backend-async

--- name: backend-async description: Production-ready async patterns using Axum, Tokio, and Solana clients for building backend services, indexers, and APIs. --- # Backend Async Patterns (Rust) Production-ready async patterns using Axum 0.8+, Tokio, and Solana clients for building backend services, indexers, and APIs. ## Modern Stack (2026) - **Axum 0.8+**: Web framework (no more `#[async_trait]` needed!) - **Tokio 1.40+**: Async runtime - **Tower**: Middleware (compression, tracing, timeouts) - **sqlx**: Async database with compile-time checked queries - **solana-client**: Async Solana RPC client - **Redis**: Caching layer for RPC responses ## Axum 0.8 Server Setup ### Basic Server Pattern ```rust use axum::{ Router, routing::{get, post}, extract::{State, Path}, response::IntoResponse, http::StatusCode, Json, }; use tokio::net::TcpListener; use tower_http::{ trace::TraceLayer, compression::CompressionLayer, }; #[derive(Clone)] struct AppState { db: sqlx::PgPool, solana_client: Arc<RpcClient>, redis: redis::Client, } #[tokio::main] async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> { // Tracing setup tracing_subscriber::fmt::init(); // Database pool let db = sqlx::postgres::PgPoolOptions::new() .max_connections(50) .connect(&env::var("DATABASE_URL")?) .await?; // Solana client let solana_client = Arc::new(RpcClient::new_with_commitment( env::var("SOLANA_RPC_URL")?, CommitmentConfig::confirmed(), )); // Redis for caching let redis = redis::Client::open(env::var("REDIS_URL")?)?; let state = AppState { db, solana_client, redis }; // Axum 0.8: New path syntax with {} let app = Router::new() .route("/health", get(health_check)) .route("/api/accounts/{pubkey}", get(get_account)) .route("/api/transactions", post(submit_transaction)) .route("/api/program/{program_id}/accounts", get(get_program_accounts)) .layer(TraceLayer::new_for_http()) .layer(CompressionLayer::new()) .with_state(state); let listener = TcpListener::bind("0.0.0.0:3000").await?; tracing::info!("Server listening on {}", listener.local_addr()?); axum::serve(listener, app).await?; Ok(()) } ``` ## Handler Patterns (No #[async_trait] Needed!) ### Modern Handler (Rust 1.75+) ```rust use axum::extract::{State, Path, Json}; use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize}; // ✅ MODERN - No #[async_trait] macro needed! async fn get_user( State(state): State<AppState>, Path(user_id): Path<i64>, ) -> Result<Json<User>, AppError> { let user = sqlx::query_as!( User, "SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = $1", user_id ) .fetch_one(&state.db) .await?; Ok(Json(user)) } async fn create_user( State(state): State<AppState>, Json(payload): Json<CreateUserRequest>, ) -> Result<(StatusCode, Json<User>), AppError> { let user = sqlx::query_as!( User, r#" INSERT INTO users (name, wallet_address) VALUES ($1, $2) RETURNING * "#, payload.name, payload.wallet_address, ) .fetch_one(&state.db) .await?; Ok((StatusCode::CREATED, Json(user))) } ``` ## Error Handling Pattern ### Custom Error Type with IntoResponse ```rust use axum::{ response::{IntoResponse, Response}, http::StatusCode, Json, }; use serde_json::json; #[derive(Debug)] pub enum AppError { Database(sqlx::Error), Solana(solana_client::client_error::ClientError), NotFound(String), InvalidInput(String), Internal(String), } impl IntoResponse for AppError { fn into_response(self) -> Response { let (status, message) = match self { AppError::Database(e) => { tracing::error!("Database error: {:?}", e); (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, "Database error".to_string()) } AppError::Solana(e) => { tracing::error!("Solana RPC error: {:?}", e); (StatusCode::BAD_GATEWAY, "Solana RPC error".to_string()) } AppError::NotFound(msg) => (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, msg), AppError::InvalidInput(msg) => (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, msg), AppError::Internal(msg) => { tracing::error!("Internal error: {}", msg); (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, "Internal error".to_string()) } }; (status, Json(json!