Rust Web Server with Axum 0.8: Timeouts (408) and Graceful Shutdown
November 3, 2026
Episode 32 of the Rust Backend series, where we build the backend of a blog step by step. After episode 31 our API has versions. Part 5 is about production, and it starts with two questions every real server must answer: what if a request takes forever? And what happens to the requests that are running when we restart? All the code below is the final, tested code from the video, ready to copy.
- New to Rust? Start with the beginner series.
- The full backend series playlist is here.
We continue in the same blog_api project from episode 31. New today: tower-http's timeout feature.
1. A route that hangs
To see the problem, a test route that sleeps, like a database that hangs. 30 seconds by default, or ?secs=:
#[derive(Deserialize)]
pub struct SlowParams {
secs: Option<u64>,
}
pub async fn slow(Query(p): Query<SlowParams>) -> &'static str {
tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(p.secs.unwrap_or(30))).await;
"finally done"
}.route("/debug/slow", get(handlers::slow))cargo run
curl -i localhost:8080/debug/slowcurl waits, and waits. Meanwhile the server holds a connection, memory, maybe a database lock. A thousand of those, and the server is stuck.
2. TimeoutLayer and 408
cargo add tower-http --features timeoutTimeoutLayer cancels any request that takes longer than 10 seconds, and answers 408 Request Timeout:
use tower_http::timeout::TimeoutLayer;
.layer(TimeoutLayer::with_status_code(StatusCode::REQUEST_TIMEOUT, Duration::from_secs(10)))cargo run
time curl -i localhost:8080/debug/slowHTTP/1.1 408 Request Timeout
real 0m10.0...sAfter ten seconds, 408. And the handler? Its future was simply dropped. That is how Rust cancels async work: by not polling it any more. The sleep never finishes, and nothing after it runs.
3. Not for streaming routes
Careful: our WebSocket and SSE routes (episodes 29 and 30) stay open on purpose. The timeout must not cut them. They go into their own router, merged after the timeout layer, so the layer doesn't wrap them:
let streaming = Router::new()
.route("/posts/{id}/live", get(handlers::live))
.route("/posts/{id}/events", get(handlers::events));
Router::new()
// ... all normal routes
.merge(auth_routes)
.layer(TimeoutLayer::with_status_code(StatusCode::REQUEST_TIMEOUT, Duration::from_secs(10)))
.merge(streaming)
.with_state(repo)A .layer call wraps only the routes added before it.
4. A restart cuts requests
Second question. A request is running, and we press Ctrl+C to deploy a new version:
curl -i 'localhost:8080/debug/slow?secs=5'(Ctrl+C in the server's terminal while it waits.)
curl: (52) Empty reply from serverThe request was killed halfway. If it was a payment, good luck.
5. Graceful shutdown
Graceful shutdown: when the signal comes, stop taking new connections, let running requests finish, then exit.
shutdown_signal waits for Ctrl+C, or for SIGTERM, which is what Docker, Kubernetes and systemd send to stop a process:
async fn shutdown_signal() {
let ctrl_c = async {
tokio::signal::ctrl_c().await.expect("Ctrl+C handler");
};
let terminate = async {
tokio::signal::unix::signal(tokio::signal::unix::SignalKind::terminate())
.expect("SIGTERM handler")
.recv()
.await;
};
tokio::select! {
_ = ctrl_c => {},
_ = terminate => {},
}
tracing::info!("shutting down");
}(tokio::signal::unix exists only on Unix; this server runs on Linux.) And serve gets with_graceful_shutdown:
axum::serve(listener, app.into_make_service_with_connect_info::<SocketAddr>())
.with_graceful_shutdown(shutdown_signal())
.await
.unwrap();cargo run
curl -i 'localhost:8080/debug/slow?secs=5'Press Ctrl+C while it waits. The log says shutting down, curl still gets its answer:
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
finally doneand then the server exits.
Two notes:
- Our background worker and cleanup timer (episode 27) stop with the process; a job in the middle of an email is lost. A shutdown token that tells them to finish first is the next step.
