[gomoboo]

pg_repack gets rid of the need to lock tables for the duration of the vacuum: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Appen...

It is an extension though so downside there is it not being included in most Postgres installs. I’ve used it at work and it felt like a superpower getting the benefits of a vacuum full without all the usual drama.

[take-five]

pg_repack can generate a lot of WAL, which can generate so much traffic that standby servers can fall behind too much and never recover.

We've been using https://github.com/dataegret/pgcompacttable to clean up bloat without impacting stability/performance as much as pg_repack does.