Skip to content

popey/chdb

ย 
ย 

Folders and files

NameName
Last commit message
Last commit date

Latest commit

ย 

History

3,177 Commits
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 
ย 

Repository files navigation

Build X86 PyPI Downloads Discord Twitter

chDB

chDB is an in-process SQL OLAP Engine powered by ClickHouse 1 For more details: The birth of chDB

Features

  • ๐Ÿผ Pandas-compatible DataStore API - Use familiar pandas syntax with ClickHouse performance
  • In-process SQL OLAP Engine, powered by ClickHouse
  • No need to install ClickHouse
  • Minimized data copy from C++ to Python with python memoryview
  • Input&Output support Parquet, CSV, JSON, Arrow, ORC and 60+more formats
  • Support Python DB API 2.0

Get Started on Hex

Arch

Installation

Currently, chDB supports Python 3.9+ on macOS and Linux (x86_64 and ARM64).

pip install chdb


๐Ÿผ DataStore: Pandas-Compatible API (Recommended)

DataStore provides a familiar pandas-like API with automatic SQL generation and ClickHouse performance. Write pandas code, get SQL performance - no learning curve required.

Quick Start (30 seconds)

Just change your import - use the pandas API you already know:

import datastore as pd # That's it! Use pandas API as usual # Create a DataFrame - works exactly like pandas df = pd.DataFrame({ 'name': ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Charlie', 'Diana'], 'age': [25, 30, 35, 28], 'city': ['NYC', 'LA', 'NYC', 'LA'] }) # Filter with familiar pandas syntax result = df[df['age'] > 26] print(result) # name age city # 1 Bob 30 LA # 2 Charlie 35 NYC # 3 Diana 28 LA # GroupBy works too print(df.groupby('city')['age'].mean()) # city # LA 29.0 # NYC 30.0

โœจ Zero code changes required. All operations are lazy - they're recorded and compiled into optimized SQL, executed only when results are needed.

Why DataStore?

Feature pandas DataStore
API โœ… Familiar โœ… Same pandas API
Large datasets โŒ Memory limited โœ… SQL-optimized
Learning curve โœ… Easy โœ… None - same syntax
Performance โŒ Single-threaded โœ… ClickHouse engine

Architecture

DataStore uses lazy evaluation with dual-engine execution:

  1. Lazy Operation Chain: Operations are recorded, not executed immediately
  2. Smart Engine Selection: QueryPlanner routes each segment to optimal engine (chDB for SQL, Pandas for complex ops)
  3. Intermediate Caching: Results cached at each step for fast iterative exploration

Working with Files

from datastore import DataStore # Load any file format ds = DataStore.from_file("data.parquet") # or CSV, JSON, ORC... # Explore your data print(ds.head()) # Preview first 5 rows print(ds.shape) # (rows, columns) print(ds.columns) # Column names # Build queries with method chaining result = (ds .select("product", "revenue", "date") .filter(ds.revenue > 1000) .sort("revenue", ascending=False) .head(10)) print(result)

Query Any Data Source

from datastore import DataStore # S3 (with anonymous access) ds = DataStore.uri("s3://bucket/data.parquet?nosign=true") # MySQL ds = DataStore.uri("mysql://user:pass@localhost:3306/mydb/users") # PostgreSQL ds = DataStore.uri("postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb/products") # And more: SQLite, MongoDB, ClickHouse, HDFS, Azure, GCS...

Pandas API Coverage

DataStore implements comprehensive pandas compatibility:

Category Coverage
DataFrame methods 209 methods
Series.str accessor 56 methods
Series.dt accessor 42+ methods
ClickHouse SQL functions 334 functions
# All these pandas methods work: df.drop(columns=['unused']) df.fillna(0) df.assign(revenue=lambda x: x['price'] * x['quantity']) df.sort_values('revenue', ascending=False) df.groupby('category').agg({'revenue': 'sum', 'quantity': 'mean'}) df.merge(other_df, on='id') df.pivot_table(values='sales', index='date', columns='product') # ... and 200+ more

String and DateTime Operations

# String operations via .str accessor ds['name'].str.upper() ds['email'].str.contains('@gmail') ds['text'].str.replace('old', 'new') # DateTime operations via .dt accessor  ds['date'].dt.year ds['date'].dt.month ds['timestamp'].dt.hour

Documentation



SQL API

For users who prefer SQL or need advanced ClickHouse features:

Run in command line

python3 -m chdb SQL [OutputFormat]

python3 -m chdb "SELECT 1,'abc'" Pretty

Data Input

The following methods are available to access on-disk and in-memory data formats:

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Connection based API

import chdb # Create a connection (in-memory by default) conn = chdb.connect(":memory:") # Or use file-based: conn = chdb.connect("test.db") # Create a cursor cur = conn.cursor() # Execute queries cur.execute("SELECT number, toString(number) as str FROM system.numbers LIMIT 3") # Fetch data in different ways print(cur.fetchone()) # Single row: (0, '0') print(cur.fetchmany(2)) # Multiple rows: ((1, '1'), (2, '2')) # Get column information print(cur.column_names()) # ['number', 'str'] print(cur.column_types()) # ['UInt64', 'String'] # Use the cursor as an iterator cur.execute("SELECT number FROM system.numbers LIMIT 3") for row in cur: print(row) # Always close resources when done cur.close() conn.close()

For more details, see examples/connect.py.

