postgrest/api.rst

.. role:: sql(code)
   :language: sql

Tables and Views
================

All views and tables in the active schema and accessible by the active database role for a request are available for querying. They are exposed in one-level deep routes. For instance the full contents of a table `people` is returned at

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people HTTP/1.1

There are no deeply/nested/routes. Each route provides OPTIONS, GET, POST, PATCH, and DELETE verbs depending entirely on database permissions.

.. note::

  Why not provide nested routes? Many APIs allow nesting to retrieve related information, such as :code:`/films/1/director`. We offer a more flexible mechanism (inspired by GraphQL) to embed related information. It can handle one-to-many and many-to-many relationships. This is covered in the section about :ref:`resource_embedding`.

.. _h_filter:

Horizontal Filtering (Rows)
---------------------------

You can filter result rows by adding conditions on columns, each condition a query string parameter. For instance, to return people aged under 13 years old:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?age=lt.13 HTTP/1.1

Adding multiple parameters conjoins the conditions:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?age=gte.18&student=is.true HTTP/1.1

These operators are available:

============  =============================================
abbreviation  meaning
============  =============================================
eq            equals
gte           greater than or equal
gt            greater than
lte           less than or equal
lt            less than
neq           not equal
like          LIKE operator (use * in place of %)
ilike         ILIKE operator (use * in place of %)
in            one of a list of values e.g. :code:`?a=in.1,2,3`
is            checking for exact equality (null,true,false)
@@            full-text search using to_tsquery
@>            contains e.g. :code:`?tags=@>.{example, new}`
<@            contained in e.g. :code:`?values=<@{1,2,3}`
not           negates another operator, see below
============  =============================================


To negate any operator, prefix it with :code:`not` like :code:`?a=not.eq.2`.

For more complicated filters (such as those involving disjunctions) you will have to create a new view in the database, or use a stored procedure. For instance, here's a view to show "today's stories" including possibly older pinned stories:

.. code-block:: postgresql

  CREATE VIEW fresh_stories AS
  SELECT *
    FROM stories
   WHERE pinned = true
      OR published > now() - interval '1 day'
  ORDER BY pinned DESC, published DESC;

The view will provide a new endpoint:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /fresh_stories HTTP/1.1

.. note::

  We're working to extend the PostgREST query grammar to allow more complicated boolean logic, while continuing to prevent performance problems from arbitrary client queries.

.. _v_filter:

Vertical Filtering (Columns)
----------------------------

When certain columns are wide (such as those holding binary data), it is more efficient for the server to withold them in a response. The client can specify which columns are required using the :sql:`select` parameter.

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?select=fname,age HTTP/1.1

The default is :sql:`*`, meaning all columns. This value will become more important below in :ref:`resource_embedding`.

.. _computed_cols:

Computed Columns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Filters may be applied to computed columns as well as actual table/view columns, even though the computed columns will not appear in the output. For example, to search first and last names at once we can create a computed column that will not appear in the output but can be used in a filter:

.. code-block:: postgres

  CREATE TABLE people (
    fname text,
    lname text
  );

  CREATE FUNCTION full_name(people) RETURNS text AS $$
    SELECT $1.fname || ' ' || $1.lname;
  $$ LANGUAGE SQL;

  -- (optional) add an index to speed up anticipated query
  CREATE INDEX people_full_name_idx ON people
    USING GIN (to_tsvector('english', full_name(people)));

A full-text search on the computed column:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?full_name=@@.Beckett HTTP/1.1

As mentioned, computed columns do not appear in the output by default. However you can include them by listing them in the vertical filtering :code:`select` param:

.. code-block:: HTTP

  GET /people?select=*,full_name HTTP/1.1

Ordering
--------

The reserved word :sql:`order` reorders the response rows. It uses a comma-separated list of columns and directions:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?order=age.desc,height.asc HTTP/1.1

If no direction is specified it defaults to ascending order:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?order=age HTTP/1.1

If you care where nulls are sorted, add nullsfirst or nullslast:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?order=age.nullsfirst HTTP/1.1

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?order=age.desc.nullslast HTTP/1.1

You can also use :ref:`computed_cols` to order the results, even though the computed columns will not appear in the output.

