PostgREST is a standalone web server that turns your PostgreSQL database directly into a RESTful API. The structural constraints and permissions in the database determine the API endpoints and operations.

Motivation

Using PostgREST is an alternative to manual CRUD programming. Custom API servers suffer problems. Writing business logic often duplicates, ignores or hobbles database structure. Object-relational mapping is a leaky abstraction leading to slow imperative code. The PostgREST philosophy establishes a single declarative source of truth: the data itself.

Declarative Programming

It’s easier to ask PostgreSQL to join data for you and let its query planner figure out the details than to loop through rows yourself. It’s easier to assign permissions to db objects than to add guards in controllers. (This is especially true for cascading permissions in data dependencies.) It’s easier to set constraints than to litter code with sanity checks.

Leak-proof Abstraction

There is no ORM involved. Creating new views happens in SQL with known performance implications. A database administrator can now create an API from scratch with no custom programming.

Embracing the Relational Model

In 1970 E. F. Codd criticized the then-dominant hierarchical model of databases in his article A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks. Reading the article reveals a striking similarity between hierarchical databases and nested http routes. With PostgREST we attempt to use flexible filtering and embedding rather than nested routes.

One Thing Well

PostgREST has a focused scope. It works well with other tools like Nginx. This forces you to cleanly separate the data-centric CRUD operations from other concerns. Use a collection of sharp tools rather than building a big ball of mud.

Shared Improvements

As with any open source project, we all gain from features and fixes in the tool. It’s more beneficial than improvements locked inextricably within custom code-bases.

Getting Support

The project has a friendly and growing community. Join our chat room for discussion and help. You can also report or search for bugs/features on the Github issues page.

Supporting development

You can help PostgREST ongoing maintenance and development by:

• Making a regular donation through Patreon
• Alternatively, you can make a one-time donation via Paypal

Every donation will be spent on making PostgREST better for the whole community.

Tutorials

• Tutorial 0 - Get it Running
• Tutorial 1 - The Golden Key

Installation

• Binary Release
• PostgreSQL dependency
• Configuration
• Running the Server
• Docker
• Deploying to Heroku
• Build from Source

API

• Tables and Views
• Unicode Support
• Resource Embedding
• Custom Queries
• Stored Procedures
• Insertions / Updates
• Deletions
• OpenAPI Support
• HTTP Status Codes

Authentication

• Overview of Role System
• Client Auth
• Schema Isolation
• SQL User Management

Administration

• Hardening PostgREST
• Debugging
• Daemonizing
• Alternate URL Structure

Ecosystem

PostgREST has a growing ecosystem of examples, and libraries, experiments, and users. Here is a selection.

Example Apps

• subzerocloud/postgrest-starter-kit - Boilerplate for new project
• NikolayS/postgrest-google-translate - Calling to external translation service
• CodeforAustralia/heritage-near-me - Elm and PostgREST with PostGIS
• timwis/handsontable-postgrest - An excel-like database table editor
• Recmo/PostgrestSkeleton - Docker Compose, PostgREST, Nginx and Auth0
• benoror/ember-postgrest-dynamic-ui - generating Ember forms to edit data
• ruslantalpa/blogdemo - blog api demo in a vagrant image
• timwis/ext-postgrest-crud - browser-based spreadsheet
• srid/chronicle - tracking a tree of personal memories
• diogob/elm-workshop - building a simple database query UI
• marmelab/ng-admin-postgrest - automatic database admin panel
• myfreeweb/moneylog - accounting web app in Polymer + PostgREST
• tyrchen/goodfilm - example film api
• begriffs/postgrest-example - sqitch versioning for API
• SMRxT/postgrest-demo - multi-tenant logging system
• PierreRochard/postgrest-boilerplate - example auth back-end

Client-Side Libraries

• tomberek/aor-postgrest-client - JS, admin-on-rest
• hugomrdias/postgrest-url - JS, just for generating query URLs
• john-kelly/elm-postgrest - Elm
• mithril.postgrest - JS, Mithril
• lewisjared/postgrest-request - JS, SuperAgent
• JarvusInnovations/jarvus-postgrest-apikit - JS, Sencha framework
• davidthewatson/postgrest_python_requests_client - Python
• calebmer/postgrest-client - JS
• clesiemo3/postgrestR - R
• PierreRochard/postgrest-angular - TypeScript, generate UI from API description
• thejettdurham/postgrest-sharp-client (needs maintainer) - C#, RestSharp
• team142/ng-postgrest - Angular app for browsing, editing data exposed over Postgrest.

External Notification

These are PostgreSQL bridges that propagate LISTEN/NOTIFY to external queues for further processing. This allows stored procedures to initiate actions outside the database such as sending emails.

• diogob/postgres-websockets - expose web sockets for PostgreSQL’s LISTEN/NOTIFY
• frafra/postgresql2websocket - Websockets
• matthewmueller/pg-bridge - Amazon SNS
• aweber/pgsql-listen-exchange - RabbitMQ
• SpiderOak/skeeter - ZeroMQ
• FGRibreau/postgresql-to-amqp - AMQP
• daurnimator/pg-kinesis-bridge - Amazon Kinesis

Extensions

• pg-safeupdate - Prevent full-table updates or deletes
• srid/spas - allow file uploads and basic auth
• svmnotn/postgrest-auth - OAuth2-inspired external auth server
• wildsurfer/postgrest-oauth-server - OAuth2 server
• nblumoe/postgrest-oauth - OAuth2 WAI middleware
• criles25/postgrest-auth - email based auth/signup
• ppKrauss/PostgREST-writeAPI - generate Nginx rewrite rules to fit an OpenAPI spec

Commercial

• subZero - Automated GraphQL & REST API with built-in caching (powered in part by PostgREST)

In Production

• triggerFS - A realtime messaging and distributed trigger system
• Moat
• Catarse
• Redsmin
• Image-charts
• MotionDynamic - Fast highly dynamic video generation at scale
• Drip Depot
• OpenBooking
• Convene by Thomson-Reuters
• eGull
• Elyios

Testimonials

“It’s so fast to develop, it feels like cheating!”

—François-G. Ribreau

“I just have to say that, the CPU/Memory usage compared to our Node.js/Waterline ORM based API is ridiculous. It’s hard to even push it over 60/70 MB while our current API constantly hits 1GB running on 6 instances (dynos).”

—Louis Brauer

“I really enjoyed the fact that all of a sudden I was writing microservices in SQL DDL (and v8 javascript functions). I dodged so much boilerplate. The next thing I knew, we pulled out a full rewrite of a Spring+MySQL legacy app in 6 months. Literally 10x faster, and code was super concise. The old one took 3 years and a team of 4 people to develop.”

—Simone Scarduzio

“I like the fact that PostgREST does one thing, and one thing well. While PostgREST takes care of bridging the gap between our HTTP server and PostgreSQL database, we can focus on the development of our API in a single language: SQL. This puts the database in the center of our architecture, and pushed us to improve our skills in SQL programming and database design.”

—Eric Bréchemier, Data Engineer, eGull SAS