleton(geom)	Extrude along straight skeleton (SFCGAL)

ST_Clip touched (Raster)

-- Include pixels touched by geometry, not just centers-inside
SELECT
  ST_Clip (rast, geom, touched => true)
FROM
  raster_table;

3.5.1 (2024-12-22)

Breaking: ST_TileEnvelope now clips envelopes to tile plane extent. Edge tiles return smaller geometries than before.

3.6.0 (2025-09-01)

Requires: PostgreSQL 12-18, GEOS 3.8+, Proj 6.1+. GEOS 3.14+ for full features. SFCGAL 2.2+ for all SFCGAL features.

Breaking Changes

Change	Impact
TIN/PolyhedralSurface accessors	ST_NumGeometries/ST_GeometryN return 1. Use ST_NumPatches/ST_PatchN instead.
Topology bigint	Topology IDs now bigint. Integer functions replaced with bigint versions.
st_approxquantile(raster, double precision)	Removed (ambiguous). Use variant with additional params.

New Functions

Function	Purpose
ST_CoverageClean(geom[])	Clean polygonal coverage — edge match + gap removal (GEOS 3.14)
ST_AsRasterAgg(...)	Aggregate: create raster from geometries
ST_ReclassExact(rast, ...)	Remap exact values in raster
ST_IntersectionFractions(rast, geom)	Raster pixel/geometry intersection fractions (GEOS 3.14)
ValidateTopologyPrecision / MakeTopologyPrecise	Topology precision validation and repair

New SFCGAL Functions (SFCGAL 2.2)

Function	Purpose
CG_Simplify	3D geometry simplification
CG_3DAlphaWrapping	Tight 3D surface around point set
CG_Scale / CG_Translate / CG_Rotate	3D affine transformations
CG_Buffer3D	3D buffering
CG_StraightSkeletonPartition	Partition polygon via straight skeleton

SFCGAL now supports M coordinates (SFCGAL >= 1.5.0).