.. _limits:

Limits and Pagination
---------------------

PostgREST uses HTTP range headers to describe the size of results. Every response contains the current range and, if requested, the total number of results:

.. code-block:: http

  HTTP/1.1 200 OK
  Range-Unit: items
  Content-Range: 0-14/*

Here items zero through fourteen are returned. This information is available in every response and can help you render pagination controls on the client. This is an RFC7233-compliant solution that keeps the response JSON cleaner.

There are two ways to apply a limit and offset rows: through request headers or query params. When using headers you specify the range of rows desired. This request gets the first twenty people.

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people HTTP/1.1
  Range-Unit: items
  Range: 0-19

Note that the server may respond with fewer if unable to meet your request:

.. code-block:: http

  HTTP/1.1 200 OK
  Range-Unit: items
  Content-Range: 0-17/*

You may also request open-ended ranges for an offset with no limit, e.g. :code:`Range: 10-`.

The other way to request a limit or offset is with query parameters. For example

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people?limit=15&offset=30 HTTP/1.1

This method is also useful for embedded resources, which we will cover in another section. The server always responds with range headers even if you use query parameters to limit the query.

In order to obtain the total size of the table or view (such as when rendering the last page link in a pagination control), specify your preference in a request header:


.. code-block:: http

  GET /bigtable HTTP/1.1
  Range-Unit: items
  Range: 0-24
  Prefer: count=exact

Note that the larger the table the slower this query runs in the database. The server will respond with the selected range and total

.. code-block:: http

  HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content
  Range-Unit: items
  Content-Range: 0-24/3573458

Response Format
---------------

PostgREST uses proper HTTP content negotiation (`RFC7231 <https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-5.3>`_) to deliver the desired representation of a resource. That is to say the same API endpoint can respond in different formats like JSON or CSV depending on the client request.

Use the Accept request header to specify the acceptable format (or formats) for the response:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /people HTTP/1.1
  Accept: application/json

The current possibilities are

* \*/\*
* text/csv
* application/json
* application/openapi+json
* application/octet-stream

The server will default to JSON for API endpoints and OpenAPI on the root.

.. _singular_plural:

Singular or Plural
------------------

By default PostgREST returns all JSON results in an array, even when there is only one item. For example, requesting :code:`/items?id=eq.1` returns

.. code:: json

  [
    { "id": 1 }
  ]

This can be inconvenient for client code. To return the first result as an object unenclosed by an array, specify :code:`vnd.pgrst.object` as part of the :code:`Accept` header

.. code:: http

  GET /items?id=eq.1 HTTP/1.1
  Accept: application/vnd.pgrst.object+json

This returns

.. code:: json

  { "id": 1 }

When a singular response is requested but no entries are found, the server responds with an empty body and 404 status code rather than the usual empty array and 200 status.

.. note::

  Many APIs distinguish plural and singular resources using a special nested URL convention e.g. `/stories` vs `/stories/1`. Why do we use `/stories?id=eq.1`? The answer is because a singlular resource is (for us) a row determined by a primary key, and primary keys can be compound (meaning defined across more than one column). The more familiar nested urls consider only a degenerate case of simple and overwhelmingly numeric primary keys. These so-called artificial keys are often introduced automatically by Object Relational Mapping libraries.

  Admittedly PostgREST could detect when there is an equality condition holding on all columns constituting the primary key and automatically convert to singular. However this could lead to a surprising change of format that breaks unwary client code just by filtering on an extra column. Instead we allow manually specifying singular vs plural to decouple that choice from the URL format.

Binary output
-------------

If you want to return raw binary data from a :code:`bytea` column, you must specify :code:`application/octet-stream` as part of the :code:`Accept` header
and select a single column :code:`?select=bin_data`.

.. code:: http

  GET /items?select=bin_data&id=eq.1 HTTP/1.1
  Accept: application/octet-stream

.. note::

  If more than one row would be returned the binary results will be concatenated with no delimiter.

