table.refresh_column("doubled") fills the rows of a declared column that
hold no value, in two passes per fragment: the first scans only the
unfilled
live rows to count exact gains and decide staging, the second streams
the
fragment's physical rows into a standalone column file published in one
DataReplacement -- committed under the dataset's own session -- so peak
memory is bounded by a scan batch. A row that holds a value keeps it;
deleted and already-filled rows never reach the expression, so a poison
value in them cannot fail the refresh. Refresh refuses under an LSM
write
spec, including the mem-wal catch-up flag that outlives unset and marks
retained SSTable rows.
---
<sub>Stack created with <a
href="https://github.com/github/gh-stack">GitHub Stacks CLI</a> • <a
href="https://gh.io/stacks-feedback">Give Feedback 💬</a></sub>
add_columns().computed("doubled", "x * 2") stores the expression in
field
metadata and commits the column empty; a later refresh fills it. Type
and
inputs are derived from the expression.
The declaration stays authoritative for its lifetime: writes that would
give
the column a value (append, update, merge, SQL insert), schema changes
that
would break the stored expression or reshape its output, metadata edits,
volatile expressions, declaration metadata arriving through any path but
the
validated declare call, and LSM write specs in either order against
latest
committed state are all refused. The LSM check also refuses on the
mem-wal
catch-up feature flag, which outlives unset and marks retained SSTable
rows.
Simultaneous declare/install interleavings conflict at commit via
lance's
mem-wal rule (lance#8539). Local tables only.
---
<sub>Stack created with <a
href="https://github.com/github/gh-stack">GitHub Stacks CLI</a> • <a
href="https://gh.io/stacks-feedback">Give Feedback 💬</a></sub>
PyO3 defaults native extension classes to `builtins`, so
mkdocstrings/Griffe could not resolve the newly documented
`lancedb.Session` alias and `Deploy docs to Pages` failed on `main`.
Declare the extension module for the public native types referenced by
the Python API docs so Griffe resolves them through `lancedb._lancedb`
and Pages can build again.
Validated with the docs toolchain used by CI (`griffe==0.49.0`,
`mkdocstrings==0.25.2`, and `mkdocs==1.6.1`); `PYTHONPATH=. mkdocs
build` succeeds.
## What
`LsmWriteSpec::maintained_indexes` becomes `Option<Vec<String>>`:
| value | meaning |
|---|---|
| `None` (new default) | every index the MemWAL supports, resolved when
the spec is installed |
| `Some([])` | maintain nothing — a scan/filter-only WAL table |
| `Some([..])` | exactly these, taken verbatim |
`with_maintained_indexes` keeps its signature;
`with_no_maintained_indexes()` is new. Surfaced through the remote path
(null on the wire), Python, and Node.
## Why
Callers had to state the maintained set by hand every time, which is
both tedious and easy to get wrong — the common case is "maintain what I
already built."
Resolution filters on `IndexConfig::is_memwal_maintainable`, delegating
to lance's `is_maintainable_index_type`. This is load-bearing rather
than cosmetic: lance does **not** skip an index type its memtable cannot
build, it errors when the shard writer opens, so sweeping up a bitmap
index would fail every memtable claim and leave the table unwritable.
The inferred set excludes those, and an explicit list naming one is now
rejected at spec time instead of at claim time.
## Behavior change
A freshly constructed spec used to maintain **nothing**; it now
maintains **everything supported**. This flipped because napi collapses
`undefined` and `null` to `None`, so TypeScript cannot express "absent
means nothing, null means all" — any other choice makes the bindings
disagree with the wire. The error direction also favors it: an unwanted
maintained index costs memory, while a silently unmaintained one
degrades FTS to an unscored scan.
Three existing tests encoded the old default and are updated rather than
worked around.
## Caveat
The resolved set is a snapshot, not a subscription. An index created
after the spec is installed is not maintained until the spec is unset
and set again. `get_lsm_write_spec` therefore always reports a concrete
list — `None` never round-trips.
## Dependency
Needs a lance release carrying `is_maintainable_index_type`
(lance-format/lance#8095) before this builds against the pinned tag.
Draft until then.
## Testing
38 Rust LSM tests and 10 Python tests pass against a local lance build,
including new coverage that a bitmap index is excluded from inference
and rejected when named, and that `[]` stays distinguishable from null
on the wire.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Converge a table's LSM write path into its base table, and inspect it.
`checkpoint_lsm` is `flush` then `compact`, repeated until the fresh
tier is empty — and the loop runs **client-side**. Putting it on the
server would mean a background task, which means a single-flight intent,
an intent that leaks on panic, a bounded-iteration policy, an "is it
done" observable, and a story for every way a client can vanish
mid-operation. None of that exists in this shape: each request does a
bounded unit of work and reports what is left, so completion is *carried
in the responses* rather than inferred from a shared counter that cannot
distinguish "converged" from "hasn't started yet".
Best-effort by construction. Nothing is frozen, so `converged` means L0
was empty as of the last pass. It is idempotent, abandonable at any
point with zero consequence, and safe to run on a cadence — an
already-converged table costs one round trip and zero compaction passes,
because `flush` reports `generations_remaining` and the loop is never
entered.
## The failure taxonomy is the load-bearing part
Five distinct conditions used to arrive at a client as one 503.
`Error::LsmRoute` carries a classification read from the response body's
namespace error code **at the point of receipt** — before any generic
helper folds the body into a string and keeps only the status.
| condition | wire | client action |
|---|---|---|
| contention (latch held / pool saturated) | 429, code 21 | retry with
backoff |
| owning node draining | 503, code 19 `InvalidTableState` | **stop** |
| fenced / no slot / transport | 503, code 17 | retry with backoff |
| registry entry vanished | 404 | re-issue from `flush` (capped) |
| table being dropped / not WAL-backed | 409 / 400 | stop |
Draining is terminal because the drain gate is a one-way latch —
retrying spins until the deadline to report a failure that was knowable
on the first response. Transport retry is disabled on these routes for
the same reason: it treats every 503 alike and would burn its budget
before the classifier ever saw the body.