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Query On File

(Parquet, CSV, JSON, Arrow, ORC and 60+)

You can execute SQL and return desired format data.

import chdb res = chdb.query('select version()', 'Pretty'); print(res)

Work with Parquet or CSV

# See more data type format in tests/format_output.py res = chdb.query('select * from file("data.parquet", Parquet)', 'JSON'); print(res) res = chdb.query('select * from file("data.csv", CSV)', 'CSV'); print(res) print(f"SQL read {res.rows_read()} rows, {res.bytes_read()} bytes, storage read {res.storage_rows_read()} rows, {res.storage_bytes_read()} bytes, elapsed {res.elapsed()} seconds")

Parameterized queries

import chdb df = chdb.query( "SELECT toDate({base_date:String}) + number AS date " "FROM numbers({total_days:UInt64}) " "LIMIT {items_per_page:UInt64}", "DataFrame", params={"base_date": "2025-01-01", "total_days": 10, "items_per_page": 2}, ) print(df) # date # 0 2025-01-01 # 1 2025-01-02

Query progress (progress=auto)

import chdb # Connection API conn = chdb.connect(":memory:?progress=auto") conn.query("SELECT sum(number) FROM numbers_mt(1e10) GROUP BY number % 10 SETTINGS max_threads=4")
import chdb # One-shot API res = chdb.query( "SELECT sum(number) FROM numbers_mt(1e10) GROUP BY number % 10 SETTINGS max_threads=4", options={"progress": "auto"}, )

progress=auto behavior:

  • In terminal runs: show textual progress updates in the terminal.
  • Jupyter/Marimo notebook: render progress bar in notebook output.

Other progress options:

  • Progress bar:
    • progress=tty: write progress to terminal TTY.
    • progress=err: write progress to stderr.
    • progress=off: disable progress bar output.
  • Progress table (terminal output):
    • progress-table=tty: write progress table to terminal TTY.
    • progress-table=err: write progress table to stderr.
    • progress-table=off: disable progress table output.

Pandas dataframe output

# See more in https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/interfaces/formats chdb.query('select * from file("data.parquet", Parquet)', 'Dataframe')

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Query On Table

(Pandas DataFrame, Parquet file/bytes, Arrow bytes)

Query On Pandas DataFrame

import chdb.dataframe as cdf import pandas as pd # Join 2 DataFrames df1 = pd.DataFrame({'a': [1, 2, 3], 'b': ["one", "two", "three"]}) df2 = pd.DataFrame({'c': [1, 2, 3], 'd': ["โ‘ ", "โ‘ก", "โ‘ข"]}) ret_tbl = cdf.query(sql="select * from __tbl1__ t1 join __tbl2__ t2 on t1.a = t2.c", tbl1=df1, tbl2=df2) print(ret_tbl) # Query on the DataFrame Table print(ret_tbl.query('select b, sum(a) from __table__ group by b')) # Pandas DataFrames are automatically registered as temporary tables in ClickHouse chdb.query("SELECT * FROM Python(df1) t1 JOIN Python(df2) t2 ON t1.a = t2.c").show()

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Query with Stateful Session

from chdb import session as chs ## Create DB, Table, View in temp session, auto cleanup when session is deleted. sess = chs.Session() sess.query("CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS db_xxx ENGINE = Atomic") sess.query("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS db_xxx.log_table_xxx (x String, y Int) ENGINE = Log;") sess.query("INSERT INTO db_xxx.log_table_xxx VALUES ('a', 1), ('b', 3), ('c', 2), ('d', 5);") sess.query( "CREATE VIEW db_xxx.view_xxx AS SELECT * FROM db_xxx.log_table_xxx LIMIT 4;" ) print("Select from view:\n") print(sess.query("SELECT * FROM db_xxx.view_xxx", "Pretty"))

see also: test_stateful.py.

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Query with Python DB-API 2.0

import chdb.dbapi as dbapi print("chdb driver version: {0}".format(dbapi.get_client_info())) conn1 = dbapi.connect() cur1 = conn1.cursor() cur1.execute('select version()') print("description: ", cur1.description) print("data: ", cur1.fetchone()) cur1.close() conn1.close()

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Query with UDF (User Defined Functions)

from chdb.udf import chdb_udf from chdb import query @chdb_udf() def sum_udf(lhs, rhs): return int(lhs) + int(rhs) print(query("select sum_udf(12,22)"))

Some notes on chDB Python UDF(User Defined Function) decorator.

