diff --git a/docs/src/java/java.md b/docs/src/java/java.md
index 583e6b69..2aad123e 100644
--- a/docs/src/java/java.md
+++ b/docs/src/java/java.md
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@ Add the following dependency to your `pom.xml`:
 ### Connecting to LanceDB Cloud
 
 ```java
-import com.lancedb.LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder;
-import org.lance.namespace.RestNamespace;
+import com.lancedb.LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder;
+import org.lance.namespace.LanceNamespace;
 
 // If your DB url is db://example-db, then your database here is example-db
-RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
+LanceNamespace namespaceClient = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder()
     .apiKey("your_lancedb_cloud_api_key")
     .database("your_database_name")
     .build();
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
 For LanceDB Enterprise deployments with a custom endpoint:
 
 ```java
-RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
+LanceNamespace namespaceClient = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder()
     .apiKey("your_lancedb_enterprise_api_key")
     .database("your_database_name")
     .endpoint("<your_enterprise_endpoint>")
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.CreateNamespaceResponse;
 CreateNamespaceRequest request = new CreateNamespaceRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace"));
 
-CreateNamespaceResponse response = namespace.createNamespace(request);
+CreateNamespaceResponse response = namespaceClient.createNamespace(request);
 ```
 
 You can also create nested namespaces:
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ You can also create nested namespaces:
 CreateNamespaceRequest request = new CreateNamespaceRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("parent_namespace", "child_namespace"));
 
-CreateNamespaceResponse response = namespace.createNamespace(request);
+CreateNamespaceResponse response = namespaceClient.createNamespace(request);
 ```
 
 ### Describing a Namespace
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.DescribeNamespaceResponse;
 DescribeNamespaceRequest request = new DescribeNamespaceRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace"));
 
-DescribeNamespaceResponse response = namespace.describeNamespace(request);
+DescribeNamespaceResponse response = namespaceClient.describeNamespace(request);
 System.out.println("Namespace properties: " + response.getProperties());
 ```
 
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.ListNamespacesResponse;
 ListNamespacesRequest request = new ListNamespacesRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList());  // Empty for root
 
-ListNamespacesResponse response = namespace.listNamespaces(request);
+ListNamespacesResponse response = namespaceClient.listNamespaces(request);
 for (String ns : response.getNamespaces()) {
     System.out.println("Namespace: " + ns);
 }
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ for (String ns : response.getNamespaces()) {
 ListNamespacesRequest childRequest = new ListNamespacesRequest();
 childRequest.setId(Arrays.asList("parent_namespace"));
 
-ListNamespacesResponse childResponse = namespace.listNamespaces(childRequest);
+ListNamespacesResponse childResponse = namespaceClient.listNamespaces(childRequest);
 ```
 
 ### Listing Tables
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.ListTablesResponse;
 ListTablesRequest request = new ListTablesRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace"));
 
-ListTablesResponse response = namespace.listTables(request);
+ListTablesResponse response = namespaceClient.listTables(request);
 for (String table : response.getTables()) {
     System.out.println("Table: " + table);
 }
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.DropNamespaceResponse;
 DropNamespaceRequest request = new DropNamespaceRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace"));
 
-DropNamespaceResponse response = namespace.dropNamespace(request);
+DropNamespaceResponse response = namespaceClient.dropNamespace(request);
 ```
 
 ### Describing a Table
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.DescribeTableResponse;
 DescribeTableRequest request = new DescribeTableRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace", "my_table"));
 
-DescribeTableResponse response = namespace.describeTable(request);
+DescribeTableResponse response = namespaceClient.describeTable(request);
 System.out.println("Table version: " + response.getVersion());
 System.out.println("Schema fields: " + response.getSchema().getFields());
 ```
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.DropTableResponse;
 DropTableRequest request = new DropTableRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace", "my_table"));
 
-DropTableResponse response = namespace.dropTable(request);
+DropTableResponse response = namespaceClient.dropTable(request);
 ```
 
 ## Writing Data
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ DropTableResponse response = namespace.dropTable(request);
 Tables are created within a namespace by providing data in Apache Arrow IPC format:
 