`get_lsm_stats` returns `Option<LsmStats>`, matching
`get_lsm_write_spec` — `None` only when the table has no LSM write path,
since a struct of zeros would read as measurements.
Python bindings mirror all four, preserving per-bucket detail rather
than flattening to a table-level summary.
## Testing
Six new unit tests against the mocked endpoint, plus the taxonomy
round-trip:
- flush into an empty L0 issues **zero** compact calls (asserts the call
count — `generations_consumed: 0` is also true of a loop that ran a
pointless pass)
- the loop drives compact until the server reports zero remaining
- **contention is not draining**: a 429 retries and converges; asserts
the retry count
- a draining node stops after **exactly one** request, no retries
- stats round-trips fully populated; `include_generation_rows` off by
default
- every `(status, code)` pair classifies correctly, including
unparseable 503 bodies falling back to *retryable* rather than terminal
`cargo test -p lancedb --features remote --lib`: 723 passed.
## Notes for review
- Depends on the sibling lance change returning `SealedGeneration` from
`force_seal_active` only at the *server* level — no lance API is used
here.
- The branch is based on `codex/update-lance-10-0-0-beta-5`, so it
carries one extra commit (`chore: update lance dependency to
v10.0.0-beta.5`) that is not part of this change.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: lancedb automation <robot@lancedb.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
<!-- lance-gatekeeper-fix:v1 agent=5c80c44c083b3b8ad0da595419d468fc
generation=1 -->
## Root cause
The legacy synchronous Python table called `delete` on a shared, mutable
`lance.Dataset`. Concurrent table operations could hold a PyO3 borrow
while delete requested an exclusive borrow, producing `RuntimeError:
Already borrowed`. The current async-backed binding fixes this by
cloning its thread-safe Rust table handle before awaiting, but that
concurrency contract had no regression coverage.
## Fix
- Document why delete must clone the Rust table handle before entering
its async future.
- Add a barrier-synchronized regression test that deletes distinct rows
through one shared table from eight Python threads.
- Verify every delete commits exactly one row, every commit gets a
distinct version, and no rows remain.
## Validation
- `cargo check --quiet --features remote --tests --examples`
- `cargo fmt --all -- --check`
- `uv run --extra tests --extra dev ruff format --check
python/tests/test_table.py`
- `uv run --extra tests --extra dev ruff check
python/tests/test_table.py`
- `uv run --extra tests --extra dev pytest
python/tests/test_table.py::test_concurrent_deletes_are_thread_safe
python/tests/test_table.py::test_delete
python/tests/test_table.py::test_delete_expr
python/tests/test_table.py::test_delete_expr_async -q` (4 passed)
- Manual stress reproduction: 100 concurrent deletes on one table
completed at versions 2–101 with zero rows remaining.
Fixes#530
Co-authored-by: Gatefixer <313497061+lancedb-gatefixer[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Table::add_columns now takes no arguments and returns AddColumnsBuilder,
so calls become .add_columns().transform(t).execute().
read_columns was the second positional argument but reaches only one of
the five transform variants. In lance's add_columns_to_fragments only
BatchUDF receives the caller's value: SqlExpressions replaces it with
the columns its expressions reference, Stream and Reader pass None, and
AllNulls reads nothing. So it was mandatory on every call -- all
eighteen call sites here passed None -- and silently discarded four
times out of five. As a builder method it is optional, and setting it
where lance would discard it is now an error, which does reject a call
that previously succeeded while ignoring the argument.
Matches the builders add, update, and merge_insert already use.
## Summary
- Implements Cloud `fetch_blob_files`: returns real seekable `BlobFile`
handles over HTTP Range instead of `NotSupported`.
- Completes the second Cloud blob read verb after #3684 (`fetch_blobs` =
eager whole bytes; this = lazy / partial / sequential reads).
- Same public handle API as local (`read_range`, `read_up_to`, `seek`,
`tell`, `close`), so one code path works for local and Cloud.
Large blobs (video, audio, PDFs) should not require downloading the
whole object to inspect a header or stream a slice. After search,
callers open a handle and read only what they need:
```python
hits = table.search(vec).select(["id", "video"]).limit(5).to_arrow()
with table.fetch_blob_files("video", hits)[0] as f:
header = f.read_range(0, 256)
f.seek(keyframe_offset)
chunk = f.read_up_to(1 << 20)
```
### Behavior
- Handle creation probes size with `bytes=0-0` (bounded concurrency,
input order preserved).
- `204` → null (`None`); `416` with `bytes */0` → valid empty blob;
other `416` → error.
- `read_range` validates `Content-Range` and body length; OOB ranges
fail with `invalid_input` before the request (aligned with Lance).
- `read_up_to` reuses one open-ended Range response across sequential
reads; `seek` drops it.
- Servers older than 0.5.0 get a clear `NotSupported` (does not suggest
`fetch_blobs`, which they also lack).
## Testing
- `cargo test --features remote -p lancedb remote_blob`
- `cargo test --features remote -p lancedb test_blob`
- `cargo clippy --features remote --tests --examples` (no new warnings
from this change)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
IndexBuilder::execute now returns a Job with wait and cancel methods.
Local tables build the index synchronously and return an already-done
job. Remote tables read the job id the server returns from create_index
and track it through the /v1/jobs API: wait polls describe until the job
reaches a terminal state and cancel posts a cancellation. Servers that
return no job id yield a done job, so behavior against older servers is
unchanged. The job id is not exposed on the handle.
The Python and TypeScript bindings keep their current signatures and
discard the handle; exposing Job there is left to follow-ups.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
## What
Expose custom FTS stop-word lists in the Python and TypeScript public
APIs, including their standalone tokenize helpers and remote index
creation.
This PR supports concrete string lists only. It does not add file or
LanceDB-table stop-word sources.
## Why
Rust already exposes Lance's custom stop-word list option. The Python
and TypeScript APIs did not pass it through, and local index details did
not retain the full tokenizer parameters needed by index-backed
tokenization after reopening a table.
## How
- Add `custom_stop_words` / `customStopWords` to the Python and
TypeScript FTS and tokenize options.
