pg-tx - Transactions for node-postgres

This package implements transactions on top of node-postgres, based on this answer, but improved to remove a class of subtle bugs.

Features

• No use-after-release bugs
• Automatic transactions-inside-transactions with savepoints
• Can be used with either Pool or PoolClient

Usage

import tx from `pg-tx`

const pg = new Pool()

await tx(pg, async (db) => {
  await db.query(`UPDATE accounts SET money = money - 50 WHERE name = 'bob'`)
  await db.query(`UPDATE accounts SET money = money + 50 WHERE name = 'alice'`)
})

await tx(pg, async (db) => {
  await db.query(`UPDATE accounts SET money = money - 50 WHERE name = 'bob'`)
  await db.query(`UPDATE accounts SET money = money + 50 WHERE name = 'debbie'`)

  // Any errors thrown inside the callback will terminate the transaction
  throw new Error(`screw Debbie`)
})

// You can also use it with other packages that use Pool or PoolClient, like pgtyped
import { sql } from '@pgtyped/query'

const updateAccount = sql<IUpdateAccountQuery>`
  UPDATE accounts
  SET money = momey + $delta
  WHERE name = $name
`

await tx(pg, async(db) => {
  await udpateAccount.run({ name: 'bob', delta: -50 })
  await udpateAccount.run({ name: 'charlie', delta: 50 })
})

Why use this package

Naive approach to pg transactions, featured in this answer and used in many projects looks like this:

// DO NOT USE THIS CODE
export default async function tx<T>(
    pg: Pool,
    callback: (db: PoolClient) => Promise<T>
): Promise<T> {
    const client = await pg.connect()
    await client.query(`BEGIN`)

    try {
        const result = await callback(client)
        await client.query(`COMMIT`)
        return result
    } catch (e) {
        await client.query(`ROLLBACK`)
        throw e
    } finally {
        client.release()
    }
}

However, this approach contains a subtle bug, because the client it passes to the callback stays valid after transaction finishes (successfully or not), and can be unknowingly used. In essence, it's a variation of use-after-free bug, but with database clients instead of memory.

Here's a demonstration of code that can trigger this condition:

async function failsQuickly(db: PoolClient) {
  await db.query(`This query has an error`)
}

async function executesSlowly(db: PoolClient) {
  // Takes a couple of seconds to complete
  await externalApiCall()
  // This operation will be executed OUTSIDE of transaction block!
  await db.query(`
    UPDATE external_api_calls 
    SET amount = amount + 1 
    WHERE service = 'some_service'
  `)
}

await tx(pg, async (db) => {
  await Promise.all([
    failsQuickly(db),
    executesSlowly(db)
  ])
})

To prevent this, we use ProxyClient, which implements a disposable pattern. After the client has been released, any attempts to use it will throw an error.

Development

To run tests, specify POSTGRES_URL in .env file like this:

POSTGRES_URL="postgres://postgres:password@127.0.0.1:5432/test-db"