fix: Start listening after schema cache load

This change ensures PostgREST starts listening on a server socket only after it loaded the schema cache and is ready to handle requests. It is no longer going to return 503 errors during startup until the schema cache is loaded.

Author: mkleczek

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. From versio
 - Shutdown should wait for in flight requests by @mkleczek in #4702
 - Remove automatic transaction retries on `40001 (serialization_failure)` errors to prevent replication lag by @laurenceisla in #3673
 - Fix unexpected results when embedding and filtering the same table more than once by @laurenceisla in #4075
+- When starting up, PostgREST will now give `connection refused` errors until its schema cache is loaded  @mkleczek in #4880
+  It used to give 503 status responses.
 
 
 ### Changed
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. From versio
 - Build the minimal docker image for aarch64-linux by @wolfgangwalther in #4193
 - The name of an embedded table can no longer be used in filters if it has an alias by @laurenceisla in #4075
   + e.g. `?select=alias:table(*)&table.id=eq.1` is not possible anymore, use `?select=alias:table(*)&alias.id=eq.1` instead.
+- Do not listen on main socket until schema cache is loaded by @mkleczek in #4880
 
 ## [14.11] - 2026-05-04
 

src/PostgREST/Admin.hs

@@ -22,20 +22,20 @@ import qualified PostgREST.AppState as AppState
 import qualified Network.Socket as NS
 import           Protolude
 
-runAdmin :: AppState -> Maybe NS.Socket -> NS.Socket -> Warp.Settings -> IO ()
-runAdmin appState maybeAdminSocket socketREST settings = do
+runAdmin :: AppState -> Maybe NS.Socket -> IO (Maybe NS.Socket) -> Warp.Settings -> IO ()
+runAdmin appState maybeAdminSocket getSocketREST settings = do
   whenJust maybeAdminSocket $ \adminSocket -> do
     address <- resolveSocketToAddress adminSocket
     observer $ AdminStartObs address
     void . forkIO $ Warp.runSettingsSocket settings adminSocket adminApp
   where
-    adminApp = admin appState socketREST
+    adminApp = admin appState getSocketREST
     observer = AppState.getObserver appState
 
 -- | PostgREST admin application
-admin :: AppState.AppState -> NS.Socket -> Wai.Application
-admin appState socketREST req respond  = do
-  isMainAppReachable  <- isRight <$> reachMainApp socketREST
+admin :: AppState.AppState -> IO (Maybe NS.Socket) -> Wai.Application
+admin appState getSocketREST req respond = do
+  isMainAppReachable <- getSocketREST >>= maybe (pure False) (fmap isRight . reachMainApp)
   isLoaded <- AppState.isLoaded appState
   isPending <- AppState.isPending appState
 
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ admin appState socketREST req respond  = do
       respond $ Wai.responseLBS (if isMainAppReachable then HTTP.status200 else HTTP.status500) [] mempty
     ["ready"] ->
       let
-        status | not isMainAppReachable = HTTP.status500
-               | isPending              = HTTP.status503
+        status | isPending              = HTTP.status503
+               | not isMainAppReachable = HTTP.status500
                | isLoaded               = HTTP.status200
                | otherwise              = HTTP.status500
       in

src/PostgREST/App.hs

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import System.IO.Error  (ioeGetErrorType)
 import Control.Monad.Except     (liftEither)
 import Control.Monad.Extra      (whenJust)
 import Data.Either.Combinators  (mapLeft, whenLeft)
+import Data.IORef               (atomicWriteIORef, newIORef,
+                                 readIORef)
 import Data.String              (IsString (..))
 import Network.Wai.Handler.Warp (defaultSettings, setHost,
                                  setOnException, setPort,
@@ -63,11 +65,10 @@ import PostgREST.Version              (docsVersion, prettyVersion)
 
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8     as BS
 import qualified Data.List                 as L
-import           Data.Streaming.Network    (bindPortTCP,
-                                            bindRandomPortTCP)
+import           Data.Streaming.Network    (bindPortTCP)
 import qualified Data.Text                 as T
 import qualified Network.HTTP.Types        as HTTP
-import qualified Network.HTTP.Types.Header as HTTP (hVary)
+import qualified Network.HTTP.Types.Header as HTTP
 import qualified Network.Socket            as NS
 import           PostgREST.Unix            (createAndBindDomainSocket)
 import           Protolude                 hiding (Handler)
@@ -76,22 +77,30 @@ run :: AppState -> IO ()
 run appState = do
   conf <- AppState.getConfig appState
 
