Building Safe PostgreSQL Extensions with Rust - Introducing pg_where_guard
Database safety is a critical concern for any production system. Accidental data loss from DELETE
or UPDATE
statements without WHERE
clauses can be catastrophic. Today, I’ll introduce pg_where_guard, a PostgreSQL extension built with Rust and the pgrx framework that prevents these dangerous operations.
What is pg_where_guard?
pg_where_guard is a PostgreSQL extension that acts as a safety net for your database by intercepting and blocking potentially dangerous SQL operations:
- DELETE Protection: Prevents
DELETE FROM table
without WHERE clause - UPDATE Protection: Prevents
UPDATE table SET ...
without WHERE clause - CTE Support: Recursively checks Common Table Expressions
- Hook Integration: Uses PostgreSQL’s
post_parse_analyze_hook
for query interception - Memory Safe: Written in Rust with pgrx for safety and performance
Why Rust for PostgreSQL Extensions?
Building PostgreSQL extensions traditionally meant working with C and dealing with manual memory management, potential segmentation faults, and complex debugging. Rust changes this paradigm by offering:
Performance
Zero-cost abstractions mean Rust code performs as well as equivalent C code while being much safer.