Opteryx Core

Opteryx Core is the SQL execution engine behind opteryx.app. It is a fork of Opteryx with a smaller, more opinionated API and configuration surface, shaped around the workloads used by the hosted service.

This library is designed for fast, read-heavy analytical queries over Parquet-backed data. It handles SQL parsing, planning, predicate pushdown, projection pruning, and execution so you can query datasets from Python without standing up a separate warehouse.

This project is opinionated toward the needs of opteryx.app. It is still useful as a standalone library if you want to query local Parquet, NDJSON, and CSV datasets, embed SQL into a Python service or notebook, or experiment with engine internals directly.

Requirements

• Python 3.13
• A C/C++ toolchain for local source builds
• Rust/Cargo for the Rust extension in src/

Install

pip install opteryx-core

Import it as:

import opteryx

Quick Start: Query Local Files

If your current working directory contains local Parquet data, the simplest way to use Opteryx Core is to register a local workspace and query it with dot-separated names.

import opteryx
from opteryx.connectors import DiskConnector

opteryx.register_workspace("data", DiskConnector)

session = opteryx.session()
result = session.execute_to_arrow(
    "SELECT id, name FROM data.planets WHERE id < 5"
)

print(result)

In this model, dataset names are resolved relative to the current working directory. For example, data.planets resolves to ./data/planets, and Opteryx Core reads the Parquet files it finds there.

What It Is For

• Powering the execution layer used by opteryx.app
• Running analytical SQL against local Parquet-backed datasets
• Embedding a query engine inside Python applications, scripts, notebooks, and services
• Working on engine internals such as planning, execution, and Parquet performance

Local Development

The supported local build path is the repository Makefile:

make dev-install
make compile
make q

Useful targets:

Target	Purpose
make compile	Clean in-place build of Cython, C++, and Rust extensions
make c	Incremental extension build
make q	Fast SQL shape smoke test
make test	Full pytest suite after compiling
make dt	Draken native unit tests
make check	Ruff and import-order checks without modifying files

Do not use pip install . as the primary development build path; make compile matches the layout expected by this repository.

Repository Layout

Path	Purpose
opteryx/	Python package, planner, operators, connectors, expression evaluation, and Cython modules
draken/	Native columnar vector substrate used by the execution engine
rugo/	Internal Parquet and JSONL reader used by scans and metadata paths
src/	Rust extension code, currently including the SQL dialect integration
tests/	Unit, integration, fuzzing, sqllogictest, and benchmark harnesses
testdata/	Local datasets and benchmark fixtures
dev/	Development, release, vendoring, and analysis scripts
scratch/	Experimental prototypes and one-off investigations
third_party/	Vendored native dependencies

Best With Opteryx Catalog

Opteryx Core works best when paired with the opteryx_catalog library. That is the intended model for named datasets, catalog-backed tables, and the general experience used in opteryx.app.

Typical setup:

import os

import opteryx

from opteryx import set_default_connector
from opteryx.connectors import OpteryxConnector
from opteryx_catalog import OpteryxCatalog

set_default_connector(
    OpteryxConnector,
    catalog=OpteryxCatalog,
    firestore_project=os.environ["GCP_PROJECT_ID"],
    firestore_database=os.environ["FIRESTORE_DATABASE"],
    gcs_bucket=os.environ["GCS_BUCKET"],
)

Once configured, you can query catalog-backed datasets using dot-separated names such as public.space.planets or opteryx.ops.billing.

For local data, Opteryx Core is typically used through registered workspaces such as testdata, scratch, or data. Queries refer to datasets by dot-separated names relative to the workspace root, for example testdata.planets, testdata.satellites, or scratch.signals.

Where It Fits

Opteryx Core is best thought of as an embedded analytical engine rather than a full end-user platform. If you want a hosted experience, multi-tenant service features, and the broader product workflow, use opteryx.app. If you want the core engine in your own environment, this package gives you that engine directly. If you want the intended table-resolution model, pair it with opteryx_catalog.

Contributing

If you use Opteryx-Core yourself, we want to hear from you.

• Use it on your own datasets
• Raise bugs when queries, schemas, or performance do not behave as expected
• Open pull requests for fixes, tests, docs, or performance improvements
• Share repro cases, failing queries, and edge-case Parquet files

This project is being actively built, and outside usage helps make it better.

Docs: https://docs.opteryx.app/ Source: https://github.com/mabel-dev/opteryx-core License: Apache-2.0