-  AppState.schemaCacheLoader appState -- Loads the initial SchemaCache
-  (mainSocket, adminSocket) <- initSockets conf
+  mainSocketRef <- newIORef Nothing
+  adminSocket <- initAdminServerSocket conf
+
   let closeSockets = do
         whenJust adminSocket NS.close
-        NS.close mainSocket
+        readIORef mainSocketRef >>= foldMap NS.close
   Unix.installSignalHandlers observer closeSockets (AppState.schemaCacheLoader appState) (AppState.readInDbConfig False appState)
 
+  Admin.runAdmin appState adminSocket (readIORef mainSocketRef) (serverSettings conf)
+
   Listener.runListener appState
 
-  Admin.runAdmin appState adminSocket mainSocket (serverSettings conf)
+  -- Kick off and wait for the initial SchemaCache load before creating the
+  -- main API socket.
+  AppState.schemaCacheLoader appState
+  AppState.waitForSchemaCacheInit appState
+
+  mainSocket <- initServerSocket conf
+  atomicWriteIORef mainSocketRef $ Just mainSocket
 
   let app = postgrest appState (AppState.schemaCacheLoader appState)
 
-  do
-    address <- resolveSocketToAddress mainSocket
-    observer $ AppServerAddressObs address
+  address <- resolveSocketToAddress mainSocket
+  observer $ AppServerAddressObs address
 
   Warp.runSettingsSocket (serverSettings conf & setOnException onWarpException) mainSocket app
   where
@@ -258,38 +267,16 @@ addRetryHint delay response = do
 isServiceUnavailable :: Wai.Response -> Bool
 isServiceUnavailable response = Wai.responseStatus response == HTTP.status503
 
-type AppSockets = (NS.Socket, Maybe NS.Socket)
-
-initSockets :: AppConfig -> IO AppSockets
-initSockets AppConfig{..} = do
-  let
-    cfg'usp = configServerUnixSocket
-    cfg'uspm = configServerUnixSocketMode
-    cfg'host = configServerHost
-    cfg'port = configServerPort
-    cfg'adminHost = configAdminServerHost
-    cfg'adminPort = configAdminServerPort
-
-  sock <- case cfg'usp of
-    -- I'm not using `streaming-commons`' bindPath function here because it's not defined for Windows,
-    -- but we need to have runtime error if we try to use it in Windows, not compile time error
-    Just path -> createAndBindDomainSocket path cfg'uspm
-    Nothing -> do
-      (_, sock) <-
-        if cfg'port /= 0
-          then do
-            sock <- bindPortTCP cfg'port (fromString $ T.unpack cfg'host)
-            pure (cfg'port, sock)
-          else do
-            -- explicitly bind to a random port, returning bound port number
-            (num, sock) <- bindRandomPortTCP (fromString $ T.unpack cfg'host)
-            pure (num, sock)
-      pure sock
-
-  adminSock <- case cfg'adminPort of
-    Just adminPort -> do
-      adminSock <- bindPortTCP adminPort (fromString $ T.unpack cfg'adminHost)
-      pure $ Just adminSock
-    Nothing -> pure Nothing
-
-  pure (sock, adminSock)
+initServerSocket :: AppConfig -> IO NS.Socket
+initServerSocket AppConfig{..} = case configServerUnixSocket of
+  -- I'm not using `streaming-commons`' bindPath function here because it's not defined for Windows,
+  -- but we need to have runtime error if we try to use it in Windows, not compile time error
+  Just path -> createAndBindDomainSocket path configServerUnixSocketMode
+  Nothing -> bindPortTCP configServerPort (fromString $ T.unpack configServerHost)
+
+initAdminServerSocket :: AppConfig -> IO (Maybe NS.Socket)
+initAdminServerSocket AppConfig{..} =
+  traverse (`bindPortTCP` adminHost) configAdminServerPort
+  where
+    adminHost = fromString $ T.unpack configAdminServerHost
+

src/PostgREST/AppState.hs

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ module PostgREST.AppState
   , getObserver
   , isLoaded
   , isPending
+  , waitForSchemaCacheInit
   ) where
 
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8      as BS
@@ -53,6 +54,9 @@ import Data.IORef         (IORef, atomicWriteIORef, newIORef,
                            readIORef)
 import Data.Time.Clock    (UTCTime, getCurrentTime)
 
+import Control.Concurrent.STM            (TMVar, newEmptyTMVarIO,
+                                          putTMVar, readTMVar,
+                                          tryReadTMVar, tryTakeTMVar)
 import PostgREST.Auth.JwtCache           (JwtCacheState, update)
 import PostgREST.Config                  (AppConfig (..),
                                           readAppConfig,
@@ -102,9 +106,11 @@ data AppState = AppState
   }
 
