Recursive CTEs in PostgreSQL for Hierarchical Mobile App Data

--- title : " Recursive CTEs in PostgreSQL: Kill N+1 Queries in Your Mobile App" published : true description : " Build a threaded comment system that fetches entire trees in one query. Step-by-step with SQL, benchmarks, and cursor-based pagination for infinite scroll." tags : postgresql, kotlin, android, architecture canonical_url : https://blog.mvpfactory.co/recursive-ctes-postgresql-mobile-apps --- ## What We Will Build In this workshop, I will walk you through building a threaded comment system backed by a PostgreSQL recursive CTE that fetches an entire comment tree in a single query. By the end, you will have: - A clean adjacency list schema for hierarchical data - A recursive CTE that replaces 120+ sequential API calls with one query - Cursor-based pagination wired up for infinite scroll - A clear understanding of when to reach for alternative hierarchy models Let me show you a pattern I use in every project that deals with nested data — comments, org charts, folder structures, n