Rust Backend Patterns
Overview
Rust patterns for building backend services with Axum.
Project Structure
project/ ├── src/ │ ├── main.rs # Entry point │ ├── lib.rs # Library root │ ├── config.rs # Configuration │ ├── error.rs # Error types │ ├── routes/ # Route handlers │ │ ├── mod.rs │ │ └── users.rs │ ├── services/ # Business logic │ ├── repositories/ # Data access │ ├── models/ # Domain models │ └── middleware/ # HTTP middleware ├── migrations/ # SQLx migrations ├── tests/ # Integration tests ├── Cargo.toml └── .env
Axum Application
Main Application
rust// src/main.rs use axum::{ routing::{get, post}, Router, }; use sqlx::postgres::PgPoolOptions; use std::sync::Arc; use tower_http::cors::CorsLayer; mod config; mod error; mod routes; mod services; mod repositories; use config::Config; #[derive(Clone)] pub struct AppState { pub db: sqlx::PgPool, pub config: Arc<Config>, } #[tokio::main] async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> { dotenvy::dotenv().ok(); tracing_subscriber::init(); let config = Config::from_env()?; let pool = PgPoolOptions::new() .max_connections(config.database.max_connections) .connect(&config.database.url) .await?; sqlx::migrate!().run(&pool).await?; let state = AppState { db: pool, config: Arc::new(config), }; let app = Router::new() .route("/health", get(|| async { "ok" })) .nest("/api/users", routes::users::router()) .with_state(state) .layer(CorsLayer::permissive()); let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind("0.0.0.0:3000").await?; tracing::info!("listening on {}", listener.local_addr()?); axum::serve(listener, app).await?; Ok(()) }
Configuration
rust// src/config.rs use serde::Deserialize; #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)] pub struct Config { pub database: DatabaseConfig, pub jwt: JwtConfig, } #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)] pub struct DatabaseConfig { pub url: String, #[serde(default = "default_max_connections")] pub max_connections: u32, } #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)] pub struct JwtConfig { pub secret: String, #[serde(default = "default_expiry")] pub expiry_hours: u64, } fn default_max_connections() -> u32 { 10 } fn default_expiry() -> u64 { 24 } impl Config { pub fn from_env() -> Result<Self, config::ConfigError> { config::Config::builder() .add_source(config::Environment::default().separator("__")) .build()? .try_deserialize() } }
Error Handling
rust// src/error.rs use axum::{ http::StatusCode, response::{IntoResponse, Response}, Json, }; use serde_json::json; use thiserror::Error; #[derive(Error, Debug)] pub enum AppError { #[error("Not found: {0}")] NotFound(String), #[error("Validation error: {0}")] Validation(String), #[error("Unauthorized")] Unauthorized, #[error("Forbidden")] Forbidden, #[error("Database error")] Database(#[from] sqlx::Error), #[error("Internal error")] Internal(#[from] anyhow::Error), } impl IntoResponse for AppError { fn into_response(self) -> Response { let (status, code, message) = match &self { AppError::NotFound(msg) => (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "NOT_FOUND", msg.clone()), AppError::Validation(msg) => (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "VALIDATION_ERROR", msg.clone()), AppError::Unauthorized => (StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED, "UNAUTHORIZED", "Unauthorized".into()), AppError::Forbidden => (StatusCode::FORBIDDEN, "FORBIDDEN", "Forbidden".into()), AppError::Database(e) => { tracing::error!("Database error: {:?}", e); (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, "DATABASE_ERROR", "Database error".into()) } AppError::Internal(e) => { tracing::error!("Internal error: {:?}", e); (StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, "INTERNAL_ERROR", "Internal error".into()) } }; ( status, Json(json!({ "error": { "code": code, "message": message } })), ).into_response() } } pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, AppError>;
Models and DTOs
rust// src/models/user.rs use chrono::{DateTime, Utc}; use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize}; use sqlx::FromRow; use uuid::Uuid; use validator::Validate; #[derive(Debug, FromRow, Serialize)] pub struct User { pub id: Uuid, pub name: String, pub email: String, #[serde(skip_serializing)] pub password_hash: String, pub created_at: DateTime<Utc>, pub updated_at: Option<DateTime<Utc>>, } #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Validate)] pub struct CreateUser { #[validate(length(min = 2, max = 100))] pub name: String, #[validate(email)] pub email: String, #[validate(length(min = 8))] pub password: String, } #[derive(Debug, Deserialize, Validate)] pub struct UpdateUser { #[validate(length(min = 2, max = 100))] pub name: Option<String>, #[validate(email)] pub email: Option<String>, } #[derive(Debug, Serialize)] pub struct UserResponse { pub id: Uuid, pub name: String, pub email: String, pub created_at: DateTime<Utc>, } impl From<User> for UserResponse { fn from(user: User) -> Self { Self { id: user.id, name: user.name, email: user.email, created_at: user.created_at, } } }
