PostgreSQL boolean function for "does this database exist"?

Question

Is there a PostgreSQL function which takes a string/text and returns true if the database exists, and false otherwise?

PostgresSQL v12+, based on default postgresql versions in Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04 & 22.04..

• jian: in psql you can use \l

Answer 1

There is no builtin method, but you can run a SELECT query to get that. You need to connect to some database, e.g. postgres

select exists (select * from pg_database where datname = 'the_name');