info

The LOCALTIME function behavior covered here is standard PostgreSQL and works the same whether you're running Postgres yourself or on any managed service. If you're an enterprise looking for managed Postgres built for the AI era, Lakebase delivers performance, security, and native integration with the Lakehouse. If you're a developer or startup who needs to ship and scale quickly, Neon gives you the fastest path from idea to production on Postgres.

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL LOCALTIME function to return the current time at which the current transaction starts.

Introduction to PostgreSQL LOCALTIME function

The LOCALTIME() function returns the current time at which the current transaction starts.

Here’s the basic syntax of the LOCALTIME function:

LOCALTIME(precision)

The LOCALTIME function takes one optional argument:

1) precision

The precision argument specifies fractional seconds precision of the second field.

If you omit the precision argument, it defaults to 6.

The LOCALTIME function returns a TIME value that represents the time at which the current transaction starts.

Note that the LOCATIME function returns a TIME without time zone whereas the CURRENT_TIME function returns a TIME with the timezone.

PostgreSQL LOCALTIME function examples

Let’s take some examples of using the LOCALTIME function.

1) Basic PostgreSQL LOCALTIME function example

The following example uses the LOCALTIME function to get the time of the current transaction:

SELECT LOCALTIME;

Output:

localtime
-----------------
 16:37:59.950622
(1 row)

2) Using the PostgreSQL LOCALTIME function with fractional seconds precision

The following example uses the LOCALTIME(2) function to get the time with a specified fractional seconds precision:

SELECT LOCALTIME(2);

Output:

localtime
-------------
 16:38:07.97
(1 row)

Summary

  • Use the PostgreSQL LOCALTIME function to get the time at which the current transaction starts.