- Docker waits 10 seconds after SIGTERM, then kills the process. So our request timeout must stay below that, or a slow request is cut anyway.
The final code
src/handlers.rs
use axum::extract::{rejection::QueryRejection, Extension, Multipart, Path, Query, State};
use axum::{http::{header, StatusCode}, response::{IntoResponse, Response}, Json};
use crate::error::ApiError;
use crate::extract::{AdminUser, AuthUser, Role, ValidJson};
use crate::models::{Comment, Hit, Image, ListFilter, ListParams, NewComment, NewPost, NewUser, Page, Post, PostV2, PostWithTags, SearchParams, User};
use crate::repo::Repo;
use crate::auth;
use crate::config::config;
use serde::Deserialize;
use serde_json::{json, Value};
use axum_extra::extract::cookie::{Cookie, CookieJar, SameSite};
use uuid::Uuid;
use crate::storage::Storage;
use std::sync::Arc;
use std::io;
use crate::jobs::Job;
use tokio::sync::mpsc;
use crate::cache;
use redis::aio::ConnectionManager;
use axum::extract::ws::{Message, WebSocket, WebSocketUpgrade};
use tokio::sync::broadcast;
use tokio::sync::broadcast::error::RecvError;
use axum::response::sse::{Event, KeepAlive, Sse};
use std::convert::Infallible;
use tokio_stream::{wrappers::BroadcastStream, Stream, StreamExt};
#[tracing::instrument(skip_all)]
pub async fn create_post<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
user: AuthUser,
ValidJson(new): ValidJson<NewPost>,
) -> Result<(StatusCode, Json<PostWithTags>), ApiError> {
let post = repo.create(user.id, new).await.map_err(|err| match err.as_database_error() {
Some(e) if e.is_unique_violation() => ApiError::Conflict("a post with this title already exists".into()),
_ => ApiError::Database(err),
})?;
tracing::debug!(id = post.post.id, "created");
Ok((StatusCode::CREATED, Json(post)))
}
pub async fn get_post<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
Extension(redis): Extension<ConnectionManager>,
Path(id): Path<i64>,
) -> Result<Json<Post>, ApiError> {
if let Some(post) = cache::get(&redis, id).await {
tracing::debug!(id, "cache hit");
return Ok(Json(post));
}
tracing::debug!(id, "cache miss");
let post = repo.get(id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
cache::put(&redis, &post).await;
Ok(Json(post))
}
pub async fn list_posts<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
params: Result<Query<ListParams>, QueryRejection>,
) -> Result<Json<Page<Post>>, ApiError> {
let Query(p) = params?;
let page = p.page.unwrap_or(1).max(1);
let per_page = p.per_page.unwrap_or(10).clamp(1, 100);
let (items, total) = repo.list(ListFilter { page, per_page, tag: p.tag, sort: p.sort }).await?;
Ok(Json(Page { items, page, per_page, total }))
}
pub async fn update_post<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
Extension(redis): Extension<ConnectionManager>,
Path(id): Path<i64>,
user: AuthUser,
ValidJson(new): ValidJson<NewPost>,
) -> Result<Json<Post>, ApiError> {
let post = repo.get(id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
if !can_edit(&user, &post) {
return Err(ApiError::Forbidden);
}
let post = repo.update(id, new).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
cache::del(&redis, id).await;
Ok(Json(post))
}
pub async fn delete_post<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, Extension(redis): Extension<ConnectionManager>, Path(id): Path<i64>, user: AuthUser) -> Result<StatusCode, ApiError> {
let post = repo.get(id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
if !can_edit(&user, &post) {
return Err(ApiError::Forbidden);
}
repo.delete(id).await?;
cache::del(&redis, id).await;
Ok(StatusCode::NO_CONTENT)
}
pub async fn list_comments<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
Path(id): Path<i64>,
) -> Result<Json<Vec<Comment>>, ApiError> {
repo.get(id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
Ok(Json(repo.list_comments(id).await?))
