Why Can't I Enable History Mode for Connections Using Query-Based Replication?

Question

Why can't I enable history mode for my connections that use Query-Based incremental sync method?

Environment

• Connector: PostgreSQL
• Incremental sync method: Query-Based

Answer

If delete capture is turned off, Query-Based relies on a hidden system column that acts as a last_modified column but does not track row deletions. When a row is deleted at the source, it disappears entirely, preventing us from detecting it. For more information, see our PostgreSQL Query-Based documentation.

As a result, it's not possible to enable history mode when you use the Query-Based incremental update method with delete capture disabled. To track deletions and use history mode, you must use a different update method oor enable delete capture. To learn more, see our Updating PostgreSQL data documentation.