Files
lancedb/python
lancedb-gatefixer[bot] 3e0a1a8780 fix: reject zero vector search probes across SDKs (#4418)
`nprobes(0)` bypassed the validation used by the minimum and maximum
probe setters, allowing zero into query requests and producing
inconsistent local and remote results. Sync Python could additionally
interpret the zero maximum as an unbounded search.

Reject zero in the Rust vector-query builder and propagate its input
error through the Python vector/hybrid and Node bindings. Validate
nonpositive counts in the sync Python vector and hybrid builders so
every SDK and backend reports `nprobes must be greater than 0` before
execution. Update the Rust examples and document the positive-count
requirement.

Regression tests cover local and remote vector/hybrid builders,
rejection before remote query requests, promised TypeScript query
vectors, and positive counts replacing both probe bounds.

Validation:

- Rust probe regression tests: 2 passed.
- Focused Python query, remote, hybrid, and serialization tests: 22
passed. The four sync regression cases fail with the original setters.
- Focused TypeScript indexed local and mocked remote tests: 2 passed.
- Workspace `cargo check --features remote --tests --examples` and
Clippy passed.
- Rust formatting, Python formatting/lint, and TypeScript
build/lint/docs passed. Repository-wide `ruff check .` reports 29
existing errors in unchanged CI scripts; `ruff check python` passes.

Fixes #4388

BREAKING CHANGE: Rust `VectorQuery::nprobes` now returns `Result<Self>`
instead of `Self`; callers must handle the result, as with the existing
minimum/maximum probe setters.

<!-- lance-gatekeeper-fix:v1 agent=e92fda5a212c7f9e80fa55e7b4e4634d
generation=1 -->

Co-authored-by: Gatefixer <313497061+lancedb-gatefixer[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-10-03 21:29:47 -07:00
..
2025-01-29 08:27:07 -08:00
2024-04-05 16:22:59 -07:00

LanceDB Python SDK

A Python library for LanceDB.

Installation

pip install lancedb

Pre-Haswell x86_64 hosts: lancedb-compat

The default lancedb wheel targets x86-64-haswell (AVX2 + FMA + F16C) for full performance on modern hardware. Pre-Haswell hosts — Intel Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge / Westmere; AMD Bulldozer / Piledriver / Steamroller — don't have AVX2 and crash with Illegal instruction at import lancedb.

For those hosts, install the lancedb-compat package instead:

pip install lancedb-compat

Same Python API (import lancedb works as usual). The compat wheel is compiled at the x86-64-v2 baseline (Nehalem-class) and uses runtime SIMD dispatch in the embedded lance crate to pick the right kernel tier (scalar / AVX / AVX+FMA / AVX2+FMA / AVX-512) at load time, so it still goes fast on modern hardware while running cleanly on the pre-Haswell silicon. Use lance.simd_info() from Python to verify which tier was selected.

lancedb and lancedb-compat install to the same lancedb/ namespace and conflict at install time. Pick one. To switch, pip uninstall lancedb first, then pip install lancedb-compat (or vice-versa).

If you need a custom baseline (or lancedb-compat isn't yet published for your platform), build from source with the override:

RUSTFLAGS="-C target-cpu=x86-64-v2" maturin build --release
pip install ./target/wheels/lancedb-*.whl

Preview Releases

Stable releases are created about every 2 weeks. For the latest features and bug fixes, you can install the preview release. These releases receive the same level of testing as stable releases, but are not guaranteed to be available for more than 6 months after they are released. Once your application is stable, we recommend switching to stable releases.

pip install --pre --extra-index-url https://pypi.fury.io/lancedb/ lancedb

Threading in CPU-limited containers

LanceDB uses separate pools for compute work and storage I/O. On a container with two visible CPUs, current releases intentionally use one compute worker by default; no manual configuration is needed. If every query logs an I/O core reservation warning on a two-CPU container, upgrade from LanceDB 0.21.1 or earlier.

The two commonly tuned environment variables control different resources:

  • LANCE_CPU_THREADS overrides the number of compute workers. One worker is the appropriate setting for a two-CPU container when an explicit override is needed.
  • LANCE_IO_THREADS controls concurrent storage operations, not reserved CPU cores. Its default can be greater than the number of CPUs because I/O workers spend much of their time waiting for storage.

Keep the defaults unless measurements show that the workload benefits from an override. See the Lance threading model for the current defaults and tuning guidance.

Usage

Basic Example

import lancedb
db = lancedb.connect('<PATH_TO_LANCEDB_DATASET>')
table = db.open_table('my_table')
results = table.search([0.1, 0.3]).limit(20).to_list()
print(results)

Development

See CONTRIBUTING.md for information on how to contribute to LanceDB.