> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connections In Use, PostgreSQL

> Connections In Use for PostgreSQL databases. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

**Card class:** [Non-Hero](/nerve-centre/overview#card-classes-explained)  •  **Category:** [Capacity](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type)

## At a glance

> **Connections In Use** is the live count of backend connections currently open to your PostgreSQL instance, read in real time. It is the raw numerator behind connection-pool saturation: how many of your finite `max_connections` slots are occupied right now. Watching it against your configured ceiling tells a platform team how much connection headroom is left before clients start being turned away.

## What it tracks

The card reports Connections In Use for the selected period, sourced from `pg_stat_activity` (one row per backend) measured against the instance's `max_connections` setting. Every active query, idle session, idle-in-transaction backend, and replication connection occupies a slot, so this figure is the live occupancy of your connection capacity. It is a real-time (`RT`) reading rather than an aggregated window, so it reflects the count at the moment of sampling. Because the number on its own does not say whether you are close to the limit, read it next to [Connection Pool Saturation %](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/postgresql/connection-pool-saturation) (the same count expressed as a percentage of `max_connections`) and [Idle-in-Transaction Backends](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/postgresql/idle-in-transaction-backends) (the slots being wasted by stuck transactions). A steadily climbing in-use count with flat traffic is a classic sign of a client leaking connections, and a count near the ceiling is what precedes [Connection Errors (24h)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/postgresql/connection-errors-24h). This is a Capacity card with no alert threshold of its own; the alerting lives on the saturation and error cards.

## Reconciling against the source

Reconcile against PostgreSQL's own tooling with `SELECT count(*) FROM pg_stat_activity;` compared to `SHOW max_connections;`. On managed services, cross-check the RDS / Aurora `DatabaseConnections` CloudWatch metric, the Cloud SQL `database/postgresql/num_backends` metric, or the Azure Monitor `active_connections` metric.

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### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

*Connections In Use* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across PostgreSQL and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

[Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.