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FlightSQL operations and limits

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TL;DR

FlightSQL’s documented preview contract covers Arrow query results and metadata discovery inside a trusted deployment. Writes, prepared statements, transactions and cross-tenant authorization guarantees remain outside that contract. Treat these limits per operation; a successful connectivity query does not establish isolation, failover or recent-row visibility.

Message sequenceFlight SQL uses a statement and a result stream
Flight SQL uses a statement and a result streamAn authenticated Flight SQL client submits a SQL statement, receives information for its result and retrieves Arrow record batches. This documentation qualifies the read path as a preview.Flight SQL clientBoilStreamAuthenticate and select catalogGetFlightInfo: SQL statementResult endpoint / ticketDoGet: result ticketArrow record batchesTime moves downward · dashed arrows are responsesFlight SQL uses a statement and a result streamAn authenticated Flight SQL client submits a SQL statement, receives information for its result and retrieves Arrow record batches. This documentation qualifies the read path as a preview.Flight SQLclientBoilStreamAuthenticate and selectcatalogGetFlightInfo: SQLstatementResult endpoint / ticketDoGet: result ticketArrow record batchesTime moves downward · dashed arrows are responses
Read preview only: implemented write handlers are not a qualified public write contract.
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  • statement queries using DuckDB SQL;
  • catalog, schema, table, and table-type discovery;
  • table schemas and selected SQL capability metadata; and
  • TLS transport.

Prepared statements, SQL updates, DDL, transactions, and seamless connection failover are outside the supported FlightSQL contract. Treat this interface as a preview within a trusted deployment; cross-tenant authorization and revocation are not yet supported guarantees. Use PGWire or managed DuckDB for supported DDL and writes.

The complete cross-interface boundary is in the compatibility matrix.

FlightSQL clients can request:

  • catalogs;
  • database schemas;
  • tables, optionally with serialized Arrow schemas;
  • table types; and
  • supported SQL information fields.

Do not rely on this preview endpoint for isolation between untrusted tenants.

  • Use this interface for read queries; writes are outside the supported contract.
  • SQL uses DuckDB syntax and semantics.
  • Prepared statements and statement updates are outside the release contract.
  • A client must reconnect to a healthy endpoint after connection loss; seamless FlightSQL failover is not supported.
  • Client and BI-tool compatibility must be validated for the exact driver version and workflow.

FlightSQL does not currently promise access to all unpublished recent rows visible through PGWire. A live subscription and a SQL query can return different data.