Published SDK builds currently expose local SQL computed columns and materialized-view execution that are not ready for release. Add the opt-in `experimental-functions` Cargo feature to the Rust core and forward it through the Python and Node bindings; published packages leave it disabled. Local declarations and refreshes now return `NotSupported` before mutating tables or spawning jobs, including prepared materialized-view creation. Remote Cloud/Enterprise client operations, Python UDF packaging, ordinary eager `add_columns`, and access to existing data remain available. Stored metadata and write protections stay active, and shared server commit helpers remain usable. CI covers both feature configurations. Existing local execution tests run with the feature enabled; default-build regressions cover early rejection, unchanged table versions, existing metadata protections, and normal eager transforms. API and source-build documentation explain the opt-in. Validation: Rust library tests pass with the feature disabled (1,869 tests) and enabled (1,947 tests), plus three default-build integration regressions. Python and TypeScript bindings were rebuilt and tested in both configurations, including mocked remote requests; Rust formatting, Python package lint, TypeScript lint/build, and generated docs were checked. Repository-wide Ruff still reports 48 pre-existing errors in unchanged `docs/web-tests` files.
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Contributing to LanceDB Python
This document outlines the process for contributing to LanceDB Python. For general contribution guidelines, see CONTRIBUTING.md.
Project layout
The Python package is a wrapper around the Rust library, lancedb. We use
pyo3 to create the bindings between Rust and Python.
src/: Rust bindings source codepython/lancedb: Python package source codepython/tests: Unit tests
Development environment
To set up your development environment, you will need to install the following:
- Python 3.10 or later
- Cargo (Rust's package manager). Use rustup to install.
- protoc (Protocol Buffers compiler)
Create a virtual environment to work in:
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install maturin
Commit Hooks
It is highly recommended to install the pre-commit hooks to ensure that your code is formatted correctly and passes basic checks before committing:
make develop # this will install pre-commit itself
pre-commit install
Development
Most common development commands can be run using the Makefile.
Build the package
make develop
Local SQL computed columns and materialized-view creation/refresh are experimental and disabled in published packages. To opt in when building from this directory:
uv run --extra tests --extra dev maturin develop --features experimental-functions --extras tests,dev
uv run --no-sync pytest python/tests -m experimental_functions
Rebuild without --features experimental-functions to test the default package.
The tests detect the compiled feature; remote operations, metadata protections,
and ordinary eager add_columns transforms remain available in both builds.
Format:
make format
Run tests:
make test
make doctest
Run type checking:
make typecheck
To run a single test, you can use the pytest command directly. Provide the path
to the test file, and optionally the test name after ::.
# Single file: test_table.py
pytest -vv python/tests/test_table.py
# Single test: test_basic in test_table.py
pytest -vv python/tests/test_table.py::test_basic
To see all commands, run:
make help