({ "error": message }))).into_response() } } // Automatic error conversions impl From<sqlx::Error> for AppError { fn from(e: sqlx::Error) -> Self { AppError::Database(e) } } impl From<solana_client::client_error::ClientError> for AppError { fn from(e: solana_client::client_error::ClientError) -> Self { AppError::Solana(e) } } pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, AppError>; ``` ## Solana Client Integration ### Async Solana RPC Calls ```rust use solana_client::rpc_client::RpcClient; use solana_sdk::{ pubkey::Pubkey, commitment_config::CommitmentConfig, }; async fn get_account_data( State(state): State<AppState>, Path(pubkey): Path<String>, ) -> Result<Json<AccountData>> { // Parse pubkey let pubkey = pubkey.parse::<Pubkey>() .map_err(|_| AppError::InvalidInput("Invalid Solana address".into()))?; // Fetch account (blocks async runtime, use spawn_blocking!) let solana_client = state.solana_client.clone(); let account = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || { solana_client.get_account(&pubkey) }) .await .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("Task join error: {}", e)))? .map_err(AppError::Solana)?; Ok(Json(AccountData { pubkey: pubkey.to_string(), lamports: account.lamports, owner: account.owner.to_string(), })) } ``` ### Anchor Program Client Integration ```rust use anchor_client::{ Client, Cluster, Program, }; use solana_sdk::signature::Keypair; async fn call_program_instruction( state: &AppState, authority: &Keypair, ) -> Result<String> { // Setup client (blocking operation!) let client = tokio::task::spawn_blocking({ let authority = authority.insecure_clone(); move || { Client::new_with_options( Cluster::Mainnet, Rc::new(authority), CommitmentConfig::confirmed(), ) } }).await.map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(e.to_string()))?; let program = client.program(program_id) .map_err(|e| AppError::Solana(e))?; // Call instruction let signature = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || { program .request() .accounts(/* ... */) .args(/* ... */) .send() }) .await .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(e.to_string()))? .map_err(AppError::Solana)?; Ok(signature.to_string()) } ``` ## Avoiding Blocking Operations ### CRITICAL: Don't block the async runtime! ```rust // ❌ BAD - blocks async runtime async fn bad_handler() -> Result<String> { let content = std::fs::read_to_string("file.txt")?; // BLOCKING! Ok(content) } // ✅ GOOD - async file I/O async fn good_async() -> Result<String> { let content = tokio::fs::read_to_string("file.txt").await?; Ok(content) } // ✅ GOOD - spawn_blocking for CPU-intensive work async fn good_blocking() -> Result<u64> { let result = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(|| { expensive_computation() // CPU-intensive }).await?; Ok(result) } ``` ### Latency Guidelines - **<10μs**: Fine in async - **10-100μs**: Consider async alternatives - **>100μs**: MUST use `spawn_blocking` ## Database Patterns ### Compile-Time Checked Queries ```rust use sqlx::{PgPool, FromRow}; #[derive(FromRow, Serialize)] struct Transaction { id: i64, signature: String, amount: i64, created_at: chrono::DateTime<chrono::Utc>, } async fn get_recent_transactions( State(state): State<AppState>, Path(limit): Path<i64>, ) -> Result<Json<Vec<Transaction>>> { // sqlx checks this query at compile time! let txs = sqlx::query_as!( Transaction, r#" SELECT id, signature, amount, created_at FROM transactions ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT $1 "#, limit ) .fetch_all(&state.db) .await?; Ok(Json(txs)) } ``` ### Transaction Pattern ```rust use sqlx::{Postgres, Transaction as SqlxTransaction}; async fn complex_operation( db: &PgPool, user_id: i64, amount: i64, ) -> Result<()> { // Start transaction let mut tx: SqlxTransaction<Postgres> = db.begin().await?; // Multiple operations atomically sqlx::query!( "UPDATE accounts SET balance = balance - $1 WHERE user_id = $2", amount, user_id, ) .execute(&mut *tx) .await?; sqlx::query!( "INSERT INTO transactions (user_id, amount, type) VALUES ($1, $2, $3)", user_id, amount, "withdrawal", ) .execute(&mut *tx) .await?; // Commit (or automatic rollback on error) tx.commit().await?; Ok(()) } ``` ## Caching Pattern ### Redis Integration ```rust use redis::AsyncCommands; async fn get_cached_account( state: &AppState, pubkey: &Pubkey, ) -> Result<AccountInfo> { let key = format!("account:{}", pubkey); // Try cache first let mut conn = state.redis.get_async_connection().await .