  1. The function should be stateless. So, only UDFs are supported, not UDAFs(User Defined Aggregation Function).
  2. Default return type is String. If you want to change the return type, you can pass in the return type as an argument. The return type should be one of the following: https://clickhouse.com/docs/en/sql-reference/data-types
  3. The function should take in arguments of type String. As the input is TabSeparated, all arguments are strings.
  4. The function will be called for each line of input. Something like this:
    def sum_udf(lhs, rhs): return int(lhs) + int(rhs) for line in sys.stdin: args = line.strip().split('\t') lhs = args[0] rhs = args[1] print(sum_udf(lhs, rhs)) sys.stdout.flush() 
  5. The function should be pure python function. You SHOULD import all python modules used IN THE FUNCTION.
    def func_use_json(arg): import json ... 
  6. Python interpertor used is the same as the one used to run the script. Get from sys.executable

see also: test_udf.py.

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Streaming Query

Process large datasets with constant memory usage through chunked streaming.

from chdb import session as chs sess = chs.Session() # Example 1: Basic example of using streaming query rows_cnt = 0 with sess.send_query("SELECT * FROM numbers(200000)", "CSV") as stream_result: for chunk in stream_result: rows_cnt += chunk.rows_read() print(rows_cnt) # 200000 # Example 2: Manual iteration with fetch() rows_cnt = 0 stream_result = sess.send_query("SELECT * FROM numbers(200000)", "CSV") while True: chunk = stream_result.fetch() if chunk is None: break rows_cnt += chunk.rows_read() print(rows_cnt) # 200000

For more details, see test_streaming_query.py.

๐Ÿ—‚๏ธ Python Table Engine

Query on Pandas DataFrame

import chdb import pandas as pd df = pd.DataFrame( { "a": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], "b": ["tom", "jerry", "auxten", "tom", "jerry", "auxten"], } ) chdb.query("SELECT b, sum(a) FROM Python(df) GROUP BY b ORDER BY b").show()

Query on Arrow Table

import chdb import pyarrow as pa arrow_table = pa.table( { "a": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], "b": ["tom", "jerry", "auxten", "tom", "jerry", "auxten"], } ) chdb.query("SELECT b, sum(a) FROM Python(arrow_table) GROUP BY b ORDER BY b").show()

see also: test_query_py.py.

๐Ÿง  AI-assisted SQL generation

chDB can translate natural language prompts into SQL. Configure the AI client through the connection (or session) string parameters:

  • ai_provider: openai or anthropic. Defaults to OpenAI-compatible when ai_base_url is set, otherwise auto-detected.
  • ai_api_key: API key; falls back to AI_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env vars.
  • ai_base_url: Custom base URL for OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
  • ai_model: Model name (e.g., gpt-4o-mini, claude-3-opus-20240229).
import chdb # Use env OPENAI_API_KEY/AI_API_KEY/ANTHROPIC_API_KEY for credentials conn = chdb.connect("file::memory:?ai_provider=openai&ai_model=gpt-4o-mini") conn.query("CREATE TABLE nums (n UInt32) ENGINE = Memory") conn.query("INSERT INTO nums VALUES (1), (2), (3)") sql = conn.generate_sql("Select all rows from nums ordered by n desc") print(sql) # e.g., SELECT * FROM nums ORDER BY n DESC # ask(): one-call generate + execute print(conn.ask("List the numbers table", format="Pretty"))

For more examples, see examples and tests.


Demos and Examples

Benchmark

Documentation

AI Coding Agent Skill

chdb provides an AI Skill that teaches AI coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, etc.) chdb's multi-source data analytics API. Install it so your AI assistant can write correct chdb code out of the box:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chdb-io/chdb/main/install_skill.sh | bash

Events

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open source community such an amazing place to be learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated. There are something you can help:

  • Help test and report bugs
  • Help improve documentation
  • Help improve code quality and performance

Bindings

We welcome bindings for other languages, please refer to bindings for more details.

Version Guide

Please refer to VERSION-GUIDE.md for more details.

Paper

License

Apache 2.0, see LICENSE for more information.

Acknowledgments

chDB is mainly based on ClickHouse 1 for trade mark and other reasons, I named it chDB.

Contact


Footnotes

  1. ClickHouseยฎ is a trademark of ClickHouse Inc. All trademarks, service marks, and logos mentioned or depicted are the property of their respective owners. The use of any third-party trademarks, brand names, product names, and company names does not imply endorsement, affiliation, or association with the respective owners. โ†ฉ โ†ฉ2

About

chDB is an in-process OLAP SQL Engine ๐Ÿš€ powered by ClickHouse

Resources

License

Code of conduct

Contributing

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Packages

 
 
 

Contributors

Languages

  • Python 96.2%
  • Jupyter Notebook 3.2%
  • Other 0.6%