Available since: v3.0.0

Multi-tenancy

Multi-tenancy was introduced in SurrealDB 3.0, allowing each tenant to operate inside its own isolated namespace and database.

Multi-session inside the Rust SDK is implemented through a session cloning mechanism. When you clone a Surreal<C> client instance, it creates a new session with independent state while sharing the underlying database connection. Sessions share the same physical connection for efficiency, are thread-safe and can be used concurrently across Tokio tasks, and work with all connection types (embedded and remote).

Each cloned instance maintains its own:

Namespace and database selection (use_ns/use_db)
Authentication state (signin/signup/invalidate)
Session variables (set/unset)
Transactions (begin/commit/cancel)

Note that these will remain unchanged when cloning a connection.

use surrealdb::Surreal;
use surrealdb::engine::local::Mem;
use surrealdb_types::{ToSql, Value};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    let db = Surreal::new::<Mem>(()).await?;
    db.use_ns("ns").use_db("db").await?;
    db.set("val", 1).await?;
    println!("$val is `{}`", db.query("$val").await?.take::<Value>(0).unwrap().to_sql());
    let new = db.clone();
    println!("$val is still `{}` in the new session", new.query("$val").await?.take::<Value>(0).unwrap().to_sql());
    
    // Set to a different value inside 'new'
    new.set("val", 100).await?;

    println!("$val is still `{}` in the original", db.query("$val").await?.take::<Value>(0).unwrap().to_sql());
    println!("But is now `{}` in the new session", new.query("$val").await?.take::<Value>(0).unwrap().to_sql());
    Ok(())
}

If a connection without any set values is desired, using a static singleton along with a convenience function is one way to achieve this.

use std::sync::OnceLock;
use surrealdb::engine::any::connect;
use surrealdb::{Surreal, engine::any::Any};

static DB: OnceLock<Surreal<Any>> = OnceLock::new();

async fn new_with(namespace: &str, database: &str) -> Surreal<Any> {
    let db = DB.get().unwrap().clone();
    db.use_ns(namespace).use_db(database).await.unwrap();
    db
}

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    // Set the overall connection
    DB.set(connect("memory").await?).unwrap();

    // NS and DB must now be specifically indicated to use
    let session1 = new_with("acme", "app").await;
    let session2 = new_with("user", "app").await;
    Ok(())
}

Before version 3.0, cloning a Surreal<C> would create a cheap clone of the same session. If you have been using .clone() to pass on a Surreal<C> without a need for multi-tenancy, it is now preferable to wrap the client inside a type like an Arc to ensure that only the wrapper is cloned. Doing so will be somewhat more performant, as this example shows.

use std::sync::Arc;
use std::time::Instant;

use surrealdb::Surreal;
use surrealdb::engine::local::Mem;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    let db = Surreal::new::<Mem>(()).await?;
    db.use_ns("ns").use_db("db").await?;

    let now = Instant::now();
    for _ in 0..100 {
        let cloned = db.clone();
        cloned
            .query(
                "
            LET $one = CREATE ONLY person;
            LET $two = CREATE ONLY person;
            RELATE $one->likes->$two;
        ",
            )
            .await?;
    }
    println!("Elapsed: {:?}", now.elapsed());

    let arced = Arc::new(db);
    let now = Instant::now();
    for _ in 0..100 {
        let cloned_arc = Arc::clone(&arced);
        cloned_arc
            .query(
                "
            LET $one = CREATE ONLY person;
            LET $two = CREATE ONLY person;
            RELATE $one->likes->$two;
        ",
            )
            .await?;
    }
    println!("Elapsed: {:?}", now.elapsed());

    Ok(())
}

Let’s now take a look at some usage examples that take advantage of the new multi-tenancy available in SurrealDB 3.0.

Usage examples

This first example shows how to use multi-session support to implement multi-tenancy, where each tenant operates in their own isolated namespace:

use surrealdb::Surreal;
use surrealdb::engine::local::Mem;
use surrealdb::opt::Resource;
use surrealdb::types::{RecordId, SurrealValue, object};

#[derive(Debug, SurrealValue)]
struct User {
    id: RecordId,
    name: String,
}

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    // Create the base database connection
    let db = Surreal::new::<Mem>(()).await?;

    // Tenant 1: ACME Corporation
    let acme_db = db.clone();
    acme_db.use_ns("acme").use_db("app").await?;
    acme_db
        .create(Resource::from(("user", "john")))
        .content(object! { name: "John from ACME" })
        .await?;

    // Tenant 2: Widget Inc
    let widget_db = db.clone();
    widget_db.use_ns("widget").use_db("app").await?;
    widget_db
        .create(Resource::from(("user", "john")))
        .content(object! { name: "John from Widget Inc" })
        .await?;

    // Tenant 3: Example LLC
    let example_db = db.clone();
    example_db.use_ns("example").use_db("app").await?;
    example_db
        .create(Resource::from(("user", "john")))
        .content(object! { name: "John from Example LLC" })
        .await?;