 ```java
-import org.lance.namespace.RestNamespace;
+import org.lance.namespace.LanceNamespace;
 import org.lance.namespace.model.CreateTableRequest;
 import org.lance.namespace.model.CreateTableResponse;
 import org.apache.arrow.memory.BufferAllocator;
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ try (BufferAllocator allocator = new RootAllocator();
     // Create table in a namespace
     CreateTableRequest request = new CreateTableRequest();
     request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace", "my_table"));
-    CreateTableResponse response = namespace.createTable(request, tableData);
+    CreateTableResponse response = namespaceClient.createTable(request, tableData);
 }
 ```
 
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ InsertIntoTableRequest request = new InsertIntoTableRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace", "my_table"));
 request.setMode(InsertIntoTableRequest.ModeEnum.APPEND);
 
-InsertIntoTableResponse response = namespace.insertIntoTable(request, insertData);
+InsertIntoTableResponse response = namespaceClient.insertIntoTable(request, insertData);
 System.out.println("New version: " + response.getVersion());
 ```
 
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ request.setUpdates(Arrays.asList(
     Arrays.asList("name", "'updated_name'")
 ));
 
-UpdateTableResponse response = namespace.updateTable(request);
+UpdateTableResponse response = namespaceClient.updateTable(request);
 System.out.println("Updated rows: " + response.getUpdatedRows());
 ```
 
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace", "my_table"));
 // Predicate to select rows to delete
 request.setPredicate("id > 100");
 
-DeleteFromTableResponse response = namespace.deleteFromTable(request);
+DeleteFromTableResponse response = namespaceClient.deleteFromTable(request);
 System.out.println("New version: " + response.getVersion());
 ```
 
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ request.setWhenMatchedUpdateAll(true);
 // Insert new rows when no match is found
 request.setWhenNotMatchedInsertAll(true);
 
-MergeInsertIntoTableResponse response = namespace.mergeInsertIntoTable(request, mergeData);
+MergeInsertIntoTableResponse response = namespaceClient.mergeInsertIntoTable(request, mergeData);
 
 System.out.println("Updated rows: " + response.getNumUpdatedRows());
 System.out.println("Inserted rows: " + response.getNumInsertedRows());
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ import org.lance.namespace.model.CountTableRowsRequest;
 CountTableRowsRequest request = new CountTableRowsRequest();
 request.setId(Arrays.asList("my_namespace", "my_table"));
 
-Long rowCount = namespace.countTableRows(request);
+Long rowCount = namespaceClient.countTableRows(request);
 System.out.println("Row count: " + rowCount);
 ```
 
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ query.setVector(vector);
 query.setColumns(Arrays.asList("id", "name", "embedding"));
 
 // Execute query - returns Arrow IPC format
-byte[] result = namespace.queryTable(query);
+byte[] result = namespaceClient.queryTable(query);
 ```
 
 ### Full Text Search
@@ -399,7 +399,7 @@ query.setFullTextQuery(fts);
 // Specify columns to return
 query.setColumns(Arrays.asList("id", "text_column"));
 
-byte[] result = namespace.queryTable(query);
+byte[] result = namespaceClient.queryTable(query);
 ```
 
 ### Query with Filter
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ query.setK(10);
 query.setFilter("id > 50");
 query.setColumns(Arrays.asList("id", "name"));
 
-byte[] result = namespace.queryTable(query);
+byte[] result = namespaceClient.queryTable(query);
 ```
 
 ### Query with Prefilter
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ QueryTableRequestVector vector = new QueryTableRequestVector();
 vector.setSingleVector(queryVector);
 query.setVector(vector);
 
-byte[] result = namespace.queryTable(query);
+byte[] result = namespaceClient.queryTable(query);
 ```
 
 ### Reading Query Results
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ class ByteArraySeekableByteChannel implements SeekableByteChannel {
 }
 
 // Read query results
-byte[] queryResult = namespace.queryTable(query);
+byte[] queryResult = namespaceClient.queryTable(query);
 
 try (BufferAllocator allocator = new RootAllocator();
      ArrowFileReader reader = new ArrowFileReader(
diff --git a/java/README.md b/java/README.md
index 6bd3c683..ac88a500 100644
--- a/java/README.md
+++ b/java/README.md
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@
 For LanceDB Cloud, use the simplified builder API:
 
