## Summary
Add SQL execution to remote LanceDB connections. On the standard
synchronous connection, `execute_query` waits for the initial result
stream and returns its Arrow reader. `execute_query_async` is called
without Python `await` and immediately returns a query handle for status
inspection, streaming, or cancellation. Local databases report that SQL
is not supported.
The transport and query lifecycle live in Rust. Python exposes
native-backed synchronous and asynchronous connection methods and query
wrappers; it does not use PyArrow's Flight client.
## User experience
The standard synchronous connection supports both direct reads and
background query execution:
```python
db = lancedb.connect(
"db://analytics",
api_key="ldb_...",
sql_host_override="grpc+tls://sql.example.com:10026",
)
# Direct execution waits only until the initial result stream is available.
# Later batches continue streaming as the query progresses.
reader = db.execute_query(
"SELECT * FROM events",
default_namespace_path=["production"],
)
for batch in reader:
print(batch.num_rows)
# Background execution returns a query handle immediately. Despite the
# `_async` suffix, no Python `await` is needed on a synchronous connection.
query = db.execute_query_async("SELECT * FROM events")
print(query.id)
description = db.describe_query(query.id)
print(description.status)
print(description.progress)
print(description.expires_at)
# Start reading as soon as the service advertises partial results. The reader
# continues polling and yields newly available record batches until the query
# and all result endpoints are complete.
reader = query.reader()
for batch in reader:
print(batch.num_rows)
# Or cancel a different still-running query. Its status becomes "cancelling"
# while the server is still working, then "cancelled" once confirmed.
cancelled_query = db.execute_query_async("SELECT * FROM large_events")
cancelled_query.cancel()
```
The less commonly used asynchronous connection exposes the same
operations as coroutines:
```python
async_db = await lancedb.connect_async(
"db://analytics",
api_key="ldb_...",
sql_host_override="grpc+tls://sql.example.com:10026",
)
query = await async_db.execute_query_async("SELECT * FROM events")
async for batch in await query.reader():
print(batch.num_rows)
```
The UUIDv7 query id is scoped to the connection that submitted it. The
connection retains lightweight shared query state used by
`query.describe()` and `db.describe_query(query.id)`; the id does not
encode SQL or a Flight continuation token and is not a cross-connection
resume token. Abandoned state has bounded retention, and terminal state
remains available briefly.
Unqualified table names use the connected database and the `public`
namespace by default. `default_namespace_path` accepts a list such as
`["production", "events"]`. SQL can still use qualified names to
reference other databases and namespaces available to the deployment.
## Design
- Uses Arrow Flight `PollFlightInfo` for submission and long polling,
`DoGet` for results, and `CancelFlightInfo` for cancellation. Each
`PollInfo.info` is treated as the cumulative set of currently available
endpoints, so advertised tickets are consumed once and batches can be
delivered before execution is complete.
- Serializes result completion and cancellation into one lifecycle. A
server-accepted request reports `cancelling` and wakes blocked
status/result work; a later retry can confirm `cancelled`. Result
retrieval is rejected after cancellation is accepted, while cancellation
after a result was already delivered is a no-op.
- Assigns a time-ordered UUIDv7 connection-scoped query id and retains
only shared evolving lifecycle state, keeping SQL, Flight continuation
tokens, and Arrow result data out of public ids and the registry.
- Leaves admission control to the server while honoring server
expiration and a local fallback retention window for abandoned entries.
- Retains terminal ids for five minutes so they remain available for
connection-level description.
- Keeps one lazily initialized SQL client on each remote database
connection and attaches fresh authentication, routing, namespace, and
request metadata to every operation.
- Applies the configured overall timeout to each execution, description,
reader, and cancellation operation. A result reader carries one absolute
deadline from `reader()` through the end of streaming; connect and read
timeouts continue to bound their individual phases.
- Returns a bounded, backpressured, single-consumer Arrow stream rather
than collecting the full result in memory. Dropping the reader stops
downloading but does not implicitly cancel the server query.
- Preserves typed schemas for empty result sets through the stream
schema.
- Accepts Flight result messages up to 1 GiB so a valid row containing a
large blob, string, or vector is not rejected by tonic's 4 MiB default
receive limit.
- Supports the Python client first while keeping the authoritative
implementation in the Rust core.
The Multimodal AI Lakehouse
How to Install ✦ Detailed Documentation ✦ Tutorials and Recipes ✦ Contributors
The ultimate multimodal data platform for AI/ML applications.
LanceDB is designed for fast, scalable, and production-ready vector search. It is built on top of the Lance columnar format. You can store, index, and search over petabytes of multimodal data and vectors with ease. LanceDB is a central location where developers can build, train and analyze their AI workloads.
Demo: Multimodal Search by Keyword, Vector or with SQL
Star LanceDB to get updates!
Key Features:
- Fast Vector Search: Search billions of vectors in milliseconds with state-of-the-art indexing.
- Comprehensive Search: Support for vector similarity search, full-text search and SQL.
- Multimodal Support: Store, query and filter vectors, metadata and multimodal data (text, images, videos, point clouds, and more).
- Advanced Features: Zero-copy, automatic versioning, manage versions of your data without needing extra infrastructure. GPU support in building vector index.
Products:
- Open Source & Local: 100% open source, runs locally or in your cloud. No vendor lock-in.
- Cloud and Enterprise: Production-scale vector search with no servers to manage. Complete data sovereignty and security.
Ecosystem:
- Columnar Storage: Built on the Lance columnar format for efficient storage and analytics.
- Seamless Integration: Python, Node.js, Rust, and REST APIs for easy integration. Native Python and Javascript/Typescript support.
- Rich Ecosystem: Integrations with LangChain 🦜️🔗, LlamaIndex 🦙, Apache-Arrow, Pandas, Polars, DuckDB and more on the way.
How to Install:
Follow the Quickstart doc to set up LanceDB locally.
API & SDK: We also support Python, Typescript and Rust SDKs
| Interface | Documentation |
|---|---|
| Python SDK | https://lancedb.github.io/lancedb/python/python/ |
| Typescript SDK | https://lancedb.github.io/lancedb/js/globals/ |
| Rust SDK | https://docs.rs/lancedb/latest/lancedb/index.html |
| REST API | https://docs.lancedb.com/api-reference/rest |
Join Us and Contribute
We welcome contributions from everyone! Whether you're a developer, researcher, or just someone who wants to help out.
If you have any suggestions or feature requests, please feel free to open an issue on GitHub or discuss it on our Discord server.
Check out the GitHub Issues if you would like to work on the features that are planned for the future. If you have any suggestions or feature requests, please feel free to open an issue on GitHub.