.. _resource_embedding:

Resource Embedding
==================

In addition to providing RESTful routes for each table and view, PostgREST allows related resources to be included together in a single API call. This reduces the need for multiple API requests. The server uses foreign keys to determine which tables and views can be returned together. For example, consider a database of films and their awards:

.. image:: _static/film.png

As seen above in :ref:`v_filter` we can request the titles of all films like this:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /films?select=title HTTP/1.1

This might return something like

.. code-block:: json

  [
    { "title": "Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory In Lyon" },
    { "title": "The Dickson Experimental Sound Film" },
    { "title": "The Haunted Castle" }
  ]

However because a foreign key constraint exists between Films and Directors, we can request this information be included:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /films?select=title,directors{last_name} HTTP/1.1

Which would return

.. code-block:: json

  [
    { "title": "Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory In Lyon",
      "directors": {
        "last_name": "Lumière"
      }
    },
    { "title": "The Dickson Experimental Sound Film",
      "directors": {
        "last_name": "Dickson"
      }
    },
    { "title": "The Haunted Castle",
      "directors": {
        "last_name": "Méliès"
      }
    }
  ]

PostgREST can also detect relations going through join tables. Thus you can request the Actors for Films (which in this case finds the information through Roles). You can also reverse the direction of inclusion, asking for all Directories with each including the list of their Films.

.. note::

  Whenever foreign key relations change in the database schema you must refresh PostgREST's schema cache to allow resource embedding to work properly. See the section :ref:`schema_reloading`.

Embedded Filters and Order
--------------------------

Embedded tables can be filtered and ordered similarly to their top-level counterparts. To to do so prefix the query parameters with the name of the embedded table. For instance to order the actors in each film:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /films?select=*,actors{*}&actors.order=last_name,first_name HTTP/1.1

This sorts the list of actors in each film but does *not* change the order of the films themselves. To filter the roles returned with each film:

.. code-block:: http

  GET /films?select=*,roles{*}&roles.character=in.Chico,Harpo,Groucho HTTP/1.1

Once again, this restricts the roles included to certain characters but does not filter the films in any way. Films without any of those characters would be included along with empty character lists.


Custom Queries
==============

The PostgREST URL grammar limits the kinds of queries clients can perform. It prevents arbitrary, potentially poorly constructed and slow client queries. It's good for quality of service, but means database administrators must create custom views and stored procedures to provide richer endpoints. The most common causes for custom endpoints are

* Table unions and OR-conditions in the where clause
* More complicated joins than those provided by `Resource Embedding`_
* Geospatial queries that require an argument, like "points near (lat,lon)"
* More sophisticated full-text search than a simple use of the :sql:`@@` filter

Stored Procedures
=================

Every stored procedure in the API-exposed database schema is accessible under the :code:`/rpc` prefix. The API endpoint supports only POST which executes the function. Such function can perform any operations allowed by PostgreSQL (read data, modify data, and even DDL operations).

.. code:: http

  POST /rpc/function_name HTTP/1.1

Procedures must be used with `named arguments <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/sql-syntax-calling-funcs.html#SQL-SYNTAX-CALLING-FUNCS-NAMED>`_. To supply arguments in an API call, include a JSON object in the request payload and each key/value of the object will become an argument.

For instance, assume we have created this function in the database.

.. code:: plpgsql

  CREATE FUNCTION add_them(a integer, b integer)
  RETURNS integer AS $$
   SELECT $1 + $2;
  $$ LANGUAGE SQL IMMUTABLE STRICT;

The client can call it by posting an object like

.. code:: http

  POST /rpc/add_them HTTP/1.1

  { "a": 1, "b": 2 }

The keys of the object match the parameter names. Note that PostgreSQL converts parameter names to lowercase unless you quote them like :sql:`CREATE FUNCTION foo("mixedCase" text) ...`. You can also call a function that takes a single parameter of type json by sending the header :code:`Prefer: params=single-object` with your request. That way the JSON request body will be used as the single argument.

