Why Fake PostgreSQL Test Data Misses Real Bugs

Most development teams encounter production bugs not from insufficient tests but from unrealistic test data—fake names, missing NULLs, and tiny datasets that don't reflect real-world conditions. Common approaches like seed scripts and pg_dump each have drawbacks: seed scripts rot as schemas evolve, while full dumps are too large and expose PII. The recommended pattern is to subset production data by following foreign keys, anonymize sensitive fields inline, and restore reproducible snapshots for local dev and CI.