pg_net: Async Networking

pg_net is a PostgreSQL extension exposing a SQL interface for async networking with a focus on scalability and UX.

It differs from the http extension in that it is asynchronous by default. This makes it useful in blocking functions (like triggers).

Enable the extension#

http_get#

Creates an HTTP GET request returning the request's ID. HTTP requests are not started until the transaction is committed.

Signature #

net.http_get(
    -- url for the request
    url text,
    -- key/value pairs to be url encoded and appended to the `url`
    params jsonb default '{}'::jsonb,
    -- key/values to be included in request headers
    headers jsonb default '{}'::jsonb,
    -- WARNING: this is currently ignored, so there is no timeout
    -- the maximum number of milliseconds the request may take before being cancelled
    timeout_milliseconds int default 1000
)
    -- request_id reference
    returns bigint

    strict
    volatile
    parallel safe
    language plpgsql

Usage #

select net.http_get('https://news.ycombinator.com') as request_id;
request_id
----------
         1
(1 row)

After triggering http_get, use http_get_result to get the result of the request.

http_post#

Creates an HTTP POST request with a JSON body, returning the request's ID. HTTP requests are not started until the transaction is committed.

The body's character set encoding matches the database's server_encoding setting.

Signature #

net.http_post(
    -- url for the request
    url text,
    -- body of the POST request
    body jsonb default '{}'::jsonb,
    -- key/value pairs to be url encoded and appended to the `url`
    params jsonb default '{}'::jsonb,
    -- key/values to be included in request headers
    headers jsonb default '{"Content-Type": "application/json"}'::jsonb,
    -- WARNING: this is currently ignored, so there is no timeout
    -- the maximum number of milliseconds the request may take before being cancelled
    timeout_milliseconds int default 1000
)
    -- request_id reference
    returns bigint

    volatile
    parallel safe
    language plpgsql

Usage #

select
    net.http_post(
        url:='https://httpbin.org/post',
        body:='{"hello": "world"}'::jsonb
    ) as request_id;
request_id
----------
         1
(1 row)

After triggering http_post, use http_get_result to get the result of the request.

Examples#

Invoke a Supabase Edge Function#

Make a POST request to a Supabase Edge Function with auth header and JSON body payload:

select
    net.http_post(
        url:='https://project-ref.functions.supabase.co/function-name',
        headers:='{"Content-Type": "application/json", "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_ANON_KEY"}'::jsonb,
        body:='{"name": "pg_net"}'::jsonb
    ) as request_id;

Resources#

• Source code: github.com/supabase/pg_net
• Official Docs: supabase.github.io/pg_net