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| 1 | +# Connecting to a Lance REST Namespace |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +This guide explains how to connect DuckDB to a Lance REST Namespace server (e.g. LanceDB Cloud or Enterprise) using the lance-duckdb extension. |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +## Overview |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +A Lance REST Namespace provides a centralized catalog for managing Lance tables. The REST Namespace API allows: |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +- Listing tables in a namespace |
| 10 | +- Creating and dropping tables |
| 11 | +- Describing tables (getting location and storage credentials) |
| 12 | +- Credential vending for accessing underlying storage (S3, GCS, Azure, etc.) |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +## Prerequisites |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | +1. A Lance REST Namespace server endpoint available |
| 17 | +2. The lance-duckdb extension built and available |
| 18 | +3. Authentication credentials (API key, bearer token, etc.) |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +## ATTACH Syntax |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +```sql |
| 23 | +ATTACH '<namespace_id>' AS <alias> ( |
| 24 | + TYPE LANCE, |
| 25 | + ENDPOINT '<server_url>', |
| 26 | + HEADER '<header1>=<value1>;<header2>=<value2>' |
| 27 | +); |
| 28 | +``` |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +### Parameters |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +| Parameter | Description | Required | |
| 33 | +|-----------|-------------|----------| |
| 34 | +| `<namespace_id>` | The namespace identifier to connect to | Yes | |
| 35 | +| `<alias>` | Local alias for the attached database | Yes | |
| 36 | +| `ENDPOINT` | URL of the REST Namespace server | Yes | |
| 37 | +| `HEADER` | Custom HTTP headers (semicolon-separated key=value pairs) | No | |
| 38 | +| `DELIMITER` | Namespace delimiter (default: `$`) | No | |
| 39 | +| `BEARER_TOKEN` | Bearer token for authentication | No | |
| 40 | +| `API_KEY` | API key for authentication | No | |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +### Custom Headers |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +The `HEADER` option allows passing custom HTTP headers to the REST Namespace server. Multiple headers can be specified using semicolon separation: |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +```sql |
| 47 | +HEADER 'x-lancedb-database=my_db;x-api-key=sk_xxx;x-custom-header=value' |
| 48 | +``` |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +## Example: Connecting to a REST Namespace Server |
| 51 | + |
| 52 | +### 1. Connect from DuckDB |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +```sql |
| 55 | +-- Load the Lance extension |
| 56 | +LOAD 'lance.duckdb_extension'; |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +-- Attach to the REST Namespace |
| 59 | +ATTACH 'ns1' AS lance_ns ( |
| 60 | + TYPE LANCE, |
| 61 | + ENDPOINT 'http://localhost:10024', |
| 62 | + HEADER 'x-lancedb-database=lance_ns;x-api-key=sk_localtest' |
| 63 | +); |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +-- Switch to the attached database |
| 66 | +USE lance_ns; |
| 67 | +``` |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +### 2. List Tables |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +```sql |
| 72 | +SHOW TABLES; |
| 73 | +``` |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +Output: |
| 76 | +``` |
| 77 | +┌─────────┐ |
| 78 | +│ name │ |
| 79 | +│ varchar │ |
| 80 | +├─────────┤ |
| 81 | +│ 0 rows │ |
| 82 | +└─────────┘ |
| 83 | +``` |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +### 3. Create a Table |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +```sql |
| 88 | +CREATE TABLE users ( |
| 89 | + id INTEGER, |
| 90 | + name VARCHAR, |
| 91 | + email VARCHAR |
| 92 | +); |
| 93 | +``` |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +### 4. Insert Data |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +```sql |
| 98 | +INSERT INTO users VALUES |
| 99 | + (1, 'Alice', 'alice@example.com'), |
| 100 | + (2, 'Bob', 'bob@example.com'), |
| 101 | + (3, 'Charlie', 'charlie@example.com'); |
| 102 | +``` |
| 103 | + |
| 104 | +### 5. Query Data |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +```sql |
| 107 | +-- Select all rows |
| 108 | +SELECT * FROM users; |
| 109 | +``` |
| 110 | + |
| 111 | +Output: |
| 112 | +``` |
| 113 | +┌───────┬─────────┬─────────────────────┐ |
| 114 | +│ id │ name │ email │ |
| 115 | +│ int32 │ varchar │ varchar │ |
| 116 | +├───────┼─────────┼─────────────────────┤ |
| 117 | +│ 1 │ Alice │ alice@example.com │ |
| 118 | +│ 2 │ Bob │ bob@example.com │ |
| 119 | +│ 3 │ Charlie │ charlie@example.com │ |
| 120 | +└───────┴─────────┴─────────────────────┘ |
| 121 | +``` |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | +```sql |
| 124 | +-- Select with filter |
| 125 | +SELECT * FROM users WHERE id > 1; |
| 126 | +``` |
| 127 | + |
| 128 | +Output: |
| 129 | +``` |
| 130 | +┌───────┬─────────┬─────────────────────┐ |
| 131 | +│ id │ name │ email │ |
| 132 | +│ int32 │ varchar │ varchar │ |
| 133 | +├───────┼─────────┼─────────────────────┤ |
| 134 | +│ 2 │ Bob │ bob@example.com │ |
| 135 | +│ 3 │ Charlie │ charlie@example.com │ |
| 136 | +└───────┴─────────┴─────────────────────┘ |
| 137 | +``` |
| 138 | + |
| 139 | +```sql |
| 140 | +-- Aggregation |
| 141 | +SELECT COUNT(*) as total_users FROM users; |
| 142 | +``` |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | +Output: |
| 145 | +``` |
| 146 | +┌─────────────┐ |
| 147 | +│ total_users │ |
| 148 | +│ int64 │ |
| 149 | +├─────────────┤ |
| 150 | +│ 3 │ |
| 151 | +└─────────────┘ |
| 152 | +``` |
| 153 | + |
| 154 | +### 6. Using Fully Qualified Names |
| 155 | + |
| 156 | +You can also use fully qualified table names without switching databases: |
| 157 | + |
| 158 | +```sql |
| 159 | +-- Create table with fully qualified name |
| 160 | +CREATE TABLE lance_ns.main.my_table (col1 INTEGER, col2 VARCHAR); |
| 161 | + |
| 162 | +-- Query with fully qualified name |
| 163 | +SELECT * FROM lance_ns.main.my_table; |
| 164 | +``` |
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