Repository Pattern
rust// src/repositories/user.rs use sqlx::PgPool; use uuid::Uuid; use crate::error::{AppError, Result}; use crate::models::user::{User, CreateUser, UpdateUser}; pub struct UserRepository<'a> { pool: &'a PgPool, } impl<'a> UserRepository<'a> { pub fn new(pool: &'a PgPool) -> Self { Self { pool } } pub async fn find_by_id(&self, id: Uuid) -> Result<Option<User>> { sqlx::query_as!(User, "SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = $1", id) .fetch_optional(self.pool) .await .map_err(AppError::Database) } pub async fn find_by_email(&self, email: &str) -> Result<Option<User>> { sqlx::query_as!(User, "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = $1", email) .fetch_optional(self.pool) .await .map_err(AppError::Database) } pub async fn find_all(&self, limit: i64, offset: i64) -> Result<Vec<User>> { sqlx::query_as!( User, "SELECT * FROM users ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT $1 OFFSET $2", limit, offset ) .fetch_all(self.pool) .await .map_err(AppError::Database) } pub async fn create(&self, input: &CreateUser, password_hash: &str) -> Result<User> { sqlx::query_as!( User, r#" INSERT INTO users (name, email, password_hash) VALUES ($1, $2, $3) RETURNING * "#, input.name, input.email, password_hash ) .fetch_one(self.pool) .await .map_err(AppError::Database) } pub async fn update(&self, id: Uuid, input: &UpdateUser) -> Result<Option<User>> { sqlx::query_as!( User, r#" UPDATE users SET name = COALESCE($2, name), email = COALESCE($3, email), updated_at = NOW() WHERE id = $1 RETURNING * "#, id, input.name, input.email ) .fetch_optional(self.pool) .await .map_err(AppError::Database) } pub async fn delete(&self, id: Uuid) -> Result<bool> { let result = sqlx::query!("DELETE FROM users WHERE id = $1", id) .execute(self.pool) .await .map_err(AppError::Database)?; Ok(result.rows_affected() > 0) } }
Route Handlers
rust// src/routes/users.rs use axum::{ extract::{Path, Query, State}, routing::{get, post, delete}, Json, Router, }; use uuid::Uuid; use validator::Validate; use crate::{ error::{AppError, Result}, models::user::{CreateUser, UpdateUser, UserResponse}, repositories::user::UserRepository, services::user::UserService, AppState, }; #[derive(Debug, serde::Deserialize)] pub struct ListQuery { #[serde(default = "default_page")] page: i64, #[serde(default = "default_limit")] limit: i64, } fn default_page() -> i64 { 1 } fn default_limit() -> i64 { 20 } pub fn router() -> Router<AppState> { Router::new() .route("/", get(list_users).post(create_user)) .route("/:id", get(get_user).patch(update_user).delete(delete_user)) } async fn list_users( State(state): State<AppState>, Query(query): Query<ListQuery>, ) -> Result<Json<Vec<UserResponse>>> { let repo = UserRepository::new(&state.db); let offset = (query.page - 1) * query.limit; let users = repo.find_all(query.limit, offset).await?; Ok(Json(users.into_iter().map(Into::into).collect())) } async fn get_user( State(state): State<AppState>, Path(id): Path<Uuid>, ) -> Result<Json<UserResponse>> { let repo = UserRepository::new(&state.db); let user = repo .find_by_id(id) .await? .ok_or_else(|| AppError::NotFound("User".into()))?; Ok(Json(user.into())) } async fn create_user( State(state): State<AppState>, Json(input): Json<CreateUser>, ) -> Result<Json<UserResponse>> { input.validate().map_err(|e| AppError::Validation(e.to_string()))?; let service = UserService::new(&state.db); let user = service.create(input).await?; Ok(Json(user.into())) } async fn update_user( State(state): State<AppState>, Path(id): Path<Uuid>, Json(input): Json<UpdateUser>, ) -> Result<Json<UserResponse>> { input.validate().map_err(|e| AppError::Validation(e.to_string()))?; let repo = UserRepository::new(&state.db); let user = repo .update(id, &input) .await? .ok_or_else(|| AppError::NotFound("User".into()))?; Ok(Json(user.into())) } async fn delete_user( State(state): State<AppState>, Path(id): Path<Uuid>, ) -> Result<()> { let repo = UserRepository::new(&state.db); if !repo.delete(id).await? { return Err(AppError::NotFound("User".into())); } Ok(()) }
Testing
rust// tests/users.rs use axum::{ body::Body, http::{Request, StatusCode}, }; use tower::ServiceExt; use serde_json::json; #[tokio::test] async fn test_list_users() { let app = create_test_app().await; let response = app .oneshot( Request::builder() .uri("/api/users") .body(Body::empty()) .unwrap(), ) .await .unwrap(); assert_eq!(response.status(), StatusCode::OK); } #[tokio::test] async fn test_create_user() { let app = create_test_app().await; let response = app .oneshot( Request::builder() .method("POST") .uri("/api/users") .header("content-type", "application/json") .body(Body::from( serde_json::to_string(&json!({ "name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com", "password": "password123" })) .unwrap(), )) .unwrap(), ) .await .unwrap(); assert_eq!(response.status(), StatusCode::OK); }
Rust Axum patterns for backend development
