chore: use pgvector/pgvector for all local Postgres containers

make docker-postgres (and benchmark/staging seed helpers) default to
pgvector/pgvector:pg16 and ensure CREATE EXTENSION vector on start.

Author: northdpole

AGENTS.md

@@ -25,12 +25,13 @@ Use Makefile targets — do not hand-roll `docker run`:
 ```bash
 make docker-neo4j      # Neo4j (7474/7687)
 make docker-redis      # Redis Stack (6379/8001)
-make docker-postgres   # local Postgres (5432, cre/password)
+make docker-postgres   # local Postgres+pgvector (5432, cre/password)
 make start-containers  # neo4j + redis only
 make migrate-upgrade   # after postgres is up
 ```
 
-Reset volumes: `make docker-neo4j-rm` / `make docker-redis-rm`.
+Reset volumes: `make docker-neo4j-rm` / `make docker-redis-rm` / `make docker-postgres-rm`.
+Local Postgres is **`pgvector/pgvector:pg16`** by default (`POSTGRES_IMAGE` override). Plain `postgres` images are not supported for app DB use — `embedding_vec` / chat / Librarian need the `vector` extension.
 
 ### Imports and Neo4j populate
 

Makefile

@@ -25,9 +25,43 @@ docker-redis:
 	docker start cre-redis-stack 2>/dev/null ||\
 	docker run -d --name cre-redis-stack -p 6379:6379 -p 8001:8001 redis/redis-stack:latest
 
+# Local app DB — always pgvector (embedding_vec / Librarian / chat similarity).
+POSTGRES_IMAGE ?= pgvector/pgvector:pg16
+
+docker-postgres-rm:
+	-docker stop cre-postgres
+	-docker rm -f cre-postgres
+
 docker-postgres:
-	docker start cre-postgres 2>/dev/null ||\
-	docker run -d --name cre-postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password -e POSTGRES_USER=cre -e POSTGRES_DB=cre -p 5432:5432 postgres
+	@wanted="$(POSTGRES_IMAGE)"; \
+	if docker inspect cre-postgres >/dev/null 2>&1; then \
+		have=$$(docker inspect -f '{{.Config.Image}}' cre-postgres); \
+		if [ "$$have" = "$$wanted" ]; then \
+			docker start cre-postgres >/dev/null; \
+		else \
+			echo "Recreating cre-postgres (was $$have → $$wanted)"; \
+			docker stop cre-postgres >/dev/null 2>&1 || true; \
+			docker rm -f cre-postgres >/dev/null 2>&1 || true; \
+			docker run -d --name cre-postgres \
+				-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password \
+				-e POSTGRES_USER=cre \
+				-e POSTGRES_DB=cre \
+				-p 5432:5432 \
+				"$$wanted"; \
+		fi; \
+	else \
+		docker run -d --name cre-postgres \
+			-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password \
+			-e POSTGRES_USER=cre \
+			-e POSTGRES_DB=cre \
+			-p 5432:5432 \
+			"$$wanted"; \
+	fi; \
+	for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20; do \
+		docker exec cre-postgres pg_isready -U cre -d cre >/dev/null 2>&1 && break; \
+		sleep 1; \
+	done; \
+	docker exec cre-postgres psql -U cre -d cre -c "CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;" >/dev/null
 
 start-containers: docker-neo4j docker-redis
 

scripts/run_benchmark.sh

@@ -39,12 +39,13 @@ setup_db() {
     echo "Setting up DB in container $container on port $port"
     docker stop "$container" 2>/dev/null || true
     docker rm -v "$container" 2>/dev/null || true
-    docker run -d --name "$container" -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password -e POSTGRES_USER=cre -e POSTGRES_DB=cre -p "$port:5432" postgres
+    docker run -d --name "$container" -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password -e POSTGRES_USER=cre -e POSTGRES_DB=cre -p "$port:5432" "${POSTGRES_IMAGE:-pgvector/pgvector:pg16}"
 
     echo "Waiting for $container to be ready..."
     until docker exec "$container" pg_isready -U cre -d cre; do
       sleep 1
     done
+    docker exec "$container" psql -U cre -d cre -c "CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;" >/dev/null
 
     echo "Running migrations for $container..."
     [ -d "./venv" ] && . ./venv/bin/activate

scripts/setup-heroku-staging.sh

@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ ensure_local_postgres_if_needed() {
       -e POSTGRES_USER="${LOCAL_PG_USER}" \
       -e POSTGRES_DB="${LOCAL_PG_DB}" \
       -p "${LOCAL_PG_PORT}:5432" \
-      postgres:16 >/dev/null
+      "${LOCAL_PG_IMAGE:-pgvector/pgvector:pg16}" >/dev/null
   fi
 
   local ready=0
@@ -249,6 +249,8 @@ ensure_local_postgres_if_needed() {
     sleep 1
   done
   [[ "${ready}" == "1" ]] || die "Local postgres docker did not become ready in time"
+  docker exec "${LOCAL_PG_CONTAINER}" psql -U "${LOCAL_PG_USER}" -d "${LOCAL_PG_DB}" \
+    -c "CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;" >/dev/null
 }
 
 copy_env_from_prod() {