.. note::

  We recommend using function arguments of type json to accept arrays from the client. To pass a PostgreSQL native array you'll need to quote it as a string:

  .. code:: http

    POST /rpc/native_array_func HTTP/1.1

    { "arg": "{1,2,3}" }

  .. code:: http

    POST /rpc/json_array_func HTTP/1.1

    { "arg": [1,2,3] }

PostgreSQL has four procedural languages that are part of the core distribution: PL/pgSQL, PL/Tcl, PL/Perl, and PL/Python. There are many other procedural languages distributed as additional extensions. Also, plain SQL can be used to write functions (as shown in the example above).

By default, a function is executed with the privileges of the user who calls it. This means that the user has to have all permissions to do the operations the procedure performs. Another option is to define the function with with the :code:`SECURITY DEFINER` option. Then only one permission check will take place, the permission to call the function, and the operations in the function will have the authority of the user who owns the function itself. See `PostgreSQL documentation <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/sql-createfunction.html>`_ for more details.

.. note::

  Why the `/rpc` prefix? One reason is to avoid name collisions between views and procedures. It also helps emphasize to API consumers that these functions are not normal restful things. The functions can have arbitrary and surprising behavior, not the standard "post creates a resource" thing that users expect from the other routes.

  We are considering allowing GET requests for functions that are marked non-volatile. Allowing GET is important for HTTP caching. However we still must decide how to pass function parameters since request bodies are not allowed. Also some query string arguments are already reserved for shaping/filtering the output.

Complex boolean logic
---------------------

For complex boolean logic you can use stored procedures, an example:

.. code-block:: postgresql

  CREATE FUNCTION key_customers(country TEXT, company TEXT, salary FLOAT) RETURNS SETOF customers AS $$
    SELECT * FROM customers WHERE (country = $1 AND company = $2) OR salary = $3;
  $$ LANGUAGE SQL;

Then you can query by doing:

.. code-block:: http

  POST /rpc/key_customers HTTP/1.1

  { "country": "Germany", "company": "Volkswagen", salary": 120000.00 }

Raising Errors
--------------

Stored procedures can return non-200 HTTP status codes by raising SQL exceptions. For instance, here's a saucy function that always errors:

.. code-block:: postgresql

  CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION just_fail() RETURNS void
    LANGUAGE plpgsql
    AS $$
  BEGIN
    RAISE EXCEPTION 'I refuse!'
      USING DETAIL = 'Pretty simple',
            HINT = 'There is nothing you can do.';
  END
  $$;

Calling the function returns HTTP 400 with the body

.. code-block:: json

  {
    "message":"I refuse!",
    "details":"Pretty simple",
    "hint":"There is nothing you can do.",
    "code":"P0001"
  }

You can customize the HTTP status code by raising particular exceptions according to the PostgREST :ref:`error to status code mapping <status_codes>`. For example, :code:`RAISE insufficient_privilege` will respond with HTTP 401/403 as appropriate.

Insertions / Updates
====================

All tables and `auto-updatable views <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/sql-createview.html#SQL-CREATEVIEW-UPDATABLE-VIEWS>`_ can be modified through the API, subject to permissions of the requester's database role.

To create a row in a database table post a JSON object whose keys are the names of the columns you would like to create. Missing properties will be set to default values when applicable.

.. code:: HTTP

  POST /table_name HTTP/1.1

  { "col1": "value1", "col2": "value2" }

The response will include a :code:`Location` header describing where to find the new object. If the table is write-only then constructing the Location header will cause a permissions error. To successfully insert an item to a write-only table you will need to suppress the Location response header by including the request header :code:`Prefer: return=minimal`.

On the other end of the spectrum you can get the full created object back in the response to your request by including the header :code:`Prefer: return=representation`. That way you won't have to make another HTTP call to discover properties that may have been filled in on the server side. You can also apply the standard :ref:`v_filter` to these results.

.. note::

  When inserting a row you must post a JSON object, not quoted JSON.

  .. code::

    Yes
    { "a": 1, "b": 2 }

    No
    "{ \"a\": 1, \"b\": 2 }"

  Some javascript libraries will post the data incorrectly if you're not careful. For best results try one of the :ref:`clientside_libraries` built for PostgREST.

To update a row or rows in a table, use the PATCH verb. Use :ref:`h_filter` to specify which record(s) to update. Here is an exmaple query setting the :code:`category` column to child for all people below a certain age.