 -- | Schema cache status.
--- Empty means pending and full means loaded.
+-- Empty means initial loading on startup, False means pending and True means loaded.
+-- "Initial" state is needed so that we can wait with application socket listening
+-- until after initial schema cache querying.
 newtype SchemaCacheStatus = SchemaCacheStatus
-  { getSCStatusMVar :: MVar ()
+  { getSCStatusTMVar :: TMVar Bool
   }
 
 init :: AppConfig -> IO AppState
@@ -380,16 +386,21 @@ retryingSchemaCacheLoad appState@AppState{stateObserver=observer, stateMainThrea
     oneSecondInUs = 1000000 -- one second in microseconds
 
 newSchemaCacheStatus :: IO SchemaCacheStatus
-newSchemaCacheStatus = SchemaCacheStatus <$> newEmptyMVar
+newSchemaCacheStatus = SchemaCacheStatus <$> newEmptyTMVarIO
 
 markSchemaCachePending :: AppState -> IO ()
-markSchemaCachePending = void . tryTakeMVar . getSCStatusMVar . stateSCacheStatus
+markSchemaCachePending = atomically . liftA2 (*>) tryTakeTMVar (`putTMVar` False) . getSCStatusTMVar . stateSCacheStatus
 
 markSchemaCacheLoaded :: AppState -> IO ()
-markSchemaCacheLoaded = void . (`tryPutMVar` ()) . getSCStatusMVar . stateSCacheStatus
+markSchemaCacheLoaded = atomically . liftA2 (*>) tryTakeTMVar (`putTMVar` True) . getSCStatusTMVar . stateSCacheStatus
 
 isSchemaCacheLoaded :: AppState -> IO Bool
-isSchemaCacheLoaded = fmap not . isEmptyMVar . getSCStatusMVar . stateSCacheStatus
+isSchemaCacheLoaded = atomically . (pure . fromMaybe False <=< tryReadTMVar) . getSCStatusTMVar . stateSCacheStatus
+
+-- | Wait for initial schema cache load to either finish or retry
+-- | We wait until scStatusTMVar is not empty.
+waitForSchemaCacheInit :: AppState -> IO ()
+waitForSchemaCacheInit = atomically . void . readTMVar . getSCStatusTMVar . stateSCacheStatus
 
 -- | Reads the in-db config and reads the config file again
 -- | We don't retry reading the in-db config after it fails immediately, because it could have user errors. We just report the error and continue.

src/PostgREST/SchemaCache.hs

@@ -158,6 +158,9 @@ maxDbTablesForFuzzySearch = 500
 querySchemaCache :: AppConfig -> SQL.Transaction SchemaCache
 querySchemaCache conf@AppConfig{..} = do
   SQL.sql "set local schema ''" -- This voids the search path. The following queries need this for getting the fully qualified name(schema.name) of every db object
+  _       <-
+    let sleepCall = SQL.Statement "select pg_sleep($1 / 1000.0)" (param HE.int4) HD.noResult True in
+    for_ configInternalSCQuerySleep (`SQL.statement` sleepCall) -- only used for testing
   tabs    <- sqlTimedStmt gucTbls  conf   allTables
   keyDeps <- sqlTimedStmt gucKDeps conf   allViewsKeyDependencies
   m2oRels <- sqlTimedStmt gucRels  mempty allM2OandO2ORels
@@ -168,9 +171,6 @@ querySchemaCache conf@AppConfig{..} = do
   tzones  <- if configDbTimezoneEnabled
     then sqlTimedStmt gucTzones mempty timezones
     else pure S.empty
-  _       <-
-    let sleepCall = SQL.Statement "select pg_sleep($1 / 1000.0)" (param HE.int4) HD.noResult True in
-    for_ configInternalSCQuerySleep (`SQL.statement` sleepCall) -- only used for testing
 
   qsTime <-
     if isLogDebug

test/io/test_io.py

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import subprocess
 import time
 import pytest
+import requests
 
 from config import CONFIGSDIR, FIXTURES, SECRET
 from util import Thread, jwtauthheader, parse_server_timings_header, relativeSeconds
@@ -1085,33 +1086,6 @@ def test_invalid_rpc_method_log_contains_role(defaultenv):
     )
 
