@pgsql/traverse

@pgsql/traverse

AST traversal for the pgsql-parser ecosystem: a Babel-style visitor pattern for PostgreSQL SQL ASTs and PL/pgSQL ASTs. Traversal only — nothing here parses SQL, so the package stays free of WASM.

Installation

npm install @pgsql/traverse

Which function do I want?

Function	Walks	Use when
walk(ast, visitors, opts?)	any AST — parsed script, ParseResult, SQL node, PL/pgSQL node	default choice
walkSqlAst(ast, visitor)	SQL AST only	you want the raw primitive, no statement context
walkPlpgsqlAst(ast, visitor, opts?)	PL/pgSQL AST only	you already have a hydrated function body
traverse(ast, mutableVisitor)	SQL AST, mutation-safe	you need to replace/insert/remove nodes
walkSql(text, ...) in plpgsql-parser	SQL text	you start from a string and need parse + hydrate

Usage

walk — one entry point for any AST

walk dispatches on the shape of what you hand it:

Input	Walked
{ sql, functions } (a ParsedScript from plpgsql-parser)	every statement, then every hydrated PL/pgSQL body
{ version, stmts } (a ParseResult)	every statement, with statement context
{ PLpgSQL_*: ... } / { plpgsql_funcs: [...] }	the PL/pgSQL body, descending into its hydrated SQL expressions
any other SQL node	that node
an array	each element

import { walk } from '@pgsql/traverse';
import type { NodePath, Visitor, Walker } from '@pgsql/traverse';

// A walker function fires on every node.
walk(ast, (path) => {
  console.log(`Visiting ${path.tag} at path:`, path.path);
  if (path.tag === 'SelectStmt') {
    return false; // skip this node's children
  }
});

// A visitor object fires per node tag. SQL and PL/pgSQL tags may be mixed.
walk(ast, {
  SelectStmt: (path) => console.log('SELECT statement:', path.node),
  RangeVar: (path) => console.log('Table:', path.node.relname),
  PLpgSQL_stmt_dynexecute: (path) => console.log('dynamic EXECUTE:', path.node)
});

Statement context

Every callback gets a second argument describing the statement the node belongs to. NodePath tells you where a node sits; WalkContext tells you what it is part of — which is what a RangeVar handler needs to know it is the write target of an UPDATE, or that it came from inside auth.login's body.

interface WalkContext {
  stmtTag: string | null;      // enclosing top-level statement, e.g. 'UpdateStmt'
  stmtIndex: number;           // its index in the script, -1 if unknown
  isWrite: boolean;            // INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/MERGE/TRUNCATE/COPY
  isRead: boolean;             // SELECT/EXPLAIN/DECLARE/FETCH
  insideFunction: boolean;     // node came from a PL/pgSQL body
  functionName: string | null; // dotted name of that function
  abort(reason?: string): void;
}

walk(parsed, {
  RangeVar: (path, ctx) => {
    if (ctx.isWrite) console.log('writes to', path.node.relname);
    if (ctx.insideFunction) console.log('...from inside', ctx.functionName);
  }
});

The reserved statement key fires once per top-level statement, before its children:

walk(parseResult, {
  statement: (path, ctx) => console.log(ctx.stmtIndex, path.tag)
});

Composing visitors

Pass an array to run several independent policies in a single pass:

walk(parsed, [blockedSchemas, readOnlySchemas, blockedFunctions]);

Skip vs. abort

return false skips that node's children. ctx.abort(reason?) ends the entire walk — what a validator wants when it has already decided to reject:

const result = walk(parsed, {
  PLpgSQL_stmt_dynexecute: (_path, ctx) => ctx.abort('dynamic EXECUTE is not allowed')
});

result.aborted; // true
result.reason;  // 'dynamic EXECUTE is not allowed'
result.reasons; // every reason, in call order

walkSqlAst — the SQL-only primitive

Recursion is derived from PostgreSQL's runtime schema, so it knows exactly which fields hold nodes, including untagged typed fields such as CreatePolicyStmt.table. walk is built on it.

import { walkSqlAst } from '@pgsql/traverse';
import type { Visitor, Walker } from '@pgsql/traverse';

const visitor: Visitor = {
  RangeVar: (path) => console.log('Table:', path.node.relname)
};

walkSqlAst(ast, visitor);

walkPlpgsqlAst — the PL/pgSQL-only primitive

Walks the PL/pgSQL node universe (PLpgSQL_stmt_block, PLpgSQL_stmt_if, PLpgSQL_var, ...), which the SQL parser never produces. A PL/pgSQL body is a control-flow skeleton whose leaves are SQL expressions, so it bridges into walkSqlAst for every hydrated expression:

import { walkPlpgsqlAst } from '@pgsql/traverse';

walkPlpgsqlAst(hydratedBody, { PLpgSQL_var: (path) => console.log(path.node.refname) }, {
  walkSqlExpressions: true,
  sqlVisitor: { RangeVar: (path) => console.log('table in body:', path.node.relname) }
});

Hydration itself lives in plpgsql-parser.