- Preserve `None` / `undefined`, empty lists, and list contents without
normalization.
- Load the persisted FTS segment parameters when returning local index
details.
- Serialize the concrete list in remote create-index requests.
- Keep Python and TypeScript tests thin; behavior, persistence, query
tokenization, and remote JSON coverage live primarily in Rust.
## Validation
- `cargo check --quiet --features remote --tests --examples`
- `cargo clippy --quiet --features remote --tests --examples`
- `cargo test --quiet --features remote --tests`
- Python extension rebuild with `uv` and `maturin`
- Targeted Python tests: 4 passed
- Python `ruff format --check` and `ruff check`
- TypeScript build, typecheck, Biome lint, generated docs, and targeted
tests
---------
Co-authored-by: Yang Cen <yangcen@Yangs-Mac-mini.local>
## Summary
Lance can now plan multiple byte ranges for the same blob in one
`read_blob_ranges` operation, but LanceDB users currently cannot expose
a complete set of logical ranges to that planner.
This complements `BlobFile`: file-like consumers such as PyAV can
continue to discover ranges dynamically, while callers that already know
the ranges for a batch can submit them together.
## Motivating example
A training table may store a large video blob together with a small
application-level clip index:
```text
video: blob
clips: [{offset, length}, ...]
```
The caller can select the videos and clips for a batch, obtain their row
IDs from the query, and read all of the selected windows together:
```python
rows = (
table.search()
.select(["clips"])
.with_row_id(True)
.limit(64)
.to_arrow()
.to_pylist()
)
requests = []
for row in rows:
clip = sample_clip(row["clips"])
requests.append(
(row["_rowid"], clip["offset"], clip["length"])
)
chunks = table.fetch_blob_ranges("video", requests)
```
Here, `_rowid` comes from the LanceDB query, while `offset` and `length`
come from the application's clip index and are relative to that row's
video blob. The caller describes only the logical reads; Lance still
handles validation, source grouping, coalescing, scheduling, and byte
backpressure.
Lance v10.0.0-beta.5 returns one logical result per blob selector or
range request and explicitly distinguishes null blobs from valid empty
values. LanceDB consumes that aligned result contract directly and only
adds a cardinality check for unresolved row IDs.
This PR exposes batched blob-range reads on local Rust and Python
tables. Results preserve request identity, duplicates, null slots, and
valid empty ranges while allowing Lance to execute the physical reads
out of order. Scheduler buffer sizing remains an internal Lance concern,
so the LanceDB API does not expose `io_buffer_size`.
Cloud tables continue to report this operation as unsupported until
there is a corresponding remote API.
## What
MemWAL LSM **read** support. When a table has an LSM write spec
(`set_lsm_write_spec`), `merge_insert` upserts live in the MemWAL
active/frozen memtables and flushed SSTables until an external
compaction merges them into the base table, so a normal scan returns
**stale** data. This routes reads through Lance's `LsmScanner` so
queries also surface that in-flight data, deduplicated by primary key
(newest generation wins).
## How
- Adds a **`use_lsm: Option<bool>`** query flag, symmetric with the
`merge_insert` flag:
- **unset** — auto-route through the LSM scanner when the table carries
a write spec
- **`use_lsm(true)`** — force the LSM path; error if there is no spec
- **`use_lsm(false)`** — read the base table only (the escape hatch)
- Plain scan, single-column full-text search, and single-vector ANN all
run through one `LsmScanner` (assembled from on-disk shard manifests
plus the cached writer's in-memory memtables), so a `where` predicate is
honored as a **prefilter** uniformly — including for vector search.
- **Compaction-aware snapshots:** an SSTable generation is dropped only
once it is both compacted into the base table and covered by the arm's
base-index catch-up (`index_catchup`); plain scans use the compaction
watermark alone.
- Query shapes the scanner cannot honor hard-error with guidance to set
`use_lsm(false)`: hybrid, multi/binary vectors, `with_row_id`,
reranking, `order_by`, dynamic/Substrait projection or filters,
`distance_range`, `use_index(false)`, postfilter, take-by-row-id/offset,
reads from a time-traveled version, and an unmaintained or ambiguous
(multiple) FTS/vector index. Namespace-pushdown queries fall back to
local execution when a spec is present; WAL-only writers are handled.
- Exposed across the Rust core and the Python (`use_lsm`) and TypeScript
(`useLsm`) bindings, including `TakeQuery`.
Rebased from Lance `7.2.0-beta.3` to `10.0.0-beta.3`.
This PR adds some support for `diff` / `merge` in the remote client as
for local tables we stay `NotSupported` until
https://github.com/lance-format/lance/issues/7263.
This wires the two review-and-land calls against the remote REST API:
- `POST /v1/table/{id}/branches/diff`
- `POST /v1/table/{id}/branches/merge`
Rust gets typed results (`BranchDiff`, `MergeBranchResult`). Python
returns the wire JSON, same shape as the REST response.
Merge here means promoting a branch's added columns onto `main`.
### Behavior
- Remote only. Local raises `NotSupported`.
- A rejected merge is not an exception. HTTP 409 still returns `Ok` / a
dict with `status="rejected"` and blockers in `diff.mergeBlockers`.
- Unknown blocker / status codes parse as `Unknown` so a newer server
does not break older clients.
- `MergePreview` tolerates missing fields for the same reason.
- Merge requests are not retried. 409 is final and carries the body you
need.
### Example
```python
table = db.open_table("images")
table.branches.create("exp")
exp = table.branches.checkout("exp")
exp.add_columns({"tag": "cast('draft' as string)"})
diff = table.branches.diff("exp")
preview = table.branches.merge("exp", dry_run=True)
result = table.branches.merge("exp", dry_run=False)
if result["status"] == "merged":
print("landed at", result["mainVersionAfter"])
elif result["status"] == "rejected":
print(result["diff"]["mergeBlockers"])
```
### Testing
cargo test -p lancedb --features remote diff_branch
cargo test -p lancedb --features remote merge_branch
---------
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
## Problem
`table.add(dataset)` with a `pyarrow.dataset.Dataset` OOMs the client
during bulk ingestion of wide rows (e.g. embedding columns), even
against a remote table where the upload itself is streaming.
