Adds support for deferrable foreign key constraints in PostgreSQL

By default, foreign key constraints in PostgreSQL are checked after each statement. This works for most use cases, but becomes a major limitation when creating related records before the parent record is inserted into the database.

One example of this is looking up / creating a person via one or more unique alias.

```ruby
Person.transaction do
  alias = Alias
    .create_with(user_id: SecureRandom.uuid)
    .create_or_find_by(name: "DHH")

  person = Person
    .create_with(name: "David Heinemeier Hansson")
    .create_or_find_by(id: alias.user_id)
end
```

Using the default behavior, the transaction would fail when executing the first `INSERT` statement.

This pull request adds support for deferrable foreign key constraints by adding a new option to the `add_foreign_key` statement in migrations:

```ruby
add_foreign_key :aliases, :person, deferrable: true
```

The `deferrable: true` leaves the default behavior, but allows manually deferring the checks using `SET CONSTRAINTS ALL DEFERRED` within a transaction. This will cause the foreign keys to be checked after the transaction.

It's also possible to adjust the default behavior from an immediate check (after the statement), to a deferred check (after the transaction).

```ruby
add_foreign_key :aliases, :person, deferrable: :deferred
```

Author: benedikt

activerecord/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,3 +1,37 @@
+*   Adds support for deferrable foreign key constraints in PostgreSQL.
+
+    By default, foreign key constraints in PostgreSQL are checked after each statement. This works for most use cases, but becomes a major limitation when creating related records before the parent record is inserted into the database. One example of this is looking up / creating a person via one or more unique alias.
+
+    ```ruby
+    Person.transaction do
+      alias = Alias
+        .create_with(user_id: SecureRandom.uuid)
+        .create_or_find_by(name: "DHH")
+
+      person = Person
+        .create_with(name: "David Heinemeier Hansson")
+        .create_or_find_by(id: alias.user_id)
+    end
+    ```
+
+    Using the default behavior, the transaction would fail when executing the first `INSERT` statement.
+
+    By passing the `:deferrable` option to the `add_foreign_key` statement in migrations, it's possible to defer this check.
+
+    ```ruby
+    add_foreign_key :aliases, :person, deferrable: true
+    ```
+
+    Passing `deferrable: true` doesn't change the default behavior, but allows manually deferring the check using `SET CONSTRAINTS ALL DEFERRED` within a transaction. This will cause the foreign keys to be checked after the transaction.
+
+    It's also possible to adjust the default behavior from an immediate check (after the statement), to a deferred check (after the transaction):
+
+    ```ruby
+    add_foreign_key :aliases, :person, deferrable: :deferred
+    ```
+
+    *Benedikt Deicke*
+
 *   Add support for generated columns in PostgreSQL adapter
 
     Generated columns are supported since version 12.0 of PostgreSQL. This adds

activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_definitions.rb

@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ def on_update
         options[:on_update]
       end
 
+      def deferrable
+        options[:deferrable]
+      end
+
       def custom_primary_key?
         options[:primary_key] != default_primary_key
       end

activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb

@@ -1075,6 +1075,8 @@ def foreign_keys(table_name)
       #   duplicate column errors.
       # [<tt>:validate</tt>]
       #   (PostgreSQL only) Specify whether or not the constraint should be validated. Defaults to +true+.
+      # [<tt>:deferrable</tt>]
+      #   (PostgreSQL only) Specify whether or not the foreign key should be deferrable. Valid values are booleans or +:deferred+ or +:immediate+ to specify the default behavior. Defaults to +false+.
       def add_foreign_key(from_table, to_table, **options)
         return unless supports_foreign_keys?
         return if options[:if_not_exists] == true && foreign_key_exists?(from_table, to_table)

activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract_adapter.rb

@@ -363,6 +363,11 @@ def supports_validate_constraints?
         false
       end
 
+      # Does this adapter support creating deferrable constraints?
+      def supports_deferrable_constraints?
+        false
+      end
+
       # Does this adapter support creating check constraints?
       def supports_check_constraints?
         false

activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql/schema_creation.rb

@@ -10,7 +10,14 @@ def visit_AlterTable(o)
           end
 
           def visit_AddForeignKey(o)
-            super.dup.tap { |sql| sql << " NOT VALID" unless o.validate? }
+            super.dup.tap do |sql|
+              if o.deferrable
+                sql << " DEFERRABLE"
+                sql << " INITIALLY #{o.deferrable.to_s.upcase}" unless o.deferrable == true
+              end
+
+              sql << " NOT VALID" unless o.validate?
+            end
           end
 
           def visit_CheckConstraintDefinition(o)

activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql/schema_statements.rb