NodePath Class

The NodePath class provides rich context information:

class NodePath<TTag extends NodeTag = NodeTag> {
  tag: TTag;           // Node type (e.g., 'SelectStmt', 'RangeVar')
  node: Node[TTag];    // The actual node data
  parent: NodePath | null;  // Parent NodePath (null for root)
  keyPath: readonly (string | number)[];  // Full path array
  
  get path(): (string | number)[];  // Copy of keyPath
  get key(): string | number;       // Last element of path
}

Working with ParseResult

import { walk } from '@pgsql/traverse';

const visitor = {
  ParseResult: (path) => {
    console.log('Parse result version:', path.node.version);
    console.log('Number of statements:', path.node.stmts.length);
  },
  SelectStmt: (path) => {
    console.log('SELECT statement found');
  }
};

walk(parseResult, visitor);

Reading a node's position

NodePath describes where a node sits in the tree:

const visitor = {
  RangeVar: (path) => {
    console.log('Table name:', path.node.relname);
    console.log('Path to this node:', path.path);
    console.log('Parent node:', path.parent?.tag);
    console.log('Key in parent:', path.key);
  }
};

Collecting Information During Traversal

import { walk } from '@pgsql/traverse';
import type { Visitor } from '@pgsql/traverse';

const tableNames: string[] = [];
const columnRefs: string[] = [];

const visitor: Visitor = {
  RangeVar: (path) => {
    if (path.node.relname) {
      tableNames.push(path.node.relname);
    }
  },
  ColumnRef: (path) => {
    for (const field of path.node.fields ?? []) {
      if (field.String?.sval) {
        columnRefs.push(field.String.sval);
      }
    }
  }
};

walk(ast, visitor);

console.log('Tables referenced:', tableNames);
console.log('Columns referenced:', columnRefs);

API

walk(root, visitors, options?): WalkResult

Walks any AST — SQL, PL/pgSQL, or a parsed script — with one or more visitors.

Parameters:

• root: the AST, parse result, or parsed script to traverse
• visitors: a walker function, a visitor object, or an array of either
• options?:
  • walkFunctionBodies (default true) — walk hydrated PL/pgSQL bodies of a parsed script
  • walkSqlExpressions (default true) — recurse into hydrated SQL expressions inside bodies
  • sqlVisitor — override the visitor used for those SQL expressions

Returns { aborted, reason?, reasons }.

walkSqlAst(root, callback, parent?, keyPath?)

The SQL-only primitive. Walks PostgreSQL AST nodes using the runtime schema for precise traversal.

Parameters:

• root: The AST node to traverse
• callback: A walker function or visitor object
• parent?: Optional parent NodePath (for internal use)
• keyPath?: Optional key path array (for internal use)

walkPlpgsqlAst(root, callback, options?, parent?, keyPath?)

The PL/pgSQL-only primitive.

Parameters:

• root: The PL/pgSQL AST node to traverse
• callback: A walker function or visitor object keyed by PLpgSQL_* tags
• options?: { walkSqlExpressions?, sqlVisitor? }

traverse(root, mutableVisitor)

The mutation-capable walker: enter/exit hooks and sibling insert/remove/replace through MutablePath. Use it when the walk needs to change the tree; walk is read-only.