    // Each tenant sees only their own data
    let acme_users: Vec<User> = acme_db.select("user").await?;
    println!("ACME users: {acme_users:?}");
    // Output: [User { id: user:john, name: "John from ACME" }]

    let widget_users: Vec<User> = widget_db.select("user").await?;
    println!("Widget users: {widget_users:?}");
    // Output: [User { id: user:john, name: "John from Widget Inc" }]

    // Tenants can operate concurrently without interfering with each other
    let acme_alice = acme_db
        .create(Resource::from(("user", "alice")))
        .content(object! { name: "Alice from ACME" });
    let widget_alice = widget_db
        .create(Resource::from(("user", "alice")))
        .content(object! { name: "Alice from Widget" });
    tokio::try_join!(acme_alice, widget_alice)?;

    Ok(())
}

The next example demonstrates querying across multiple databases simultaneously to aggregate data:

use surrealdb::Surreal;
use surrealdb::engine::local::Mem;
use surrealdb::types::Decimal;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> surrealdb::Result<()> {
    // Create the base database connection
    let db = Surreal::new::<Mem>(()).await?;

    // Database 1: North America sales
    let na_db = db.clone();
    na_db.use_ns("company").use_db("sales_na").await?;
    na_db
        .query(r#"
            CREATE sale:1 SET amount = 1000.00dec, region = "North America";
            CREATE sale:2 SET amount = 1500.00dec, region = "North America";
            CREATE sale:3 SET amount = 2000.00dec, region = "North America";
        "#)
        .await?
        .check()?;

    // Database 2: Europe sales
    let eu_db = db.clone();
    eu_db.use_ns("company").use_db("sales_eu").await?;
    eu_db
        .query(r#"
            CREATE sale:1 SET amount = 1200.00dec, region = "Europe";
            CREATE sale:2 SET amount = 1800.00dec, region = "Europe";
        "#)
        .await?
        .check()?;

    // Database 3: Asia sales
    let asia_db = db.clone();
    asia_db.use_ns("company").use_db("sales_asia").await?;
    asia_db
        .query(r#"
            CREATE sale:1 SET amount = 3000.00dec, region = "Asia";
            CREATE sale:2 SET amount = 2500.00dec, region = "Asia";
            CREATE sale:3 SET amount = 1800.00dec, region = "Asia";
        "#)
        .await?
        .check()?;

    // Query all databases concurrently
    let (mut na_result, mut eu_result, mut asia_result) = tokio::try_join!(
        na_db.query("RETURN { total: math::sum((SELECT VALUE amount FROM sale)) }"),
        eu_db.query("RETURN { total: math::sum((SELECT VALUE amount FROM sale)) }"),
        asia_db.query("RETURN { total: math::sum((SELECT VALUE amount FROM sale)) }"),
    )?;

    let na_total = na_result
        .take::<Option<Decimal>>("total")?
        .unwrap_or_default();
    let eu_total = eu_result
        .take::<Option<Decimal>>("total")?
        .unwrap_or_default();
    let asia_total = asia_result
        .take::<Option<Decimal>>("total")?
        .unwrap_or_default();

    println!("North America total: ${na_total:.2}"); // $4500.00
    println!("Europe total: ${eu_total:.2}"); // $3000.00
    println!("Asia total: ${asia_total:.2}"); // $7300.00
    println!("Grand total: ${:.2}", na_total + eu_total + asia_total); // $14800.00

    // You can also perform complex operations on specific databases
    // while maintaining independent session variables
    na_db.set("discount_rate", 0.1).await?;
    eu_db.set("discount_rate", 0.15).await?;
    asia_db.set("discount_rate", 0.05).await?;

    let (mut na_result, mut eu_result, mut asia_result) = tokio::try_join!(
        na_db.query(
            "RETURN { total: math::sum((SELECT VALUE amount * (1 - $discount_rate) FROM sale)) }"
        ),
        eu_db.query(
            "RETURN { total: math::sum((SELECT VALUE amount * (1 - $discount_rate) FROM sale)) }"
        ),
        asia_db.query(
            "RETURN { total: math::sum((SELECT VALUE amount * (1 - $discount_rate) FROM sale)) }"
        ),
    )?;

    println!("\nWith regional discounts:");
    let na_disc = na_result
        .take::<Option<Decimal>>("total")?
        .unwrap_or_default();
    let eu_disc = eu_result
        .take::<Option<Decimal>>("total")?
        .unwrap_or_default();
    let asia_disc = asia_result
        .take::<Option<Decimal>>("total")?
        .unwrap_or_default();

    println!("North America (10% off): ${na_disc:.2}"); // $4050.00
    println!("Europe (15% off): ${eu_disc:.2}"); // $2550.00
    println!("Asia (5% off): ${asia_disc:.2}"); // $6935.00

    Ok(())
}

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