@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ def rename_index(table_name, old_name, new_name)
         def foreign_keys(table_name)
           scope = quoted_scope(table_name)
           fk_info = exec_query(<<~SQL, "SCHEMA")
-            SELECT t2.oid::regclass::text AS to_table, a1.attname AS column, a2.attname AS primary_key, c.conname AS name, c.confupdtype AS on_update, c.confdeltype AS on_delete, c.convalidated AS valid
+            SELECT t2.oid::regclass::text AS to_table, a1.attname AS column, a2.attname AS primary_key, c.conname AS name, c.confupdtype AS on_update, c.confdeltype AS on_delete, c.convalidated AS valid, c.condeferrable AS deferrable, c.condeferred AS deferred
             FROM pg_constraint c
             JOIN pg_class t1 ON c.conrelid = t1.oid
             JOIN pg_class t2 ON c.confrelid = t2.oid
@@ -505,6 +505,8 @@ def foreign_keys(table_name)
 
             options[:on_delete] = extract_foreign_key_action(row["on_delete"])
             options[:on_update] = extract_foreign_key_action(row["on_update"])
+            options[:deferrable] = extract_foreign_key_deferrable(row["deferrable"], row["deferred"])
+
             options[:validate] = row["valid"]
 
             ForeignKeyDefinition.new(table_name, row["to_table"], options)
@@ -712,6 +714,10 @@ def extract_foreign_key_action(specifier)
             end
           end
 
+          def extract_foreign_key_deferrable(deferrable, deferred)
+            deferrable && (deferred ? :deferred : true)
+          end
+
           def add_column_for_alter(table_name, column_name, type, **options)
             return super unless options.key?(:comment)
             [super, Proc.new { change_column_comment(table_name, column_name, options[:comment]) }]

activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb

@@ -208,6 +208,10 @@ def supports_validate_constraints?
         true
       end
 
+      def supports_deferrable_constraints?
+        true
+      end
+
       def supports_views?
         true
       end

activerecord/lib/active_record/schema_dumper.rb

@@ -259,6 +259,7 @@ def foreign_keys(table, stream)
 
             parts << "on_update: #{foreign_key.on_update.inspect}" if foreign_key.on_update
             parts << "on_delete: #{foreign_key.on_delete.inspect}" if foreign_key.on_delete
+            parts << "deferrable: #{foreign_key.deferrable.inspect}" if foreign_key.deferrable
 
             "  #{parts.join(', ')}"
           end

activerecord/test/cases/migration/foreign_key_test.rb

@@ -480,6 +480,80 @@ def test_add_invalid_foreign_key
           end
         end
 
+        if ActiveRecord::Base.connection.supports_deferrable_constraints?
+          def test_deferrable_foreign_key
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: true
+
+            foreign_keys = @connection.foreign_keys("astronauts")
+            assert_equal 1, foreign_keys.size
+
+            fk = foreign_keys.first
+            assert_equal true, fk.options[:deferrable]
+          end
+
+          def test_not_deferrable_foreign_key
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: false
+
+            foreign_keys = @connection.foreign_keys("astronauts")
+            assert_equal 1, foreign_keys.size
+
+            fk = foreign_keys.first
+            assert_equal false, fk.options[:deferrable]
+          end
+
+          def test_deferrable_initially_deferred_foreign_key
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: :deferred
+
+            foreign_keys = @connection.foreign_keys("astronauts")
+            assert_equal 1, foreign_keys.size
+
+            fk = foreign_keys.first
+            assert_equal :deferred, fk.options[:deferrable]
+          end
+
+          def test_deferrable_initially_immediate_foreign_key
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: :immediate
+
+            foreign_keys = @connection.foreign_keys("astronauts")
+            assert_equal 1, foreign_keys.size
+
+            fk = foreign_keys.first
+            assert_equal true, fk.options[:deferrable]
+          end
+
+          def test_schema_dumping_with_defferable
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: true
+
+            output = dump_table_schema "astronauts"
+
+            assert_match %r{\s+add_foreign_key "astronauts", "rockets", deferrable: true$}, output
+          end
+
+          def test_schema_dumping_with_disabled_defferable
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: false
+
+            output = dump_table_schema "astronauts"
+
+            assert_match %r{\s+add_foreign_key "astronauts", "rockets"$}, output
+          end
+
+          def test_schema_dumping_with_defferable_initially_deferred
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: :deferred
+
+            output = dump_table_schema "astronauts"
+
+            assert_match %r{\s+add_foreign_key "astronauts", "rockets", deferrable: :deferred$}, output
+          end
+
+          def test_schema_dumping_with_defferable_initially_immediate
+            @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets, column: "rocket_id", deferrable: :immediate
+
+            output = dump_table_schema "astronauts"
+
+            assert_match %r{\s+add_foreign_key "astronauts", "rockets", deferrable: true$}, output
+          end
+        end
+
         def test_schema_dumping
           @connection.add_foreign_key :astronauts, :rockets
           output = dump_table_schema "astronauts"