Types

WalkContext

Statement context threaded into every walk callback:

interface WalkContext {
  readonly stmtTag: string | null;
  readonly stmtIndex: number;
  readonly isWrite: boolean;
  readonly isRead: boolean;
  readonly insideFunction: boolean;
  readonly functionName: string | null;
  abort(reason?: string): void;
}

WalkResult

What walk returns:

interface WalkResult {
  aborted: boolean;   // a visitor called ctx.abort()
  reason?: string;    // the first reason given
  reasons: string[];  // every reason, in call order
}

Visitor

An object type where keys are node type names and values are walker functions:

type Visitor = {
  [TTag in NodeTag]?: Walker<NodePath<TTag>>;
};

Walker

A function that receives a NodePath and can return false to skip children:

type Walker<TNodePath extends NodePath = NodePath> = (
  path: TNodePath,
) => boolean | void;

NodePath

A class that encapsulates node traversal context:

class NodePath<TTag extends NodeTag = NodeTag> {
  tag: TTag;                                    // Node type
  node: Node[TTag];                            // Node data
  parent: NodePath | null;                     // Parent path
  keyPath: readonly (string | number)[];       // Full path
  
  get path(): (string | number)[];             // Path copy
  get key(): string | number;                  // Current key
}

NodeTag

Union type of all PostgreSQL AST node type names:

type NodeTag = keyof Node;

Supported Node Types

This package works with all PostgreSQL AST node types defined in @pgsql/types, including:

• ParseResult - Root parse result from libpg-query
• SelectStmt - SELECT statements
• InsertStmt - INSERT statements
• UpdateStmt - UPDATE statements
• DeleteStmt - DELETE statements
• RangeVar - Table references
• ColumnRef - Column references
• A_Expr - Expressions
• A_Const - Constants
• And many more...

Integration with pgsql-parser

This package is designed to work seamlessly with the pgsql-parser ecosystem:

import { parse } from 'pgsql-parser';
import { walk } from '@pgsql/traverse';

const sql = 'SELECT name, email FROM users WHERE age > 18';
const ast = await parse(sql);

walk(ast, {
  RangeVar: (path) => {
    console.log('Table:', path.node.relname);
  },
  ColumnRef: (path) => {
    console.log('Column:', path.node.fields?.[0]?.String?.sval);
  }
});

Starting from SQL text? plpgsql-parser's walkSql does the parse and the PL/pgSQL hydration for you, then hands off to walk.

🛠 Built by the Constructive team — creators of modular Postgres tooling for secure, composable backends. If you like our work, contribute on GitHub.

Related

• pgpm: A Postgres Package Manager that brings modular development to PostgreSQL with reusable packages, deterministic migrations, recursive dependency resolution, and tag-aware versioning.
• pgsql-test: Instant, isolated PostgreSQL databases for each test with automatic transaction rollbacks, context switching, and clean seeding for fast, reliable database testing.
• pgsql-seed: PostgreSQL seeding utilities for CSV, JSON, SQL data loading, and pgpm deployment.
• pgsql-parser: The real PostgreSQL parser for Node.js, providing symmetric parsing and deparsing of SQL statements with actual PostgreSQL parser integration.
• pgsql-deparser: A streamlined tool designed for converting PostgreSQL ASTs back into SQL queries, focusing solely on deparser functionality to complement pgsql-parser.
• @pgsql/parser: Multi-version PostgreSQL parser with dynamic version selection at runtime, supporting PostgreSQL 15, 16, and 17 in a single package.
• @pgsql/types: Offers TypeScript type definitions for PostgreSQL AST nodes, facilitating type-safe construction, analysis, and manipulation of ASTs.
• @pgsql/enums: Provides TypeScript enum definitions for PostgreSQL constants, enabling type-safe usage of PostgreSQL enums and constants in your applications.
• @pgsql/utils: A comprehensive utility library for PostgreSQL, offering type-safe AST node creation and enum value conversions, simplifying the construction and manipulation of PostgreSQL ASTs.
• @pgsql/traverse: PostgreSQL AST traversal utilities for pgsql-parser, providing a visitor pattern for traversing PostgreSQL Abstract Syntax Tree nodes, similar to Babel's traverse functionality but specifically designed for PostgreSQL AST structures.
• pg-proto-parser: A TypeScript tool that parses PostgreSQL Protocol Buffers definitions to generate TypeScript interfaces, utility functions, and JSON mappings for enums.
• libpg-query: The real PostgreSQL parser exposed for Node.js, used primarily in pgsql-parser for parsing and deparsing SQL queries.

Disclaimer

AS DESCRIBED IN THE LICENSES, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", AT YOUR OWN RISK, AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

No developer or entity involved in creating Software will be liable for any claims or damages whatsoever associated with your use, inability to use, or your interaction with other users of the Software code or Software CLI, including any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages, or loss of profits, cryptocurrencies, tokens, or anything else of value.