}
pub async fn add_comment<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
Path(id): Path<i64>,
Extension(live): Extension<broadcast::Sender<Comment>>,
_user: AuthUser,
ValidJson(new): ValidJson<NewComment>,
) -> Result<(StatusCode, Json<Comment>), ApiError> {
let comment = repo.add_comment(id, new).await.map_err(|err| {
match err.as_database_error() {
Some(db_err) if db_err.is_foreign_key_violation() => ApiError::NotFound(id),
_ => ApiError::Database(err),
}
})?;
let _ = live.send(comment.clone());
Ok((StatusCode::CREATED, Json(comment)))
}
pub async fn search_posts<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
Query(p): Query<SearchParams>,
) -> Result<Json<Vec<Hit>>, ApiError> {
Ok(Json(repo.search(&p.q).await?))
}
pub async fn restore_post<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, Path(id): Path<i64>) -> Result<StatusCode, ApiError> {
if !repo.restore(id).await? {
return Err(ApiError::NotFound(id));
}
Ok(StatusCode::OK)
}
pub async fn signup<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
Extension(jobs): Extension<mpsc::Sender<Job>>,
ValidJson(new): ValidJson<NewUser>,
) -> Result<(StatusCode, Json<User>), ApiError> {
let hash = crate::auth::hash_password(new.password).await?;
let user = repo.create_user(&new.email, &hash).await.map_err(|err| match err.as_database_error() {
Some(e) if e.is_unique_violation() => ApiError::Conflict("email already registered".into()),
_ => ApiError::Database(err),
})?;
if jobs.send(Job::Welcome { email: user.email.clone() }).await.is_err() {
tracing::error!("job queue closed");
}
Ok((StatusCode::CREATED, Json(user)))
}
#[derive(Deserialize)]
pub struct Login {
pub email: String,
pub password: String,
}
fn refresh_cookie(token: String) -> Cookie<'static> {
Cookie::build(("refresh", token))
.http_only(true)
.secure(true)
.same_site(SameSite::Strict)
.path("/auth")
.max_age(time::Duration::days(30))
.build()
}
pub async fn login<R: Repo>(
State(repo): State<R>,
jar: CookieJar,
Json(body): Json<Login>,
) -> Result<(CookieJar, Json<Value>), ApiError> {
let user = repo.find_user_by_email(&body.email).await?.ok_or(ApiError::Unauthorized)?;
if !auth::verify_password(body.password, user.password_hash).await? {
return Err(ApiError::Unauthorized);
}
let access = auth::make_token(user.id, &user.role, &config().jwt_secret)?;
let refresh = auth::new_refresh_token();
repo.store_refresh(&auth::hash_token(&refresh), user.id, auth::now() + auth::REFRESH_SECS).await?;
Ok((jar.add(refresh_cookie(refresh)), Json(json!({ "token": access }))))
}
pub async fn me<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, user: AuthUser) -> Result<Json<User>, ApiError> {
let user = repo.get_user(user.id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::Unauthorized)?;
Ok(Json(user))
}
pub async fn refresh<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, jar: CookieJar) -> Result<(CookieJar, Json<Value>), ApiError> {
let old = jar.get("refresh").ok_or(ApiError::Unauthorized)?.value().to_string();
let user_id = repo.take_refresh(&auth::hash_token(&old), auth::now()).await?.ok_or(ApiError::Unauthorized)?;
let user = repo.get_user(user_id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::Unauthorized)?;
let access = auth::make_token(user.id, &user.role, &config().jwt_secret)?;
let new = auth::new_refresh_token();
repo.store_refresh(&auth::hash_token(&new), user.id, auth::now() + auth::REFRESH_SECS).await?;
Ok((jar.add(refresh_cookie(new)), Json(json!({ "token": access }))))
}
pub async fn logout<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, jar: CookieJar) -> Result<(CookieJar, StatusCode), ApiError> {
if let Some(cookie) = jar.get("refresh") {
repo.delete_refresh(&auth::hash_token(cookie.value())).await?;
}
Ok((jar.remove(Cookie::build("refresh").path("/auth")), StatusCode::NO_CONTENT))
}
pub fn can_edit(user: &AuthUser, post: &Post) -> bool {
user.role == Role::Admin || post.author_id == Some(user.id)
}
pub async fn list_users<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, _admin: AdminUser) -> Result<Json<Vec<User>>, ApiError> {
Ok(Json(repo.list_users().await?))
