From 2f6d5258022601871835a143092b6306c5b0a999 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Colin Patrick McCabe <cmccabe@apache.org>
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2026 12:29:45 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] fix: support `exist_ok` in `RemoteDBConnection.create_table`
 (#2901)

RemoteDBConnection should support passing exist_ok to create_table, just
like LanceDBConnection (the non-remote form) does. It can support this
by passing 'exist_ok' as the mode parameter.
---
 python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py    | 12 +++++++++
 python/python/tests/test_remote_db.py | 36 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 48 insertions(+)

diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py b/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py
index 6c1fb0a4c..41ec1ba3c 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py
@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ class RemoteDBConnection(DBConnection):
         on_bad_vectors: str = "error",
         fill_value: float = 0.0,
         mode: Optional[str] = None,
+        exist_ok: bool = False,
         embedding_functions: Optional[List[EmbeddingFunctionConfig]] = None,
         *,
         namespace: Optional[List[str]] = None,
@@ -412,6 +413,12 @@ class RemoteDBConnection(DBConnection):
             - pyarrow.Schema
 
             - [LanceModel][lancedb.pydantic.LanceModel]
+        mode: str, default "create"
+            The mode to use when creating the table.
+            Can be either "create", "overwrite", or "exist_ok".
+        exist_ok: bool, default False
+            If exist_ok is True, and mode is None or "create", mode will be changed
+            to "exist_ok".
         on_bad_vectors: str, default "error"
             What to do if any of the vectors are not the same size or contains NaNs.
             One of "error", "drop", "fill".
@@ -483,6 +490,11 @@ class RemoteDBConnection(DBConnection):
         LanceTable(table4)
 
         """
+        if exist_ok:
+            if mode == "create":
+                mode = "exist_ok"
+            elif not mode:
+                mode = "exist_ok"
         if namespace is None:
             namespace = []
         validate_table_name(name)
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_remote_db.py b/python/python/tests/test_remote_db.py
index 759b67214..566e1fba4 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_remote_db.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_remote_db.py
@@ -168,6 +168,42 @@ def test_table_len_sync():
         assert len(table) == 1
 
 
+def test_create_table_exist_ok():
+    def handler(request):
+        if request.path == "/v1/table/test/create/?mode=exist_ok":
+            request.send_response(200)
+            request.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+            request.end_headers()
+            request.wfile.write(b"{}")
+        else:
+            request.send_response(404)
+            request.end_headers()
+
+    with mock_lancedb_connection(handler) as db:
+        table = db.create_table("test", [{"id": 1}], exist_ok=True)
+        assert table is not None
+
+    with mock_lancedb_connection(handler) as db:
+        table = db.create_table("test", [{"id": 1}], mode="create", exist_ok=True)
+        assert table is not None
+
+
+def test_create_table_exist_ok_with_mode_overwrite():
+    def handler(request):
+        if request.path == "/v1/table/test/create/?mode=overwrite":
+            request.send_response(200)
+            request.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+            request.end_headers()
+            request.wfile.write(b"{}")
+        else:
+            request.send_response(404)
+            request.end_headers()
+
+    with mock_lancedb_connection(handler) as db:
+        table = db.create_table("test", [{"id": 1}], mode="overwrite", exist_ok=True)
+        assert table is not None
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_http_error():
     request_id_holder = {"request_id": None}