The cause is in `to_scannable`: a `Dataset` is scanned with pyarrow's
default scanner settings (`batch_size=131072` rows,
`batch_readahead=16`, `fragment_readahead=4`). pyarrow's internal
threads prefetch that read-ahead window independently of LanceDB's
backpressure, so for wide rows a large fraction of the dataset is held
in memory. On the remote path this is then multiplied across the
multipart write partitions (one in-flight batch per partition, up to
CPU-core count).
Reproduced on a 10 GB / 1.55M-row dataset with two 768-dim float32
embeddings: peak client RSS ~11.7 GB for the scan alone (6.8 GB after
consuming a *single* batch), ~15.4 GB for the full remote `add()`.
## Fix
`to_scannable` now sizes the scanner from an estimate of bytes-per-row
derived from the schema:
- **Narrow datasets keep pyarrow's defaults** (empty scanner kwargs) —
no throughput regression. The bound only engages above ~410 bytes/row.
- **Wide rows** get a smaller `batch_size` (~16 MiB/batch) and reduced
read-ahead (`batch_readahead=2`, `fragment_readahead=1`) so peak
in-flight memory stays near a ~1 GiB budget. Read-ahead (not just batch
size) has to drop, because pyarrow pins whole row-group buffers.
On the 10 GB dataset this drops peak client RSS to ~1.4 GB, and it stays
flat as the dataset grows. The `Dataset`/`LanceDataset` scannables
remain rescannable (retry-safe).
## Also: expose `write_parallelism` on `add()`
`AddDataBuilder::write_parallelism` already existed in Rust but was not
exposed in Python. This PR forwards it through the async, sync, and
remote `add()` methods, so users can cap the number of parallel write
partitions (each buffers data in flight) to trade throughput for memory
on large uploads.
## Tests
- `test_scannable.py`: bytes-per-row estimation; narrow → defaults; wide
→ bounded; `Dataset` reader streams bounded batches and stays
rescannable.
- `test_table.py`: `write_parallelism` on sync and async `add()`, and
that `write_parallelism=0` is rejected.
Fixes ENT-1883
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
## Summary
- add table-level FTS query tokenization returning token text and
position
- use the native index tokenizer for local tables and remote index
metadata for remote tables
- expose sync and async Python table wrappers with focused coverage
## Summary
Adds `Table::get_lsm_write_spec` returning `Option<LsmWriteSpec>` — the
read counterpart to the existing `set_lsm_write_spec` /
`unset_lsm_write_spec`. Returns `None` when the MemWAL LSM write path is
not enabled; otherwise reconstructs the spec (mode, shard column,
`num_buckets`, `maintained_indexes`, `writer_config_defaults`) exactly
as installed.
## Changes
- **Rust core (`NativeTable`)** — reconstructs the spec from
`mem_wal_index_details()`, resolving the shard column from its Lance
field id via the dataset schema. This is a raw metadata read, so it is
unaffected by `describe_indices` system-index filtering.
- **Remote (`RemoteTable`)** — reads the `__lance_mem_wal` system index
through `index/list` with `include_system: true` (so the curated
`list_indices` surface stays unchanged), then parses the index `details`
JSON. It matches the index by name and ignores `index_type`, so no
client `IndexType` variant is needed. It uses the **server-resolved
`column` name** from the details (Lance field ids do not travel to the
remote client).
- **Python + TypeScript bindings** — sync and async, mirroring
`set`/`unset`, with round-trip tests (bucket / identity / unsharded,
plus `None` when unset).
## Tests
- Rust: native round-trip unit test + remote mock-endpoint tests
(present + absent). All green (`cargo test --features remote -p
lancedb`).
- Python/TS: round-trip tests added; binding-runtime execution runs in
CI.
## Dependencies for the remote path
The remote path is complete on the client side but depends on two
out-of-repo pieces to work end-to-end:
1. **lance** — emit the server-resolved shard **`column`** name in the
MemWAL index `details` JSON (field ids can't reach the client). See
lance-format/lance#7667.
2. **server** — honor `include_system` on `index/list` so the
`__lance_mem_wal` entry is returned for this read.
Against an older server (no `include_system`), the remote getter
degrades gracefully to `Ok(None)` rather than erroring.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
## Summary
Surfaces the rich per-index metadata added in #3497 to the Python and
Node.js language bindings. Closes#3495.
New optional fields exposed on `IndexConfig` in both bindings:
- `index_uuid` / `indexUuid` — UUID of the first index segment
- `type_url` / `typeUrl` — protobuf type URL for the index
- `created_at` / `createdAt` — creation timestamp (milliseconds since
Unix epoch)
- `num_indexed_rows` / `numIndexedRows` — rows covered by the index
- `num_unindexed_rows` / `numUnindexedRows` — rows not yet indexed
- `size_bytes` / `sizeBytes` — total index file size in bytes
- `num_segments` / `numSegments` — number of index segments
- `index_version` / `indexVersion` — on-disk format version
- `index_details` / `indexDetails` — type-specific JSON details string
All fields are `None`/`undefined` for remote tables (which don't yet
surface this metadata through the server response).
## Changes
- `python/src/index.rs`: extend `IndexConfig` pyclass; update `From`
impl; update `__getitem__`
- `python/python/lancedb/_lancedb.pyi`: add type hints for new fields
- `python/python/tests/test_table.py`: new `test_index_config_fields`
test
- `nodejs/src/table.rs`: extend `IndexConfig` napi struct; update `From`
impl
- `nodejs/__test__/table.test.ts`: new test; update existing `toEqual`
assertions to `expect.objectContaining` to accommodate new fields
## Test plan
- [x] Python: `uv run --extra tests pytest
python/tests/test_table.py::test_index_config_fields`
- [x] Node.js: `pnpm test __test__/table.test.ts`
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Another little pain point as I was working to integrate with
paperless-ngx. The read path of table.search() or table.query() already
accepted an Expr, but write paths Table.delete and
merge_insert(...).when_not_matched_by_source_delete did not. This PR
attempts to close that gap, so writes and reads can both use Expr,
instead of one side needing to build a string.