 
-def test_empty_schema_cache_log_contains_jwt_role(defaultenv):
-    "Requests are logged with the role when the schema cache is empty on startup"
-
-    env = {
-        **defaultenv,
-        "PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_QUERY_SLEEP": "1000",
-        "PGRST_JWT_SECRET": SECRET,
-    }
-    headers = jwtauthheader({"role": "postgrest_test_author"}, SECRET)
-
-    with run(env=env, wait_for_readiness=False) as postgrest:
-        postgrest.wait_until_scache_starts_loading()
-
-        response = postgrest.session.get("/authors_only", headers=headers)
-        assert response.status_code == 503
-
-        output = drain_stdout(postgrest)
-
-    assert any(
-        re.match(
-            r'- - postgrest_test_author \[.+\] "GET /authors_only HTTP/1.1" 503 \d+ "" "python-requests/.+"',
-            line,
-        )
-        for line in output
-    )
-
-
 def test_no_pool_connection_required_on_bad_http_logic(defaultenv):
     "no pool connection should be consumed for failing on invalid http logic"
 
@@ -1513,14 +1487,19 @@ def test_log_postgrest_host_and_port(host, defaultenv):
     with run(
         env=defaultenv, host=host, port=port, no_startup_stdout=False
     ) as postgrest:
-        output = postgrest.read_stdout(nlines=10)
+        output = postgrest.read_stdout(nlines=11)
 
+        # Cannot assume a particular log entry order
+        # Listening on a socket happens after schema querying
+        # but is concurrent to the schema loading process
+        # and migh happen before or after writing of the
+        # "Schema cache loaded" log entry
         if is_unix:
-            re.match(r'API server listening on "/tmp/.*\.sock"', output[2])
+            match_log(output, [r".*API server listening on .*/tmp/.*\.sock"])
         elif is_ipv6(host):
-            assert f"API server listening on [{host}]:{port}" in output[2]
+            match_log(output, [r".*API server listening on \[.+]:\d+"])
         else:  # IPv4
-            assert f"API server listening on {host}:{port}" in output[2]
+            match_log(output, [r".*API server listening on .+:\d+"])
 
 
 def test_succeed_w_role_having_superuser_settings(defaultenv):
@@ -1868,17 +1847,24 @@ def test_pgrst_log_503_client_error_to_stderr(defaultenv):
         assert any(log_message in line for line in output)
 
 
-def test_log_error_when_empty_schema_cache_on_startup_to_stderr(defaultenv):
-    "Should log the 503 error message when there is an empty schema cache on startup"
+def test_log_error_when_schema_cache_load_error_on_startup_to_stderr(defaultenv):
+    "Should log the 503 error message when there is an error loading schema cache on startup"
 
     env = {
         **defaultenv,
-        "PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_QUERY_SLEEP": "300",
+        "PGRST_INTERNAL_SCHEMA_CACHE_QUERY_SLEEP": "1000",
+        "PGRST_DB_SCHEMAS": "non_existent_schema_aaaa",
     }
 
     with run(env=env, wait_for_readiness=False) as postgrest:
         postgrest.wait_until_scache_starts_loading()
 
+        # First call should fail with connection refused
+        with pytest.raises(requests.ConnectionError):
+            postgrest.session.get("/projects")
+
+        # Next call should return 503
+        time.sleep(1)
         response = postgrest.session.get("/projects")
         assert response.status_code == 503
 
@@ -1890,7 +1876,7 @@ def test_log_error_when_empty_schema_cache_on_startup_to_stderr(defaultenv):
 
 
 def test_no_double_schema_cache_reload_on_empty_schema(defaultenv):
-    "Should only load the schema cache once on a 503 error when there's an empty schema cache on startup"
+    "Should only load the schema cache once when there's an empty schema cache on startup"
 
     env = {
         **defaultenv,
@@ -1900,12 +1886,15 @@ def test_no_double_schema_cache_reload_on_empty_schema(defaultenv):
     with run(env=env, port=freeport(), wait_for_readiness=False) as postgrest:
         postgrest.wait_until_scache_starts_loading()
 
-        response = postgrest.session.get("/projects")
-        assert response.status_code == 503
+        with pytest.raises(requests.ConnectionError):
+            postgrest.session.get("/projects")
 
         # Should wait enough time to load the schema cache twice to guarantee that the test is valid
         time.sleep(1)
 
+        response = postgrest.session.get("/projects")
+        assert response.status_code == 200
+
         response = postgrest.admin.get("/metrics")
         assert response.status_code == 200
         assert 'pgrst_schema_cache_loads_total{status="SUCCESS"} 1.0' in response.text
@@ -1987,7 +1976,7 @@ def test_schema_cache_error_observation(defaultenv):
         output = postgrest.read_stdout(nlines=9)
         assert (
             "Failed to load the schema cache using db-schemas=public and db-extra-search-path=x"
-            in output[7]
+            in output[6]
         )