 ```java
-import com.lancedb.LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder;
-import org.lance.namespace.RestNamespace;
+import com.lancedb.LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder;
+import org.lance.namespace.LanceNamespace;
 
 // If your DB url is db://example-db, then your database here is example-db
-RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
+LanceNamespace namespaceClient = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder()
     .apiKey("your_lancedb_cloud_api_key")
     .database("your_database_name")
     .build();
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
 For Enterprise deployments, use your custom endpoint:
 
 ```java
-RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
+LanceNamespace namespaceClient = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder()
     .apiKey("your_lancedb_enterprise_api_key")
     .database("your_database_name")
     .endpoint("<your_enterprise_endpoint>")
diff --git a/java/lancedb-core/src/main/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.java b/java/lancedb-core/src/main/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.java
similarity index 78%
rename from java/lancedb-core/src/main/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.java
rename to java/lancedb-core/src/main/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.java
index 1a6b8e32..5e31aaaa 100644
--- a/java/lancedb-core/src/main/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.java
+++ b/java/lancedb-core/src/main/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.java
@@ -13,22 +13,22 @@
  */
 package com.lancedb;
 
-import org.lance.namespace.RestNamespace;
+import org.lance.namespace.LanceNamespace;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
 /**
- * Util class to help construct a {@link RestNamespace} for LanceDB.
+ * Util class to help construct a {@link LanceNamespace} for LanceDB.
  *
  * <p>For LanceDB Cloud, use the simplified builder API:
  *
  * <pre>{@code
- * import org.lance.namespace.RestNamespace;
+ * import org.lance.namespace.LanceNamespace;
  *
  * // If your DB url is db://example-db, then your database here is example-db
- * RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
+ * LanceNamespace namespaceClient = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder()
  *     .apiKey("your_lancedb_cloud_api_key")
  *     .database("your_database_name")
  *     .build();
@@ -37,14 +37,14 @@ import java.util.Optional;
  * <p>For LanceDB Enterprise deployments, use your custom endpoint:
  *
  * <pre>{@code
- * RestNamespace namespace = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder()
+ * LanceNamespace namespaceClient = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder()
  *     .apiKey("your_lancedb_enterprise_api_key")
  *     .database("your_database_name")
  *     .endpoint("<your_enterprise_endpoint>")
  *     .build();
  * }</pre>
  */
-public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
+public class LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder {
   private static final String DEFAULT_REGION = "us-east-1";
   private static final String CLOUD_URL_PATTERN = "https://%s.%s.api.lancedb.com";
 
@@ -54,15 +54,15 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
   private Optional<String> region = Optional.empty();
   private Map<String, String> additionalConfig = new HashMap<>();
 
-  private LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder() {}
+  private LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder() {}
 
   /**
    * Create a new builder instance.
    *
-   * @return A new RestNamespaceBuilder
+   * @return A new LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder
    */
-  public static LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder newBuilder() {
-    return new LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder();
+  public static LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder newBuilder() {
+    return new LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder();
   }
 
   /**
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
    * @param apiKey The LanceDB API key
    * @return This builder
    */
-  public LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder apiKey(String apiKey) {
+  public LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder apiKey(String apiKey) {
     if (apiKey == null || apiKey.trim().isEmpty()) {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("API key cannot be null or empty");
     }
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
    * @param database The database name
    * @return This builder
    */
-  public LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder database(String database) {
+  public LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder database(String database) {
     if (database == null || database.trim().isEmpty()) {
       throw new IllegalArgumentException("Database cannot be null or empty");
     }
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
    * @param endpoint The complete base URL for your LanceDB Enterprise deployment
    * @return This builder
    */
-  public LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder endpoint(String endpoint) {
+  public LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder endpoint(String endpoint) {
     this.endpoint = Optional.ofNullable(endpoint);
     return this;
   }
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
    * @param region The AWS region (e.g., "us-east-1", "eu-west-1")
    * @return This builder
    */
-  public LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder region(String region) {
+  public LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder region(String region) {
     this.region = Optional.ofNullable(region);
     return this;
   }
@@ -124,18 +124,18 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
    * @param value The configuration value
    * @return This builder
    */
-  public LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder config(String key, String value) {
+  public LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder config(String key, String value) {
