--- title: Using Rust and Postgres for everything: patterns learned... description: A practitioner shares battle-tested patterns for building backend services with Rust and PostgreSQL, covering: using sqlx over ORMs for type-safe SQL with... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Using Rust and Postgres for everything: patterns learned over the years | daily.dev og:description: A practitioner shares battle-tested patterns for building backend services with Rust and PostgreSQL, covering: using sqlx over ORMs for type-safe SQL with... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/f5Lynsm5X.png og:image:alt: Using Rust and Postgres for everything: patterns learned over the years og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Using Rust and Postgres for everything: patterns learned over the years **[Sylvain Kerkour](https://daily.dev/sources/kerkour)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A practitioner shares battle-tested patterns for building backend services with Rust and PostgreSQL, covering: using sqlx over ORMs for type-safe SQL with compile-time query validation, batching inserts/updates via UNNEST with sqlx 0.9+ iterator binding, implementing leader election with PostgreSQL advisory locks, replacing Redis with PostgreSQL UNLOGGED tables for ephemeral data, and using PostgreSQL as a job queue with UUID v7 IDs and FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED. A real-world rewrite from Go to Rust is cited: batch jobs dropped from ~30 minutes to under 5 minutes, and RAM usage fell from 4 GB to 512 MB. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I batch insert multiple rows in Rust using sqlx with PostgreSQL? With sqlx 0.9+, you can bind iterators directly using `.bind_iter()` and pass arrays to PostgreSQL via UNNEST. The pattern is: build a query using `INSERT INTO ... SELECT * FROM UNNEST($1::UUID[], $2::TEXT[])`, then bind each column as an iterator over your slice. Batches should be capped at around 10,000 rows to avoid overloading the database. _Rust developers handling bulk writes track sqlx patterns and releases on daily.dev._ ### How do I implement leader election in a horizontally scaled Rust backend using PostgreSQL? Use PostgreSQL advisory locks via `pg_try_advisory_lock($1)`. Acquire a connection from the pool, call the lock function with a fixed integer ID, and if it returns true the instance is leader. The lock is held as long as the connection is open — dropping the connection releases it and allows another instance to become leader. Poll in a loop with a sleep interval until the lock is acquired. _Teams running stateless, horizontally scaled Rust services share architecture decisions like this on daily.dev._ ### Can I use PostgreSQL as a job queue instead of Redis or a dedicated queue service? PostgreSQL works well as a job queue when you use UUID v7 as job IDs (to avoid index fragmentation) and `FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED` in the pull query to prevent multiple workers from claiming the same job. A status column (Queued/Running/Failed) and a `failed_attempts` counter handle retries. This eliminates the need for a separate stateful service like Redis or RabbitMQ. _Developers simplifying their stack by replacing Redis with PostgreSQL find real-world trade-offs discussed on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Building scalable backend services with Rust and PostgreSQL](https://daily.dev/posts/building-scalable-backend-services-with-rust-and-postgresql-tlwj69w1v) · Sylvain Kerkour · 6 upvotes · 3 comments - [Rebuilding Postgres for 300x faster analytics: batching, operator fusion, and SIMD](https://daily.dev/posts/rebuilding-postgres-for-300x-faster-analytics-batching-operator-fusion-and-simd-tgtpnmlyi) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why I Chose Rust for 0xInsider](https://daily.dev/posts/why-i-chose-rust-for-0xinsider-bzitxczjz) · Trevor Lasn · 21 upvotes · 6 comments --- Tags: [#backend](https://daily.dev/tags/backend), [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust), [#postgresql](https://daily.dev/tags/postgresql) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Using Rust and Postgres for everything: patterns learned over the years","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:53:56.239Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T09:18:04.938Z","description":"A practitioner shares battle-tested patterns for building backend services with Rust and PostgreSQL, covering: using sqlx over ORMs for type-safe SQL with...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--qPvKM23u--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2009","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--qPvKM23u--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2009","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Sylvain Kerkour","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Sylvain Kerkour","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--3ngWt4Yp--/f_auto,q_auto/v1786438308/logos/kerkour?_a=BAMAMicg0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/kerkour"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"backend,rust,postgresql","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sylvain Kerkour","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/kerkour"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Using Rust and Postgres for everything: patterns learned over the years"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/using-rust-and-postgres-for-everything-patterns-learned-over-the-years-f5lynsm5x#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I batch insert multiple rows in Rust using sqlx with PostgreSQL?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"With sqlx 0.9+, you can bind iterators directly using `.bind_iter()` and pass arrays to PostgreSQL via UNNEST. 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