From a4f6e5fe3708b622e665bbacc63fb02ce00f5878 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "lancedb-gatefixer[bot]"
 <313497061+lancedb-gatefixer[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 11:17:58 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix(python): reject blob ranges unsupported by storage
 schemas (#4566)

---
 python/python/lancedb/table.py   | 17 +++++--
 python/python/tests/test_blob.py | 84 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 97 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/table.py b/python/python/lancedb/table.py
index a1a54ee8e..a9cf13b65 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/table.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/table.py
@@ -341,10 +341,19 @@ def _blob_input_to_arrow(data: Any, schema: Optional[pa.Schema]) -> Optional[pa.
             if isinstance(field.type, pa.ExtensionType)
             else field.type
         )
-        storage = pa.array(
-            [_blob_value_to_storage(value) for value in values[field.name]],
-            type=storage_type,
-        )
+        storage_values = [_blob_value_to_storage(value) for value in values[field.name]]
+        missing_range_fields = {"position", "size"} - set(storage_type.names)
+        # Arrow silently ignores dictionary keys absent from the storage type.
+        if missing_range_fields and any(
+            value is not None
+            and any(value.get(name) is not None for name in missing_range_fields)
+            for value in storage_values
+        ):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Blob column '{field.name}' storage schema cannot store byte ranges. "
+                "Create the column with lancedb.blob() to use position and size."
+            )
+        storage = pa.array(storage_values, type=storage_type)
         column = (
             pa.ExtensionArray.from_storage(field.type, storage)
             if isinstance(field.type, pa.ExtensionType)
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_blob.py b/python/python/tests/test_blob.py
index 8be90115c..130526eaf 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_blob.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_blob.py
@@ -2305,6 +2305,90 @@ def test_add_external_uri_string_round_trips_with_flag(tmp_path):
     assert blobs[0].as_py() == payload
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("as_pandas", [False, True])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("as_blob", [False, True])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("minimal_schema", [False, True])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("position", [0, 4])
+def test_add_external_blob_range_matches_storage_schema(
+    tmp_path, as_pandas, as_blob, minimal_schema, position
+):
+    payload = b"0123456789abcdef"
+    blob_path = tmp_path / "payload.bin"
+    blob_path.write_bytes(payload)
+    field = (
+        pa.field("image", pa.large_binary(), metadata={"lance-encoding:blob": "true"})
+        if minimal_schema
+        else lancedb.blob("image")
+    )
+    db = lancedb.connect(tmp_path / "db")
+    table = db.create_table(
+        "ranges", schema=pa.schema([pa.field("id", pa.int64()), field])
+    )
+    value = (
+        Blob.from_uri(blob_path.as_uri(), position=position, size=6)
+        if as_blob
+        else {"uri": blob_path.as_uri(), "position": position, "size": 6}
+    )
+    rows = [{"id": 1, "image": b"inline"}, {"id": 2, "image": value}]
+    data = pd.DataFrame(rows) if as_pandas else rows
+
+    if minimal_schema:
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Blob column 'image'.*storage schema"):
+            table.add(data, allow_external_blob_outside_bases=True)
+        assert table.count_rows() == 0
+    else:
+        table.add(data, allow_external_blob_outside_bases=True)
+        by_id = _row_ids_by_id(table)
+        assert table.fetch_blobs("image", [by_id[1], by_id[2]]).to_pylist() == [
+            b"inline",
+            payload[position : position + 6],
+        ]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("as_pandas", [False, True])
+def test_add_minimal_blob_schema_preserves_whole_file_and_inline_values(
+    tmp_path, as_pandas
+):
+    payload = b"whole-file"
+    blob_path = tmp_path / "payload.bin"
+    blob_path.write_bytes(payload)
+    uri = blob_path.as_uri()
+    schema = pa.schema(
+        [
+            pa.field("id", pa.int64()),
+            pa.field(
+                "image", pa.large_binary(), metadata={"lance-encoding:blob": "true"}
+            ),
+        ]
+    )
+    table = lancedb.connect(tmp_path / "db").create_table("minimal", schema=schema)
+    values = [
+        None,
+        b"inline",
+        Blob.from_bytes(b"from-blob"),
+        uri,
+        Blob.from_uri(uri),
+        {"uri": uri, "position": None, "size": None},
+    ]
+    rows = [{"id": i, "image": value} for i, value in enumerate(values)]
+    table.add(
+        pd.DataFrame(rows) if as_pandas else rows,
+        allow_external_blob_outside_bases=True,
+    )
+
+    by_id = _row_ids_by_id(table)
+    assert table.fetch_blobs(
+        "image", [by_id[i] for i in range(len(values))]
+    ).to_pylist() == [
+        None,
+        b"inline",
+        b"from-blob",
+        payload,
+        payload,
+        payload,
+    ]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("as_pandas", [False, True])
 def test_add_bytes_and_uri_in_one_batch_preserves_external_uri(tmp_path, as_pandas):
     payload = b"external-payload"