     this.additionalConfig.put(key, value);
     return this;
   }
 
   /**
-   * Build the Lance RestNamespace instance.
+   * Build the LanceNamespace instance.
    *
-   * @return A configured Lance RestNamespace
+   * @return A configured LanceNamespace
    * @throws IllegalStateException if required parameters are missing
    */
-  public RestNamespace build() {
+  public LanceNamespace build() {
     // Validate required fields
     if (apiKey == null) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("API key is required");
@@ -158,8 +158,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder {
       uri = String.format(CLOUD_URL_PATTERN, database, effectiveRegion);
     }
     config.put("uri", uri);
-    RestNamespace ns = new RestNamespace();
-    ns.initialize(config, null);
-    return ns;
+
+    return LanceNamespace.connect("rest", config, null);
   }
 }
diff --git a/java/lancedb-core/src/test/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest.java b/java/lancedb-core/src/test/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilderTest.java
similarity index 73%
rename from java/lancedb-core/src/test/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest.java
rename to java/lancedb-core/src/test/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilderTest.java
index f6543028..ff69fdeb 100644
--- a/java/lancedb-core/src/test/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest.java
+++ b/java/lancedb-core/src/test/java/com/lancedb/LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilderTest.java
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@ import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
 
-/** Unit tests for LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder. */
-public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
+/** Unit tests for LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder. */
+public class LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilderTest {
 
   @Test
   public void testBuilderRequiresApiKey() {
-    LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder builder =
-        LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder().database("test-db");
+    LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder builder =
+        LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder().database("test-db");
 
     IllegalStateException exception = assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, builder::build);
     assertEquals("API key is required", exception.getMessage());
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
 
   @Test
   public void testBuilderRequiresDatabase() {
-    LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder builder =
-        LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder().apiKey("test-api-key");
+    LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder builder =
+        LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder().apiKey("test-api-key");
 
     IllegalStateException exception = assertThrows(IllegalStateException.class, builder::build);
     assertEquals("Database is required", exception.getMessage());
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
     IllegalArgumentException exception =
         assertThrows(
             IllegalArgumentException.class,
-            () -> LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder().apiKey(null));
+            () -> LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder().apiKey(null));
     assertEquals("API key cannot be null or empty", exception.getMessage());
   }
 
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
     IllegalArgumentException exception =
         assertThrows(
             IllegalArgumentException.class,
-            () -> LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder().apiKey("  "));
+            () -> LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder().apiKey("  "));
     assertEquals("API key cannot be null or empty", exception.getMessage());
   }
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
     IllegalArgumentException exception =
         assertThrows(
             IllegalArgumentException.class,
-            () -> LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder().database(null));
+            () -> LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder().database(null));
     assertEquals("Database cannot be null or empty", exception.getMessage());
   }
 
@@ -70,14 +70,14 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
     IllegalArgumentException exception =
         assertThrows(
             IllegalArgumentException.class,
-            () -> LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder().database("  "));
+            () -> LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder().database("  "));
     assertEquals("Database cannot be null or empty", exception.getMessage());
   }
 
   @Test
   public void testBuilderFluentApi() {
     // Verify the builder returns itself for chaining
-    LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder builder = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder();
+    LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder builder = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder();
 
     assertSame(builder, builder.apiKey("test-key"));
     assertSame(builder, builder.database("test-db"));
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ public class LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilderTest {
 
   @Test
   public void testNewBuilderCreatesNewInstance() {
-    LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder builder1 = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder();
-    LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder builder2 = LanceDbRestNamespaceBuilder.newBuilder();
+    LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder builder1 = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder();
+    LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder builder2 = LanceDbNamespaceClientBuilder.newBuilder();
 
     assertNotSame(builder1, builder2);
   }