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

# v1.3.0

> pgstream v1.3.0 release notes

**Release Date:** July 30th, 2026

pgstream v1.3.0 is a small minor release. It validates and documents running both the snapshot and the replication phases against a physical read replica instead of the primary, and fixes an encoding bug that turned empty strings into null bytes. No migration is required.

## Snapshot and Stream From a Read Replica

[PR #1049](https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/pull/1049), by [@tsg](https://github.com/tsg).

Running pgstream against a physical streaming replica keeps the load — and the long-running transaction a snapshot holds — off the primary. This release adds integration test coverage for that setup and a guide covering what it requires: PostgreSQL 16 or later, `wal_level = logical` on both the primary and the replica (the replica does not inherit it), `hot_standby_feedback = on`, the wal2json plugin installed on the replica's host, and a single-instance endpoint rather than a load-balanced reader.

See [Running pgstream from a read replica](https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/blob/main/docs/replicas.md) for the full setup.

## Bug Fixes

* **Empty strings are no longer encoded as null bytes** ([PR #1051](https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/pull/1051)), by [@tsg](https://github.com/tsg).

## Upgrade

No configuration changes are required. Replace the binary and restart pgstream.

## Support

* Issues: [https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/issues](https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/issues)
* Documentation: [https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/tree/main/docs](https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/tree/main/docs)
* Discussions: [https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/discussions](https://github.com/xataio/pgstream/discussions)