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("Redis: {}", e)))?; if let Some(cached): Option<Vec<u8>> = conn.get(&key).await.ok().flatten() { return Ok(bincode::deserialize(&cached)?); } // Fetch from Solana (blocking!) let solana_client = state.solana_client.clone(); let pk = *pubkey; let account = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || { solana_client.get_account(&pk) }) .await .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(e.to_string()))? .map_err(AppError::Solana)?; // Cache for 60 seconds let serialized = bincode::serialize(&account)?; let _: () = conn.set_ex(&key, serialized, 60).await .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("Redis set: {}", e)))?; Ok(account) } ``` ## WebSocket Pattern ### Real-Time Account Updates ```rust use axum::extract::ws::{WebSocket, WebSocketUpgrade}; use futures::{sink::SinkExt, stream::StreamExt}; async fn ws_handler( ws: WebSocketUpgrade, State(state): State<AppState>, ) -> impl IntoResponse { ws.on_upgrade(|socket| handle_socket(socket, state)) } async fn handle_socket(mut socket: WebSocket, state: AppState) { // Subscribe to Solana account updates let pubkey = /* from message */; loop { tokio::select! { // Receive from client Some(msg) = socket.recv() => { match msg { Ok(msg) => { // Handle client message } Err(_) => break, } } // Send Solana updates to client Some(update) = get_solana_update(&state, &pubkey) => { if let Err(_) = socket.send(update).await { break; } } } } } ``` ## Transaction Indexer Pattern ```rust async fn index_transactions( db: PgPool, solana_client: Arc<RpcClient>, program_id: Pubkey, ) -> Result<()> { let mut last_signature = None; loop { // Fetch signatures (blocking!) let client = solana_client.clone(); let pid = program_id; let last_sig = last_signature.clone(); let signatures = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || { client.get_signatures_for_address_with_config( &pid, GetConfirmedSignaturesForAddress2Config { before: last_sig, limit: Some(100), ..Default::default() }, ) }) .await .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(e.to_string()))? .map_err(AppError::Solana)?; if signatures.is_empty() { tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs(5)).await; continue; } // Process each transaction for sig_info in &signatures { let tx = fetch_and_parse_transaction(&solana_client, sig_info).await?; store_transaction(&db, &tx).await?; } last_signature = signatures.last().map(|s| s.signature.parse().unwrap()); } } ``` ## Tower Middleware ### Custom Middleware Stack ```rust use tower::ServiceBuilder; use tower_http::{ trace::TraceLayer, compression::CompressionLayer, timeout::TimeoutLayer, cors::CorsLayer, }; use std::time::Duration; let app = Router::new() .route("/api/data", get(handler)) .layer( ServiceBuilder::new() .layer(TimeoutLayer::new(Duration::from_secs(30))) .layer(CompressionLayer::new()) .layer(TraceLayer::new_for_http()) .layer( CorsLayer::new() .allow_origin(tower_http::cors::Any) .allow_methods([Method::GET, Method::POST]) ) ) .with_state(state); ``` ## Testing Patterns ### Integration Tests ```rust #[cfg(test)] mod tests { use super::*; use axum::{ body::Body, http::{Request, StatusCode}, }; use tower::ServiceExt; #[tokio::test] async fn test_get_account() { let app = create_test_app().await; let response = app .oneshot( Request::builder() .uri("/api/accounts/11111111111111111111111111111111") .method("GET") .body(Body::empty()) .unwrap() ) .await .unwrap(); assert_eq!(response.status(), StatusCode::OK); } async fn create_test_app() -> Router { // Setup test database, mock Solana client, etc. let state = AppState { /* test state */ }; create_router(state) } } ``` ## Best Practices Summary 1. **Never block the runtime**: Use `spawn_blocking` for blocking ops 2. **Use compile-time checked queries**: sqlx query macros 3. **Implement IntoResponse**: Clean error handling 4. **Use Tower middleware**: Compression, tracing, timeouts 5. **Connection pooling**: Database and HTTP clients 6. **Instrument with tracing**: All important operations 7. **Cache RPC responses**: Redis for frequently accessed data 8. **Handle graceful shutdown**: Clean up connections and tasks --- **Sources:** - [Axum 0.8.0 Release](https://tokio.rs/blog/2025-01-01-announcing-axum-0-8-0) - [Axum Best Practices 2025](https://www.shuttle.dev/blog/2023/12/06/using-axum-rust) - [Async Rust Tokio Guide](https://tokio.rs/tokio/tutorial)