}
pub async fn upload_image<R: Repo, S: Storage>(
State(repo): State<R>,
user: AuthUser,
Path(id): Path<i64>,
Extension(store): Extension<Arc<S>>,
mut multipart: Multipart,
) -> Result<(StatusCode, Json<Image>), ApiError> {
let post = repo.get(id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
if !can_edit(&user, &post) {
return Err(ApiError::Forbidden);
}
while let Some(field) = multipart.next_field().await? {
if field.name() != Some("file") {
continue;
}
let bytes = field.bytes().await?;
let ext = image_kind(&bytes).ok_or(ApiError::UnsupportedMedia)?;
let name = format!("{}.{ext}", Uuid::new_v4());
store.put(&name, &bytes).await?;
let image = repo.add_image(id, &format!("/files/{name}")).await?;
return Ok((StatusCode::CREATED, Json(image)));
}
Err(ApiError::MissingFile)
}
fn image_kind(bytes: &[u8]) -> Option<&'static str> {
if bytes.starts_with(&[0x89, b'P', b'N', b'G']) {
Some("png")
} else if bytes.starts_with(&[0xFF, 0xD8, 0xFF]) {
Some("jpg")
} else {
None
}
}
pub async fn get_file<S: Storage>(Extension(store): Extension<Arc<S>>, Path(name): Path<String>) -> Result<Response, ApiError> {
let bytes = store.get(&name).await.map_err(|err| match err.kind() {
io::ErrorKind::NotFound | io::ErrorKind::InvalidInput => ApiError::FileNotFound,
_ => ApiError::Io(err),
})?;
let content_type = if name.ends_with(".png") { "image/png" } else { "image/jpeg" };
Ok(([(header::CONTENT_TYPE, content_type)], bytes).into_response())
}
pub async fn live(
Extension(live): Extension<broadcast::Sender<Comment>>,
Path(post_id): Path<i64>,
ws: WebSocketUpgrade,
) -> Response {
let rx = live.subscribe();
ws.on_upgrade(move |socket| live_socket(socket, rx, post_id))
}
async fn live_socket(mut socket: WebSocket, mut rx: broadcast::Receiver<Comment>, post_id: i64) {
loop {
tokio::select! {
event = rx.recv() => match event {
Ok(c) => {
if c.post_id != post_id {
continue;
}
let text = serde_json::to_string(&c).unwrap();
if socket.send(Message::Text(text.into())).await.is_err() {
break;
}
}
Err(RecvError::Lagged(n)) => {
let _ = socket.send(Message::Text(format!("{{\"missed\":{n}}}").into())).await;
}
Err(RecvError::Closed) => break,
},
msg = socket.recv() => match msg {
None | Some(Ok(Message::Close(_))) | Some(Err(_)) => break,
Some(Ok(_)) => {}
},
}
}
tracing::info!(post_id, "live socket closed");
}
pub async fn events(
Extension(live): Extension<broadcast::Sender<Comment>>,
Path(post_id): Path<i64>,
) -> Sse<impl Stream<Item = Result<Event, Infallible>>> {
let stream = BroadcastStream::new(live.subscribe()).filter_map(move |msg| match msg {
Ok(c) if c.post_id == post_id => Some(Ok(Event::default().event("comment").json_data(&c).unwrap())),
_ => None,
});
Sse::new(stream).keep_alive(KeepAlive::default())
}
pub async fn get_post_v2<R: Repo>(State(repo): State<R>, Path(id): Path<i64>) -> Result<Json<PostV2>, ApiError> {
let post = repo.get(id).await?.ok_or(ApiError::NotFound(id))?;
Ok(Json(post.into()))
}
#[derive(Deserialize)]
pub struct SlowParams {
secs: Option<u64>,
}
pub async fn slow(Query(p): Query<SlowParams>) -> &'static str {
tokio::time::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_secs(p.secs.unwrap_or(30))).await;
"finally done"
}src/main.rs
mod auth;
mod config;
mod error;
mod extract;
