BUG #18466: Wrong row estimate for nested loop

From: PG Bug reporting form <noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org>
To: pgsql-bugs(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org
Cc: 4wuyan(at)gmail(dot)com
Subject: BUG #18466: Wrong row estimate for nested loop
Date: 2024-05-15 00:28:28
Message-ID: 18466-1d296028273322e2@postgresql.org
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The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference: 18466
Logged by: Yan Wu
Email address: 4wuyan(at)gmail(dot)com
PostgreSQL version: 16.3
Operating system: Debian Linux
Description:

Hello everyone, I notice the row estimate for a nested loop is wrong if a
cte is involved.

## How to reproduce

You can reproduce it in a docker container. I originally saw it on AWS
Aurora.
```bash
docker run --name test-postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -d -p
5432:5432 postgres:16.3
```

Simple table setup
```sql
create table t1(a int);
create table t2(b int);
create index my_index on t1 using btree (a);
insert into t1 select generate_series(1, 100000) from generate_series(1,
3);
insert into t2 select generate_series(1, 100) from generate_series(1, 10);
analyze t1;
analyze t2;

/* Optionally make sure nested loop is used /*
-- set enable_mergejoin = off;
-- set enable_hashjoin = off;
```

The row estimate for the following plan is wrong: 2980 / 200 is not close to
3.
```
postgres=# explain with my_cte as materialized (select b from t2) select *
from t1 where t1.a in (select b from my_cte);
QUERY PLAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nested Loop (cost=37.92..2674.77 rows=2980 width=4)
CTE my_cte
-> Seq Scan on t2 (cost=0.00..15.00 rows=1000 width=4)
-> HashAggregate (cost=22.50..24.50 rows=200 width=4)
Group Key: my_cte.b
-> CTE Scan on my_cte (cost=0.00..20.00 rows=1000 width=4)
-> Index Only Scan using my_index on t1 (cost=0.42..13.15 rows=3
width=4)
Index Cond: (a = my_cte.b)
(8 rows)
```

## Expected output

A simple `distinct` will give the same plan, but with the correct row
estimate:
```
postgres=# explain with my_cte as materialized (select b from t2) select *
from t1 where t1.a in (select distinct b from my_cte);
QUERY PLAN
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nested Loop (cost=37.92..2674.77 rows=596 width=4)
CTE my_cte
-> Seq Scan on t2 (cost=0.00..15.00 rows=1000 width=4)
-> HashAggregate (cost=22.50..24.50 rows=200 width=4)
Group Key: my_cte.b
-> CTE Scan on my_cte (cost=0.00..20.00 rows=1000 width=4)
-> Index Only Scan using my_index on t1 (cost=0.42..13.15 rows=3
width=4)
Index Cond: (a = my_cte.b)
(8 rows)
```

This is my expected output: 596 / 200 is approximately 3.

If you compare the two plans, you can see they are exactly the same plan
with the same cost estimate too. The only difference is `rows=2980` and
`rows=596` for the Nested Loop node. It seems `rows=1000` instead of
`rows=200` is used for the HashAggregate node in the wrong output.

This query is simple and trivial. But it's for demo purpose only. The query
may be a part of a bigger query, and the wrong row estimate can lead to a
bad execution plan for the big query.

## Postgres version

16.3

## Platform information

Latest postgres docker image, which is based on Debian Linux. Originally
found the issue on AWS Aurora.

Responses

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