Why babar?

See also: Get started, the Book.

babar is a Rust client for Postgres. The project is organized around a simple idea: one clear shape for each database task.

Connect, run a typed query, run a command, stream a result, manage a transaction, hold a pool, ingest with COPY, run migrations — each task has a small surface area, and the codec layer stays explicit when you need it.

Three pillars

Ergonomic by design

Read it once, understand it forever. Queries are typed values, commands are typed values, and codecs are imported by name when you work at the raw layer.

Postgres at heart

babar speaks Postgres directly: extended-protocol prepares, binary results, SCRAM-SHA-256, channel binding over TLS, and binary COPY FROM STDIN for bulk ingest.

Built for the herd

A single background task owns the socket and serializes wire I/O, so public calls stay cancellation-safe. Pools, statement caches, and tracing spans are part of the design.

What “typed query” means here

In babar, a Query<Params, Row> is a runtime value. It carries:

• SQL text
• a parameter encoder for Params
• a row decoder for Row

The schema-aware path uses schema!, query!, and command! to build those runtime values from authored schema facts and SQL. The explicit fallback path uses Query::raw, Query::raw_with, Command::raw, and Command::raw_with when you want to provide codecs yourself.

Where to read next

• Design principles — typed boundaries, validation, and runtime model.
• The driver task — how the background task keeps the socket consistent.
• Comparisons — trade-offs against other Rust Postgres clients.
• The typed-SQL macro pipeline — how the public typed-SQL surface is assembled.