mod handlers;
mod models;
mod repo;
mod storage;
mod mail;
mod jobs;
mod cache;
use axum::{routing::{get, post, put}, Extension, Router};
use repo::{Repo, SqliteRepo};
use sqlx::sqlite::{SqliteConnectOptions, SqliteJournalMode, SqlitePoolOptions};
use std::str::FromStr;
use tower_http::trace::TraceLayer;
use tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter;
use axum::extract::DefaultBodyLimit;
use axum::http::{header, HeaderName, HeaderValue, Method, StatusCode};
use tower_http::cors::CorsLayer;
use tower_http::set_header::SetResponseHeaderLayer;
use tower_http::timeout::TimeoutLayer;
use std::sync::Arc;
use tower_governor::{governor::GovernorConfigBuilder, GovernorLayer};
use std::net::SocketAddr;
use storage::{LocalStorage, MemStorage, Storage};
use mail::Mailer;
use jobs::Job;
use tokio::sync::mpsc;
use tokio::time::Duration;
use redis::aio::{ConnectionManager, ConnectionManagerConfig};
use tokio::sync::broadcast;
use models::Comment;
pub fn app<R: Repo, S: Storage>(repo: R, store: S, jobs: mpsc::Sender<Job>, cache: ConnectionManager, live: broadcast::Sender<Comment>) -> Router {
let cors = CorsLayer::new()
.allow_origin(HeaderValue::from_static("http://localhost:5500"))
.allow_methods([Method::GET, Method::POST, Method::PUT, Method::DELETE])
.allow_headers([header::AUTHORIZATION, header::CONTENT_TYPE])
.allow_credentials(true);
let governor = Arc::new(GovernorConfigBuilder::default().per_second(2).burst_size(5).finish().unwrap());
let auth_routes = Router::new()
.route("/signup", post(handlers::signup::<R>))
.route("/login", post(handlers::login::<R>))
.route("/auth/refresh", post(handlers::refresh::<R>))
.layer(GovernorLayer::new(governor));
let streaming = Router::new()
.route("/posts/{id}/live", get(handlers::live))
.route("/posts/{id}/events", get(handlers::events));
Router::new()
.nest("/api/v1", posts_v1())
.nest("/api/v2", posts_v2())
.merge(posts_v1())
.route("/posts/{id}/restore", post(handlers::restore_post::<R>))
.route("/me", get(handlers::me::<R>))
.route("/admin/users", get(handlers::list_users::<R>))
.route("/auth/logout", post(handlers::logout::<R>))
.route(
"/posts/{id}/images",
post(handlers::upload_image::<R, S>).layer(DefaultBodyLimit::max(10 * 1024 * 1024)),
)
.route("/files/{name}", get(handlers::get_file::<S>))
.route("/debug/slow", get(handlers::slow))
.merge(auth_routes)
.layer(TimeoutLayer::with_status_code(StatusCode::REQUEST_TIMEOUT, Duration::from_secs(10)))
.merge(streaming)
.with_state(repo)
.layer(Extension(Arc::new(store)))
.layer(Extension(jobs))
.layer(Extension(cache))
.layer(Extension(live))
.layer(cors)
.layer(SetResponseHeaderLayer::if_not_present(header::X_CONTENT_TYPE_OPTIONS, HeaderValue::from_static("nosniff")))
.layer(SetResponseHeaderLayer::if_not_present(header::X_FRAME_OPTIONS, HeaderValue::from_static("DENY")))
.layer(SetResponseHeaderLayer::if_not_present(header::REFERRER_POLICY, HeaderValue::from_static("no-referrer")))
.layer(TraceLayer::new_for_http())
}
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
let cfg = config::config();
tracing_subscriber::fmt()
.with_env_filter(EnvFilter::try_from_default_env().unwrap_or_else(|_| EnvFilter::new("info")))
.init();
let addr = format!("{}:{}", cfg.host, cfg.port);
