November 5, 2025
One SQL to rule them all?
Absurd Workflows: Durable Execution with Just Postgres
One tiny SQL file, huge Postgres vibes — cheers, side‑eye, and “why reinvent it”
TLDR: A new library called Absurd claims crash‑proof, long‑running tasks using only Postgres, no extra services. The crowd is split between Postgres hype and “use Temporal/DBOS or existing agent tools,” with bonus snark about mixing durability with unpredictable AI — simple stack vs proven platforms, and everyone’s got feelings.
The internet is split after a dev dropped “Absurd,” a one‑file SQL trick that promises long‑running, crash‑proof tasks using only Postgres. Think of it like a video game save: your job pauses, crashes, even switches machines, and it just resumes. No extra paid service, no complex setup — just Postgres. Cue the hype train: one commenter declared we’re in the “golden age of Postgres”, and the “just use Postgres for everything” meme came roaring back.
Then the cross‑examining started. Curious minds asked how this stacks up to heavyweights like DBOS or the industry workhorse Temporal. Others pressed: why re‑implement agents at all — why not use Claude’s MCP or OpenAI tool calling? Is this about running your own models or getting tighter control over retries? The vibe: DIY minimalism versus already‑solved platforms.
Comedy hour arrived with the snark: “durable execution plus an unpredictable AI? What could go wrong!” Meanwhile, practical builders chimed in: they’ve been holding duct‑taped queues together (hello, BullMQ on Kubernetes), watching newcomers like Hatchet.run, and craving a light, Postgres‑native DAG (a simple flow of steps). Absurd’s pitch — step‑by‑step checkpoints, replay on failure, agents that loop until done — hits a nerve.
Bottom line: this is a clash of taste. Postgres maximalists love the one‑file magic. Platform fans want guardrails and battle‑tested tooling. Everyone agrees the idea is spicy — whether it’s a sleek power move or “reinventing the wheel” is the fight of the day.
Key Points
- •Absurd is a SQL-only durable workflow system built on PostgreSQL, requiring no extensions or third-party services.
- •Durable execution combines a queue with a persistent state store to survive failures and avoid duplicated work.
- •PostgreSQL’s SELECT ... FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED enables robust queue processing, while the database stores step checkpoints.
- •Absurd structures tasks into sequential steps with checkpointing, automatic replay, retries, and race-free event handling.
- •For AI agents, Absurd supports iterative single-step loops with auto-incremented step names and incremental state storage.