### Description
Stacked on #3490. Adds an optional version to branch checkout across the
Rust core and the Python and TypeScript SDKs, so you can open a specific
version on a branch ("version V of branch B"), not just the branch's
latest version
Rust
```rust
// Open version 3 of branch "exp" (a read-only view): check out from an
// existing table, or open it directly from the connection.
let exp_v3 = table.checkout_branch("exp", Some(3)).await?;
let exp_v3 = db.open_table("items").branch("exp").version(3).execute().await?;
// checkout_latest re-attaches to the branch's writable HEAD.
exp_v3.checkout_latest().await?;
// With no branch, a version opens main at that version.
let main_v3 = db.open_table("items").version(3).execute().await?;
```
Python
```python
# Open version 3 of branch "exp" (a read-only view): check out from an
# existing table, or open it directly from the connection.
branch_v3 = await table.branches.checkout("exp", version=3)
branch_v3 = await db.open_table("items", branch="exp", version=3)
# checkout_latest re-attaches to the branch's writable HEAD.
await branch_v3.checkout_latest()
# With no branch, a version opens main at that version.
main_v3 = await db.open_table("items", version=3)
```
TypeScript
```typescript
// Open version 3 of branch "exp" (a read-only view): check out from an
// existing table, or open it directly from the connection.
const branchV3 = await (await table.branches()).checkout("exp", 3);
const opened = await db.openTable("items", undefined, { branch: "exp", version: 3 });
// checkoutLatest re-attaches to the branch's writable HEAD.
await branchV3.checkoutLatest();
// With no branch, a version opens main at that version.
const mainV3 = await db.openTable("items", undefined, { version: 3 });
```
### Testing
- Added unit tests (Rust, Python sync + async, TypeScript):
branch-scoped resolution at a version number shared with `main` and with
another branch, read-only enforcement on a pinned handle,
`checkout_latest` recovery to the branch's HEAD, fork-point reads, and
the nonexistent-version/branch error paths.
- Ran smoke tests against the Python and TypeScript SDKs on local
machine.
### Description
Adds first-class support for table branches across the Rust core and the
Python and TypeScript SDKs.
Rust
```rust
use lance::dataset::refs::Ref;
// Create a branch from main and write to it — main is untouched.
let exp = table.create_branch("exp", Ref::Version(None, None)).await?;
exp.add(batches).await?;
// Reopen the branch later: check out from a table, or open it directly.
let exp = table.checkout_branch("exp").await?;
let exp = db.open_table("items").branch("exp").execute().await?;
let branches = table.list_branches().await?;
table.delete_branch("exp").await?;
```
Python
```python
# Create a branch from main and write to it
branch = await table.branches.create("exp", from_ref="main")
await branch.add(data)
# Reopen the branch later: check out from a table, or open it directly.
branch = await table.branches.checkout("exp")
branch = await db.open_table("items", branch="exp")
await table.branches.list()
await table.branches.delete("exp")
```
TypeScript
```typescript
const branches = await table.branches();
// Create a branch from main and write to it
const branch = await branches.create("exp");
await branch.add(data);
// Reopen the branch later: check out from a table, or open it directly.
const checkedOut = await branches.checkout("exp");
const opened = await db.openTable("items", undefined, { branch: "exp" });
await branches.list();
await branches.delete("exp");
```
### Testing
- Added unit tests
- ran smoke tests against python and typescript sdks on local machine
### Next steps
- Add RemoteTable support
- Add Branch Comparison support
- Merge Branching support
BREAKING CHANGE: direct Rust users lose the `IndexStatistics::loss`
field. Python and Node.js consumers are unaffected in practice for
remote tables (the value was always `None`/absent), but the attribute is
gone for local tables too.
`IndexStatistics::loss` was local-only — LanceDB Cloud never returned
it, so
`RemoteTable::index_stats` always set `loss: None`. It's vestigial; this
removes it.
- Remove `loss` from `IndexStatistics` and the internal `IndexMetadata`
in `rust/lancedb/src/index.rs`, plus the summing logic in
`NativeTable::index_stats`.
- Drop `loss` from the Python and Node.js bindings (and their
tests/docs).
Fixes#3493🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
### Summary
Deprecates the Python replace_field_metadata (on Table and AsyncTable)
in favor of update_field_metadata. Mirrors Lance, which already
deprecated Dataset.replace_field_metadata for update_field_metadata.
Stacked on top of #3482 as this was a follow-up task after adding
update_field_metadata
### Summary
Adds update_field_metadata to the client SDK (Rust core, Python, and
TypeScript) so clients can edit per-field (column) Arrow metadata
(schema.fields[].metadata)
### Testing
- added unit tests
- ran E2E against a local server on both local and remote tables (set →
merge → delete), across Python sync/async and TypeScript
### Next steps
- deprecate replace_field_metadata in the python lancedb favor of this
(typescript didn't have replace_field_metadata method). This matches
Lance's API direction (Lance already deprecated replace_field_metadata
for update_field_metadata)
## Summary
When an `LsmWriteSpec` is installed on a table (#3396), `merge_insert`
upsert
calls are dispatched through Lance's MemWAL `ShardWriter` (LSM-style
append)
instead of the standard merge path.
- **`use_lsm_write`** — a `merge_insert` builder option, default `true`;
set it
`false` to use the standard path for a call even when a spec is set.
- **`assume_pre_sharded`** — a `merge_insert` builder option, default
`false`;
skips the per-row shard check and routes by the first row only.
- **`close_lsm_writers`** — drains and closes the table's cached MemWAL
shard
writers.
- The `merge_insert` **`on`** columns default to, and are validated
against,
the table's unenforced primary key.
- Shard writers are cached alongside the dataset (in
`DatasetConsistencyWrapper`) and reused for the session.
- `MergeResult` gains **`num_rows`** — on the LSM path the insert/update
breakdown is unknown until compaction, so only the total is reported.