let options = SqliteConnectOptions::from_str(&cfg.database_url)
.unwrap()
.create_if_missing(true)
.journal_mode(SqliteJournalMode::Wal);
let pool = SqlitePoolOptions::new()
.max_connections(5)
.connect_with(options)
.await
.unwrap();
sqlx::migrate!().run(&pool).await.unwrap();
let repo = SqliteRepo { pool };
let (tx, rx) = mpsc::channel::<Job>(100);
let mailer = Mailer::new(cfg);
tokio::spawn(jobs::worker(rx, mailer));
tokio::spawn(jobs::cleanup(repo.clone(), Duration::from_secs(cfg.cleanup_secs)));
let client = redis::Client::open(cfg.redis_url.as_str()).unwrap();
let redis_config = ConnectionManagerConfig::new()
.set_number_of_retries(1)
.set_connection_timeout(Some(Duration::from_millis(300)))
.set_response_timeout(Some(Duration::from_millis(300)));
let cache = ConnectionManager::new_with_config(client, redis_config).await.unwrap();
let (live, _) = broadcast::channel::<Comment>(100);
match cfg.storage.as_str() {
"memory" => serve(app(repo, MemStorage::default(), tx, cache, live), &addr).await,
_ => serve(app(repo, LocalStorage::new("uploads"), tx, cache, live), &addr).await,
}
}
async fn serve(app: Router, addr: &str) {
let listener = tokio::net::TcpListener::bind(addr).await.unwrap();
tracing::info!(%addr, "listening");
axum::serve(listener, app.into_make_service_with_connect_info::<SocketAddr>())
.with_graceful_shutdown(shutdown_signal())
.await
.unwrap();
}
fn posts_common<R: Repo>() -> Router<R> {
Router::new()
.route("/posts", get(handlers::list_posts::<R>).post(handlers::create_post::<R>))
.route(
"/posts/{id}",
put(handlers::update_post::<R>).delete(handlers::delete_post::<R>),
)
.route("/posts/{id}/comments", get(handlers::list_comments::<R>).post(handlers::add_comment::<R>))
.route("/search", get(handlers::search_posts::<R>))
}
fn posts_v1<R: Repo>() -> Router<R> {
posts_common()
.route("/posts/{id}", get(handlers::get_post::<R>))
.layer(SetResponseHeaderLayer::overriding(HeaderName::from_static("deprecation"), HeaderValue::from_static("true")))
.layer(SetResponseHeaderLayer::overriding(
HeaderName::from_static("sunset"),
HeaderValue::from_static("Wed, 30 Jun 2027 00:00:00 GMT"),
))
.layer(SetResponseHeaderLayer::overriding(header::LINK, HeaderValue::from_static(r#"</api/v2>; rel="successor-version""#)))
}
fn posts_v2<R: Repo>() -> Router<R> {
posts_common().route("/posts/{id}", get(handlers::get_post_v2::<R>))
}
async fn shutdown_signal() {
let ctrl_c = async {
tokio::signal::ctrl_c().await.expect("Ctrl+C handler");
};
let terminate = async {
tokio::signal::unix::signal(tokio::signal::unix::SignalKind::terminate())
.expect("SIGTERM handler")
.recv()
.await;
};
tokio::select! {
_ = ctrl_c => {},
_ = terminate => {},
}
tracing::info!("shutting down");
}Recap
TimeoutLayer::with_status_code(StatusCode::REQUEST_TIMEOUT, ...)answers 408 for slow requests- Async work in Rust is cancelled by dropping its future
.layerwraps only the routes before it: merge WebSocket and SSE routes after the timeoutwith_graceful_shutdownstops accepting, lets running requests finish, then exits- Listen for both Ctrl+C and SIGTERM; keep the timeout below Docker's 10-second grace period
Next episode: health checks and metrics, so we know the server is fine before users tell us it is not. Watch the series on YouTube.