SQRust

A fast SQL linter written in Rust. The Ruff for SQL.

Catches unused CTEs, SELECT *, unsafe casts, duplicate joins, and hundreds more — in 42ms.

---

Why SQRust?

If you use sqlfluff, you know the pain: linting a 200-file dbt project takes minutes in CI. For teams writing ANSI-compatible SQL, SQRust is a faster alternative.

Dialect scope: SQRust currently lints ANSI SQL. If your dbt project uses BigQuery- or Snowflake-specific syntax, parse errors may occur on dialect-specific constructs. BigQuery support is next on the roadmap.

Benchmarked on 495 SQL files (jaffle-shop + attribution-playbook + mrr-playbook, combined real dbt corpus), all tools in ANSI mode:

Tool	Time	ANSI rules
SQRust	42 ms	300
sqruff	79 ms	~62
sqlfluff 4.0.4	10,925 ms	~89

2× faster than sqruff. 260× faster than sqlfluff.

Speed numbers are directly comparable — same corpus, same ANSI mode. Rule counts are not directly comparable: sqlfluff and sqruff rules cover 20+ dialects each; SQRust rules are ANSI-only today and include granular dialect-specific checks (e.g. separate rules for Oracle's SYSDATE, NVL2, DUAL table) that won't fire on most projects.

Measured with hyperfine (5+ runs, March 2026, Apple M-series, sqruff v0.34.1, sqlfluff v4.0.4). Run the benchmark yourself.

Selective mode: top 50 rules

Don't need all 300 rules? Use sqrust rules --disable to trim to your essentials. Running just the top 50 most-used rules cuts the time in half:

Config	Time	vs sqruff	vs sqlfluff
SQRust — all 300 rules	42 ms	1.9× faster	260× faster
SQRust — top 50 rules	21 ms	3.8× faster	520× faster
sqruff	79 ms	baseline	—
sqlfluff 4.0.4	10,925 ms	—	baseline

# See all rules and their current status
sqrust rules

# Disable rules you don't need
sqrust rules --disable Convention/SelectStar

# Filter by category
sqrust rules --category Layout

---

Install

Homebrew (macOS):

brew install nafistiham/tap/sqrust

One-line installer (macOS / Linux — no Rust required):

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nafistiham/SQRust/main/install.sh | sh

Pre-built binary (manual):

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -sSL https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust/releases/latest/download/sqrust-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz | tar -xz
sudo mv sqrust /usr/local/bin/

# macOS (Intel)
curl -sSL https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust/releases/latest/download/sqrust-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz | tar -xz
sudo mv sqrust /usr/local/bin/

# Linux (x86_64)
curl -sSL https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust/releases/latest/download/sqrust-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz | tar -xz
sudo mv sqrust /usr/local/bin/

For Rust developers:

cargo install sqrust-cli

Build from source:

git clone https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust.git
cd SQRust
cargo build -p sqrust-cli --release
# binary at: target/release/sqrust

---

Usage

# Lint a directory
sqrust check models/

# Lint a single file
sqrust check query.sql

# JSON output (for CI integration)
sqrust check models/ --format json

# Auto-fix layout issues
sqrust fmt models/

# List all rules with enabled/disabled status
sqrust rules

# Enable or disable a specific rule
sqrust rules --disable Convention/SelectStar
sqrust rules --enable Convention/SelectStar

Output:

models/orders.sql:12:5: [Convention/SelectStar] Avoid SELECT *; list columns explicitly
models/orders.sql:34:1: [Layout/TrailingWhitespace] Trailing whitespace on line
models/payments.sql:8:24: [Convention/ColonCast] Avoid PostgreSQL-style ::cast; use CAST() instead
models/payments.sql:41:1: [Layout/LongLines] Line exceeds 120 characters (was 143)

Auto-fix (sqrust fmt):

Fixes Layout violations automatically — trailing whitespace, trailing newlines, excess blank lines. Convention, Lint, Structure, and Ambiguous rules are report-only; full auto-fix is on the roadmap.

$ sqrust fmt models/
Fixed: models/orders.sql
Fixed: models/payments.sql

---

Rules

300 rules across 6 categories, mapped to sqlfluff's catalog where applicable.

Category	Rules	Examples
Convention	63	SelectStar, ColonCast, NotEqual, IsNull, NoIsnullFunction, NoDualTable, NoNvl2
Layout	60	LongLines, TrailingWhitespace, ClauseOnNewLine, GroupByOnNewLine, OrderByOnNewLine
Lint	58	UnusedCte, DuplicateCteNames, DuplicateJoin, SelectWithoutFrom, AddColumnWithoutDefault
Structure	57	WildcardInUnion, NaturalJoin, MaxSelectColumns, LateralJoin, WindowFrameFullPartition
Ambiguous	58	FloatingPointComparison, CastWithoutLength, UnsafeDivision, ConvertFunction
Capitalisation	4	Keywords, Functions, Literals, Types

Full rule list → docs/rules.md · Migration from sqlfluff · Architecture · Changelog

---

Comparison

	SQRust	sqruff	sqlfluff
Language	Rust	Rust	Python
Rules (ANSI mode)¹	300	~62	~89
Speed (495 files, ANSI)	42 ms	79 ms	10,925 ms
Single binary	✅	✅	❌
Auto-fix	Partial (layout)	✅	✅
Config file	✅	✅	✅
Rule browser CLI	✅	❌	❌
Dialect support	ANSI only	ANSI+	20+ dialects
dbt-ready (ANSI SQL)	✅	✅	✅

¹ Rule counts are not directly comparable across tools. sqlfluff and sqruff rules each apply across many dialects; SQRust's 300 rules are ANSI-only and include granular checks that competitors may combine into fewer, broader rules.

---

Configuration

Create a sqrust.toml in your project root. sqrust automatically finds it by walking up from the path you lint — no flags needed:

[sqrust]
exclude = ["dbt_packages/**", "target/**"]

[rules]
disable = [
    "Convention/SelectStar",
    "Layout/LongLines",
]

All 300 rules are enabled by default. Use disable to turn off specific rules by name, or use sqrust rules --disable <rule> to have it written automatically.

See sqrust.toml.example for a fully annotated template.

v0.2.0 (planned): Ruff-style allowlist — opt into rule categories with select = ["Convention"] instead of opting out. Fields are reserved; using them now gives a clear error.

---

Pre-commit

# .pre-commit-config.yaml
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust
    rev: v0.1.1
    hooks:
      - id: sqrust
        args: [check]

---

Run the Benchmark Yourself

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nafistiham/SQRust/main/bench/benchmark.sh | bash

Or clone and run:

git clone https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust
cd SQRust/bench
./benchmark.sh            # uses jaffle-shop as corpus
./benchmark.sh /your/dbt/project   # or point at your own project

Requires: hyperfine, sqlfluff, sqruff, sqrust on PATH.

---

Contributing

git clone https://github.com/nafistiham/SQRust
cd SQRust
cargo test --workspace   # all tests must pass

Each rule lives in sqrust-rules/src/<category>/<rule_name>.rs with a test file in sqrust-rules/tests/. Every rule has ≥13 tests. We use TDD — tests first.

---

Project Status

Active personal project. I use SQRust on my own dbt projects and maintain it actively. v0.1.x is production-ready for ANSI SQL. BigQuery dialect support is the top priority for v0.2.

Issues and PRs are welcome. If a rule fires incorrectly on your SQL, or you need a rule that isn't here, open an issue.

---

License

MIT