Routing covers all three sharding strategies — bucket (murmur3,
Iceberg-compatible), identity, and unsharded. Each `merge_insert` call
targets
a single shard; the whole input is collected and validated before a
single
atomic `ShardWriter::put`, so a validation failure leaves the MemWAL
untouched.
Bindings: Python (`merge_insert(...).use_lsm_write(...)` /
`.assume_pre_sharded(...)`, `Table.close_lsm_writers`) and TypeScript
(`mergeInsert(...).useLsmWrite(...)` / `.assumePreSharded(...)`,
`Table.closeLsmWriters`).
## Context
Reconstructed from the original #3354 branch onto current `main`: the
branch
predated the #3394 (unenforced primary key) / #3396 (`LsmWriteSpec`)
split and
has been rebuilt on that merged foundation. Depends on Lance
`v7.0.0-beta.13`.
The MemWAL read path (reading un-flushed shard data back into queries)
and
remote (LanceDB Cloud) LSM support are follow-ups.
---------
Co-authored-by: Jack Ye <yezhaoqin@gmail.com>
## Summary
Split out from #3354
Adds `LsmWriteSpec` and `Table::set_lsm_write_spec` /
`unset_lsm_write_spec` to
install and clear the spec that selects Lance's MemWAL LSM-style write
path for
`merge_insert`.
`LsmWriteSpec` offers three sharding strategies, all built on Lance's
`InitializeMemWalBuilder`:
- `LsmWriteSpec::bucket(column, num_buckets)` — hash-bucket sharding by
the
single-column unenforced primary key.
- `LsmWriteSpec::identity(column)` — identity sharding by the raw value
of a
scalar column.
- `LsmWriteSpec::unsharded()` — a single MemWAL shard.
Each can be refined with `with_maintained_indexes(...)` (indexes the
MemWAL
keeps up to date as rows are appended) and
`with_writer_config_defaults(...)`
(default `ShardWriter` configuration recorded in the MemWAL index, so
every
writer starts from the same defaults). All variants require the table to
have
an unenforced primary key.
- `set_lsm_write_spec` installs the spec by initializing the MemWAL
index;
`unset_lsm_write_spec` removes it (dropping the MemWAL index), reverting
to
the standard `merge_insert` path. `unset` is idempotent.
- Bindings: Python (`LsmWriteSpec.bucket` / `.identity` / `.unsharded`,
`set_lsm_write_spec` / `unset_lsm_write_spec`) and TypeScript
(`setLsmWriteSpec` with `specType` `"bucket"` / `"identity"` /
`"unsharded"`). `RemoteTable` returns `NotSupported`.
The actual `merge_insert` LSM dispatch and `ShardWriter` write path are
a
follow-up — this PR only installs and clears the spec.
## Summary
Adds `Table::set_unenforced_primary_key` — records a single column as
the
table's unenforced primary key in Lance schema field metadata.
"Unenforced"
means LanceDB does not check uniqueness on write; the key is metadata
that
`merge_insert` consumes.
- Single-column only; the column must exist and have a supported dtype
(Int32, Int64, Utf8, LargeUtf8, Binary, LargeBinary, FixedSizeBinary).
The
API accepts an iterable for binding ergonomics but requires exactly one
column — compound keys are rejected.
- The primary key is immutable: calling this on a table that already has
an
unenforced primary key is rejected. Concurrent writers racing to set the
key
fail at commit time rather than silently overriding it.
- `RemoteTable` returns `NotSupported`.
- Bindings: Python (`AsyncTable`, `LanceTable`, `RemoteTable`) and
TypeScript
(`Table.setUnenforcedPrimaryKey`).
## Context
Split out from #3354 per review feedback, so the unenforced primary key
and the
`merge_insert` sharding spec land as separate reviewable PRs.
No Lance dependency bump — `main` is already on v7.0.0-beta.10, which
includes
the field-metadata round-trip fix the API relies on. Enforcing
primary-key
immutability at the Lance commit layer (so the cross-column concurrent
race is
also rejected) is a companion Lance change: lance-format/lance#6810.
## Summary
PyTorch's `DataLoader` uses fork-based multiprocessing by default on
Linux, but threads do not survive `fork()`. LanceDB's Python bindings
drive async work through two threaded layers, both of which become inert
in a forked child:
- `BackgroundEventLoop` runs an asyncio loop on a Python
`threading.Thread`.
- `pyo3-async-runtimes::tokio` holds a global multi-threaded tokio
runtime whose worker threads also die on fork — and its runtime lives in
a `OnceLock` that cannot be replaced after first use.
As a result, any `Permutation` (or other async API) used inside a
fork-based `DataLoader` worker hangs indefinitely. This PR makes both
layers fork-safe so `Permutation` works as a `torch.utils.data.Dataset`
with `num_workers > 0`.
## Approach
### Rust — new `python/src/runtime.rs`
Mirrors the pattern used in [Lance's Python
bindings](https://github.com/lance-format/lance/blob/456198cd6f42be07f99617a6d7e39d6209cdf3cc/python/src/lib.rs#L139),
adapted for the async-bridge use case.
- `LanceRuntime` implements `pyo3_async_runtimes::generic::Runtime +
ContextExt`, backed by an `AtomicPtr<tokio::runtime::Runtime>` we own
(sidestepping `pyo3-async-runtimes`'s frozen `OnceLock` global).
- A `pthread_atfork(after_in_child)` handler nulls the pointer; the next
`spawn` rebuilds the runtime in the child. The previous runtime is
intentionally **leaked** — calling `Drop` would try to join now-dead
worker threads and hang.
- `runtime::future_into_py` is a drop-in for
`pyo3_async_runtimes::tokio::future_into_py`. All ~80 call sites in
`arrow.rs` / `connection.rs` / `permutation.rs` / `query.rs` /
`table.rs` are updated to route through it.
- `python/Cargo.toml` adds `libc = "0.2"` and the tokio
`rt-multi-thread` feature.
### Python — `lancedb/background_loop.py`
- Refactors `BackgroundEventLoop.__init__` to a reusable `_start()`
method.
