rqlite — Distributed Database Built on SQLite & Raft

What it is

rqlite turns the battle-tested SQLite engine into a fault-tolerant distributed database. Each node wraps SQLite with the Raft consensus protocol, replicating writes to a cluster of 3, 5, or 7 nodes. It serves SQL over a simple HTTP/JSON API plus a native command-line shell.

rqlite is ideal when you want relational guarantees and easy operations without the complexity of running PostgreSQL or MySQL clusters. It ships as a tiny single-binary with no external dependencies.

How it saves time or tokens

rqlite provides distributed SQL without the operational complexity of traditional database clusters. Starting a cluster takes three commands. Adding nodes requires a single join command. There is no external dependency (no ZooKeeper, no etcd). The HTTP/JSON API works with any language that can make HTTP requests, eliminating the need for database-specific drivers. Read consistency levels (none, weak, strong, linearizable) let you trade consistency for performance per request.

How to use

1. Start a 3-node cluster:

rqlited -node-id 1 -http-addr localhost:4001 \
  -raft-addr localhost:4002 ~/node1 &
rqlited -node-id 2 -http-addr localhost:4003 \
  -raft-addr localhost:4004 -join http://localhost:4001 ~/node2 &
rqlited -node-id 3 -http-addr localhost:4005 \
  -raft-addr localhost:4006 -join http://localhost:4001 ~/node3 &

1. Write and read over HTTP:

curl -XPOST localhost:4001/db/execute \
  -d '[["CREATE TABLE foo (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT)"]]'
curl -XPOST localhost:4001/db/execute \
  -d '[["INSERT INTO foo(name) VALUES(?)", "bar"]]'
curl -G localhost:4001/db/query \
  --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM foo'

1. Check cluster status:

curl localhost:4001/status?pretty

Example

Using rqlite with different read consistency levels:

# No consistency check (fastest, may read stale data)
curl -G localhost:4001/db/query \
  --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM foo' \
  --data-urlencode 'level=none'

# Weak consistency (confirms leader, no log check)
curl -G localhost:4001/db/query \
  --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM foo' \
  --data-urlencode 'level=weak'

# Strong consistency (verifies with Raft quorum)
curl -G localhost:4001/db/query \
  --data-urlencode 'q=SELECT * FROM foo' \
  --data-urlencode 'level=strong'

Related on TokRepo

• Database tools — More database tools on TokRepo.
• Self-hosted tools — Browse lightweight self-hosted infrastructure.

Common pitfalls

• Running a single-node rqlite cluster in production provides no fault tolerance. Deploy at least 3 nodes for automatic leader election and failover.
• rqlite is not designed for high-throughput write workloads. Raft consensus adds latency to every write. Use it for configuration stores, metadata, and low-to-moderate write volumes.
• SQLite limitations apply: no concurrent writers per node, limited data types, no stored procedures. rqlite inherits all SQLite constraints.