Circular Foreign Keys With NOT NULL Columns Can Permanently Block Database Seeding

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A circular foreign key relationship occurs when two or more tables reference each other, and the problem becomes critical when every foreign key column in the cycle is defined as NOT NULL. In such cases, inserting even a single row is impossible because each insert requires a row in the other table that does not yet exist. The issue does not surface during schema creation or code review but only when seeding a completely empty database, such as a new staging environment or a contributor's local setup. The problem dates back at least to 2000, when a similar issue was raised on the PostgreSQL mailing list. Developers can resolve it by making one column nullable, using deferred constraint checking within a transaction, or restructuring the relationship through a third table.

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