- An `os.register_at_fork(after_in_child=…)` hook calls `LOOP._start()`
to give the singleton a fresh asyncio loop and thread **in place**. This
matters because the rest of the codebase imports `LOOP` via `from
.background_loop import LOOP` — rebinding the module attribute would
leave those references holding the dead loop.
### Python — `lancedb/__init__.py`
Removes the `__warn_on_fork` pre-fork warning (and the now-unused
`import warnings`). Fork is supported.
## Test plan
- [x] New `test_permutation_dataloader_fork_workers` in
`python/tests/test_torch.py`: runs a `Permutation` through
`torch.utils.data.DataLoader(num_workers=2,
multiprocessing_context="fork")` inside a spawn-isolated child with a
30s hang detector. **Pre-fix**: timed out at 36s. **Post-fix**: passes
in ~3.6s.
- [x] New `test_remote_connection_after_fork` in
`python/tests/test_remote_db.py`: forks a child that creates a fresh
`lancedb.connect(...)` against a mock HTTP server and calls
`table_names()`; passes in <1s, validates the runtime reset is
sufficient for fresh remote clients.
- [x] All 62 tests in `test_torch.py` + `test_permutation.py` pass.
- [x] All 35 tests in `test_remote_db.py` pass.
- [x] `test_table.py` (87) + `test_db.py` + `test_query.py` (157, minus
one unrelated `sentence_transformers` import skip) — 244 passing.
- [x] `cargo clippy -p lancedb-python --tests` clean.
- [x] `cargo fmt`, `ruff check`, `ruff format` all clean.
## Known limitation (follow-up)
This PR makes a **freshly-built** `lancedb.connect(...)` work in a
forked child. An **inherited** `Connection` from the parent still
carries an inherited `reqwest::Client` whose hyper connection pool
references socket FDs and TCP/TLS state shared with the parent — using
it from the child after fork is unsafe (especially with HTTP/1.1
keep-alive). The recommended pattern for fork-based `DataLoader` workers
that hit a remote DB is to construct a new connection inside the worker.
Auto-clearing inherited HTTP client pools on fork would require tracking
live `Connection` instances in `lancedb` core and is left for a
follow-up PR.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
## Summary
Adds progress reporting for `table.add()` so users can track large write
operations. The progress callback is available in Rust, Python (sync and
async), and through the PyO3 bindings.
### Usage
Pass `progress=True` to get an automatic tqdm bar:
```python
table.add(data, progress=True)
# 100%|██████████| 1000000/1000000 [00:12<00:00, 82345 rows/s, 45.2 MB/s | 4/4 workers]
```
Or pass a tqdm bar for more control:
```python
from tqdm import tqdm
with tqdm(unit=" rows") as pbar:
table.add(data, progress=pbar)
```
Or use a callback for custom progress handling:
```python
def on_progress(p):
print(f"{p['output_rows']}/{p['total_rows']} rows, "
f"{p['active_tasks']}/{p['total_tasks']} workers, "
f"done={p['done']}")
table.add(data, progress=on_progress)
```
In Rust:
```rust
table.add(data)
.progress(|p| println!("{}/{:?} rows", p.output_rows(), p.total_rows()))
.execute()
.await?;
```
### Details
- `WriteProgress` struct in Rust with getters for `elapsed`,
`output_rows`, `output_bytes`, `total_rows`, `active_tasks`,
`total_tasks`, and `done`. Fields are private behind getters so new
fields can be added without breaking changes.
- `WriteProgressTracker` tracks progress across parallel write tasks
using a mutex for row/byte counts and atomics for active task counts.
- Active task tracking uses an RAII guard pattern (`ActiveTaskGuard`)
that increments on creation and decrements on drop.
- For remote writes, `output_bytes` reflects IPC wire bytes rather than
in-memory Arrow size. For local writes it uses in-memory Arrow size as a
proxy (see TODO below).
- tqdm postfix displays throughput (MB/s) and worker utilization
(active/total).
- The `done` callback always fires, even on error (via `FinishOnDrop`),
so progress bars are always finalized.
### TODO
- Track actual bytes written to disk for local tables. This requires
Lance to expose a progress callback from its write path. See
lance-format/lance#6247.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
## Summary
- Implement `RemoteTable.prewarm_data(columns)` calling `POST
/v1/table/{id}/page_cache/prewarm/`
- Implement `RemoteTable.prewarm_index(name)` calling `POST
/v1/table/{id}/index/{name}/prewarm/` (previously returned
`NotSupported`)
- Add `BaseTable::prewarm_data(columns)` trait method and `Table` public
API in Rust core
- Add PyO3 bindings and Python API (`AsyncTable`, `LanceTable`,
`RemoteTable`) for `prewarm_data`
- Add type stubs for `prewarm_index` and `prewarm_data` in
`_lancedb.pyi`
- Upgrade Lance to 3.0.0-rc.3 with breaking change fixes
Co-authored-by: Will Jones <willjones127@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This PR migrates all Rust crates in the workspace to Rust 2024 edition
and addresses the resulting compatibility updates. It also fixes all
clippy warnings surfaced by the workspace checks so the codebase remains
warning-free under the current lint configuration.
Context:
- Scope: workspace edition bump (`2021` -> `2024`) plus follow-up
refactors required by new edition and clippy rules.
- Validation: `cargo fmt --all` and `cargo clippy --quiet --features
remote --tests --examples -- -D warnings` both pass.
This hooks up a new writer implementation for the `add()` method. The
main immediate benefit is it allows streaming requests to remote tables,
and at the same time allowing retries for most inputs.
In NodeJS, we always convert the data to `Vec<RecordBatch>`, so it's
always retry-able.
For Python, all are retry-able, except `Iterator` and
`pa.RecordBatchReader`, which can only be consumed once. Some, like
`pa.datasets.Dataset` are retry-able *and* streaming.
A lot of the changes here are to make the new DataFusion write pipeline
maintain the same behavior as the existing Python-based preprocessing,
such as:
* casting input data to target schema
* rejecting NaN values if `on_bad_vectors="error"`
* applying embedding functions.