.. code:: HTTP

  PATCH /people?age=lt.13 HTTP/1.1

  { "category": "child" }

Updates also support :code:`Prefer: return=representation` plus :ref:`v_filter`.

.. note::

  Beware of accidentally updating every row in a table. To learn to prevent that see :ref:`block_fulltable`.

Bulk Insert
-----------

Bulk insert works exactly like single row insert except that you provide either a JSON array of objects having uniform keys, or lines in CSV format. This not only minimizes the HTTP requests required but uses a single INSERT statement on the backend for efficiency. Note that using CSV requires less parsing on the server and is much faster.

To bulk insert CSV simply post to a table route with :code:`Content-Type: text/csv` and include the names of the columns as the first row. For instance

.. code:: HTTP

  POST /people HTTP/1.1
  Content-Type: text/csv

  name,age,height
  J Doe,62,70
  Jonas,10,55

An empty field (:code:`,,`) is coerced to an empty string and the reserved word :code:`NULL` is mapped to the SQL null value. Note that there should be no spaces between the column names and commas.

To bulk insert JSON post an array of objects having all-matching keys

.. code:: HTTP

  POST /people HTTP/1.1
  Content-Type: application/json

  [
    { "name": "J Doe", "age": 62, "height": 70 },
    { "name": "Janus", "age": 10, "height": 55 }
  ]

Deletions
=========

To delete rows in a table, use the DELETE verb plus :ref:`h_filter`. For instance deleting inactive users:

.. code-block:: HTTP

  DELETE /user?active=is.false HTTP/1.1

.. note::

  Beware of accidentally delting all rows in a table. To learn to prevent that see :ref:`block_fulltable`.

OpenAPI Support
===============

Every API hosted by PostgREST automatically serves a full `OpenAPI <https://www.openapis.org/>`_ description on the root path. This provides a list of all endpoints, along with supported HTTP verbs and example payloads.

You can use a tool like `Swagger UI <http://swagger.io/swagger-ui/>`_ to create beautiful documentation from the description and to host an interactive web-based dashboard. The dashboard allows developers to make requests against a live PostgREST server, provides guidance with request headers and example request bodies.

.. note::

  The OpenAPI information can go out of date as the schema changes under a running server. To learn how to refresh the cache see :ref:`schema_reloading`.

.. _status_codes:

HTTP Status Codes
=================

PostgREST translates `PostgreSQL error codes <https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/errcodes-appendix.html>`_ into HTTP status as follows:

+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| PostgreSQL error code(s) | HTTP status             | Error description               |
+==========================+=========================+=================================+
| 08*                      | 503                     | pg connection err               |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 09*                      | 500                     | triggered action exception      |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 0L*                      | 403                     | invalid grantor                 |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 0P*                      | 403                     | invalid role specification      |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 23503                    | 409                     | foreign key violation           |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 23505                    | 409                     | uniqueness violation            |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 25*                      | 500                     | invalid transaction state       |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 28*                      | 403                     | invalid auth specification      |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 2D*                      | 500                     | invalid transaction termination |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 38*                      | 500                     | external routine exception      |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 39*                      | 500                     | external routine invocation     |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 3B*                      | 500                     | savepoint exception             |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 40*                      | 500                     | transaction rollback            |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 53*                      | 503                     | insufficient resources          |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 54*                      | 413                     | too complex                     |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 55*                      | 500                     | obj not in prereq state         |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 57*                      | 500                     | operator intervention           |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 58*                      | 500                     | system error                    |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| F0*                      | 500                     | conf file error                 |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| HV*                      | 500                     | foreign data wrapper error      |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| P0001                    | 400                     | default code for "raise"        |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| P0*                      | 500                     | PL/pgSQL error                  |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| XX*                      | 500                     | internal error                  |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 42883                    | 404                     | undefined function              |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 42P01                    | 404                     | undefined table                 |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| 42501                    | if authed 403, else 401 | insufficient privileges         |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+
| other                    | 500                     |                                 |
+--------------------------+-------------------------+---------------------------------+