A view definition was a structured record under a `kind` tag, one kind
per query shape, and a Function returning `list<struct>` was about to
add a third. That names shapes instead of describing a relation.
A materialized view is now a relation defined by a query, stored as one
canonical SQL string under a format number:
```sql
SELECT columns FROM [ns.]table [, function(args) AS alias | , UNNEST(column) AS alias]
[WHERE predicate] [LIMIT n]
```
Any other clause is refused at parse time. Older readers report the view
as unrefreshable, the pre-format layouts still read, and a legacy view
is rewritten on its next refresh that commits, rebuilt only where its
raw text meant something else under lance's parser.
A Function in FROM position yields one row per element it returns, as a
table function does in any dialect. The server stages its list output in
a hidden table and records that binding beside the query, which stays as
the user wrote it; refresh scans the staging and unnests the column, the
same operator as UNNEST over a list column the table already holds. Row
ids repeat per element, so eviction and incremental append are
unchanged. A local database refuses a Function in FROM position, since
it has no executor.
## Summary
Align the experimental materialized-view HTTP transport with the
equivalent Table API shape and add remote materialized-view support
across Rust, Python, and TypeScript. This is an intentional breaking
change to the experimental materialized-view surface.
Materialized-view creation performs an initial refresh by default. The
create endpoint returns `202 Accepted` with `{ "job_id": "..." }`;
blocking SDK creation waits for that job before returning a populated
view. `with_no_data` / `withNoData` explicitly creates only the
definition and empty backing table.
## Route comparison
| Operation | Materialized-view API | Equivalent Table API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Create | `POST /v1/materialized_view/{id}/create` | `POST
/v1/table/{id}/create` |
| Describe/open | `POST /v1/materialized_view/{id}/describe` | `POST
/v1/table/{id}/describe` |
| List | `GET /v1/namespace/{id}/materialized_view/list` | `GET
/v1/namespace/{id}/table/list` |
| Refresh | `POST /v1/materialized_view/{id}/refresh` | asynchronous
Table mutation pattern |
| Drop | `POST /v1/materialized_view/{id}/drop` | `POST
/v1/table/{id}/drop` |
Create, describe, refresh, and drop identify the target in the singular
item path instead of duplicating it in the request body. Create and drop
require `202 Accepted` with a valid job ID. List is a namespace-scoped
GET with opaque pagination tokens. The Rust list API now returns view
names, matching Table listing and the existing Python and TypeScript
APIs.
## Python API changes
| Operation | Synchronous API | Asynchronous API | Table/job pattern |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Create and wait | `DBConnection.create_materialized_view(...)` |
`await AsyncConnection.create_materialized_view(...)` | Returns a
materialized-view handle after its initial-population job finishes |
| Submit create | `DBConnection.create_materialized_view_async(...) ->
Job[None]` | `await AsyncConnection.create_materialized_view_async(...)
-> AsyncJob[None]` | Matches job-returning Table mutations such as
`create_index_async` |
| Open | `DBConnection.open_materialized_view(...)` | `await
AsyncConnection.open_materialized_view(...)` | Opens the backing Table
plus its definition |
| List | `DBConnection.list_materialized_views()` | `await
AsyncConnection.list_materialized_views()` | Returns names like Table
listing |
| Refresh and wait | `MaterializedView.refresh(...)` | `await
AsyncMaterializedView.refresh(...)` | Returns the typed refresh result
after the job finishes |
| Submit refresh | `MaterializedView.refresh_async(...) ->
Job[RefreshMaterializedViewResult]` | `await
AsyncMaterializedView.refresh_async(...) ->
AsyncJob[RefreshMaterializedViewResult]` | Matches
`Table.refresh_column_async`; remote job handles expose the server job
ID |
| Drop | `DBConnection.drop_materialized_view(...)` | `await
AsyncConnection.drop_materialized_view(...)` | Matches blocking
`drop_table` |
| Submit drop | `DBConnection.drop_materialized_view_async(...) ->
Job[None]` | `await AsyncConnection.drop_materialized_view_async(...) ->
AsyncJob[None]` | Matches `drop_table_async`; remote handles expose the
server cleanup job ID |
The materialized-view handle exposes its backing Table through `.table`,
so normal Table query, search, and index APIs apply. Definition lookup
and refresh are backend-aware rather than depending on local schema
metadata. TypeScript exposes the equivalent blocking/job drop pair as
`dropMaterializedView` and `dropMaterializedViewAsync`.
A view definition recorded its source by bare name and refresh resolved
that name at the root, so declaring a view over a namespaced source was
refused outright -- materialized views were root-only for every caller.
The definition now carries `source_namespace`, and refresh opens the
source at that coordinate. `plan` takes the namespace too: refresh
re-plans the stored definition and persists the result when it migrates,
so defaulting it there would strand the view on its next rebuild.
The stored kind is the version boundary. Root definitions keep the
`select` form byte-for-byte, so everything written before this change
reads exactly as it always did. A namespaced source is stored as
`namespaced_select`: released readers drop unknown fields and resolve a
`select` source at the root, so keeping the old kind would let a
rolled-back worker refresh a view from a same-name root table -- the new
kind routes them to their existing unrecognized-kind refusal instead.
The Python and Node definition parsers learn the new kind alongside the
Rust core.
Exposes materialized views to TypeScript: createMaterializedView,
openMaterializedView and listMaterializedViews on Connection, and a
MaterializedView handle carrying the parsed definition and
refresh({full, sourceVersion}), which returns the typed refresh result.
select accepts column names, [alias, expression] pairs, or a record of
the
same; the definition reads back off the stored schema, so a reopened
handle
needs no side channel. Remote connections surface the core's
not-supported
error up front.
The napi crate needed the same recursion-limit raise as the core crate:
the
refresh future's type graph overflows the default trait-recursion depth.
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Wyatt Alt
Jack Ye