In future PRs, we'll enhance these by moving the embedding calls into
DataFusion and making sure we parallelize them. See:
https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/issues/3048
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
BREAKING CHANGE: Arbitrary `impl RecordBatchReader` is no longer
accepted, it must be made into `Box<dyn RecordBatchReader>`.
This PR replaces `IntoArrow` with a new trait `Scannable` to define
input row data. This provides the following advantages:
1. **We can implement `Scannable` for more types than `IntoArrow`, such
as `RecordBatch` and `Vec<RecordBatch>`.** The `IntoArrow` trait was
implemented for arbitrary `T: RecordBatchReader`, and the Rust compiler
would prevent us from implementing it for foreign types like
`RecordBatch` because (theoretically) those types might implement
`RecordBatchReader` in the future. That's why we implement `Scannable`
for `Box<dyn RecordBatchReader>` instead; since it's a concrete type it
doesn't block implementing for other foreign types.
2. **We can potentially replay `Scannable` values**. Previously, we had
to choose between buffering all data in memory and supporting retries of
writes. But because `Scannable` things can optionally support
re-scanning, we now have a way of supporting retries while also
streaming.
3. **`Scannable` can provide hints like `num_rows`, which can be used to
schedule parallel writers.** Without knowing the total number of rows,
it's difficult to know whether it's worth writing multiple files in
parallel.
We don't yet fully take advantage of (2) and (3) yet, but will in future
PRs. For (2), in order to be ready to leverage this, we need to hook the
`Scannable` implementation up to Python and NodeJS bindings. Right now
they always pass down a stream, but we want to make sure they support
retries when possible. And for (3), this will need to be hooked up to
#2939 and to a pipeline for running pre-processing steps (like embedding
generation).
## Other changes
* Moved `create_table` and `add_data` into their own modules. I've
created a follow up issue to split up `table.rs` further, as it's by far
the largest file: https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/issues/2949
* Eliminated the `HAS_DATA` generic for `CreateTableBuilder`. I didn't
see any public-facing places where we differentiated methods, which is
why I felt this simplification was okay.
* Added an `Error::External` variant and integrated some conversions to
allow certain errors to pass through transparently. This will fully work
once we upgrade Lance and get to take advantage of changes in
https://github.com/lance-format/lance/pull/5606
* Added LZ4 compression support for write requests to remote endpoints.
I checked and this has been supported on the server for > 1 year.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Expose `initial_storage_options()` and `latest_storage_options()` in
lance Dataset, in lancedb rust, python and typescript SDKs.
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This pipes the num_attempts field from lance's merge insert result
through lancedb. This allows callers of merge_insert to get a better
idea of whether transaction conflicts are occurring.
I'm working on a lancedb version of pytorch data loading (and hopefully
addressing https://github.com/lancedb/lance/issues/3727).
However, rather than rely on pytorch for everything I'm moving some of
the things that pytorch does into rust. This gives us more control over
data loading (e.g. using shards or a hash-based split) and it allows
permutations to be persistent. In particular I hope to be able to:
* Create a persistent permutation
* This permutation can handle splits, filtering, shuffling, and sharding
* Create a rust data loader that can read a permutation (one or more
splits), or a subset of a permutation (for DDP)
* Create a python data loader that delegates to the rust data loader
Eventually create integrations for other data loading libraries,
including rust & node
Enables two new parameters when building indices:
* `name`: Allows explicitly setting a name on the index. Default is
`{col_name}_idx`.
* `train` (default `True`): When set to `False`, an empty index will be
immediately created.
The upgrade of Lance means there are also additional behaviors from
https://github.com/lancedb/lance/commit/cd76a993b8b65877135cb9cfb47448a761ac7f7b:
* When a scalar index is created on a Table, it will be kept around even
if all rows are deleted or updated.
* Scalar indices can be created on empty tables. They will default to
`train=False` if the table is empty.
---------
Co-authored-by: Weston Pace <weston.pace@gmail.com>
These operations have existed in lance for a long while and many users
need to drop down to lance for this capability. This PR adds the API and
implements it using filters (e.g. `_rowid IN (...)`) so that in doesn't
currently add any load to `BaseTable`. I'm not sure that is sustainable
as base table implementations may want to specialize how they handle
this method. However, I figure it is a good starting point.
In addition, unlike Lance, this API does not currently guarantee
anything about the order of the take results. This is necessary for the
fallback filter approach to work (SQL filters cannot guarantee result
order)
Provides the ability to set a timeout for merge insert. The default
underlying timeout is however long the first attempt takes, or if there
are multiple attempts, 30 seconds. This has two use cases:
1. Make the timeout shorter, when you want to fail if it takes too long.
2. Allow taking more time to do retries.
<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->
## Summary by CodeRabbit
- **New Features**
- Added support for specifying a timeout when performing merge insert
operations in Python, Node.js, and Rust APIs.
- Introduced a new option to control the maximum allowed execution time
for merge inserts, including retry timeout handling.
- **Documentation**
- Updated and added documentation to describe the new timeout option and
its usage in APIs.
- **Tests**
- Added and updated tests to verify correct timeout behavior during
merge insert operations.
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
add restore with tag API in python and nodejs API and add tests to guard
them
<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->
## Summary by CodeRabbit
- **New Features**
- The restore functionality now supports using version tags in addition
to numeric version identifiers, allowing you to revert tables to a state
marked by a tag.
- **Bug Fixes**
- Restoring with an unknown tag now properly raises an error.
- **Documentation**
- Updated documentation and examples to clarify that restore accepts
both version numbers and tags.
- **Tests**
- Added new tests to verify restore behavior with version tags and error
handling for unknown tags.
- Added tests for checkout and restore operations involving tags.
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
Wyatt Alt
Xuanwo
Dan Rammer
lancedb-gatefixer[bot]
Drew Gallardo
Yang Cen
Heng Ge
Drew Gallardo
Will Jones
Jack Ye
Trenton H
Brendan Clement
Weston Pace
LanceDB Robot
Esteban Gutierrez
Ryan Green
LuQQiu