arrow-sql-server 0.3.1

High-performance Apache Arrow RecordBatch bulk writer for Microsoft SQL Server.
Documentation

Arrow SQL Server is a Rust library for schema-aware, asynchronous SQL Server bulk loading. It plans Arrow schemas, generates SQL Server DDL, validates target tables, and writes batches through a direct Arrow-to-TDS path.

Why Arrow SQL Server?

  • Built for Arrow: write RecordBatch values directly instead of converting them into application row objects.
  • Built for SQL Server: explicit type planning, compatibility profiles, quoted identifiers, target-table validation, and bulk-load diagnostics.
  • No ODBC runtime: the production path uses TDS through Tiberius, so your application does not need unixODBC or a Microsoft ODBC driver.

Is It a Good Fit?

Use Arrow SQL Server when you need This crate does not provide
Arrow-to-SQL Server bulk writes from Rust SQL Server-to-Arrow reads
Streaming writes across one or more batches Connection pooling, retries, or job orchestration
SQL Server-aware schema planning and DDL A database-agnostic writer abstraction
A direct TDS path without an ODBC deployment Migrations, an ORM, or automatic table publishing workflows

The crate can generate CREATE TABLE SQL, but it does not create or replace a table unless your application explicitly executes that SQL.

Install

Arrow SQL Server 0.3 uses Arrow 58 types. Add the crates used by the examples:

cargo add arrow-sql-server@0.3 arrow-array@58 arrow-schema@58
cargo add tokio@1 --features macros,rt

The minimum supported Rust version is 1.88.

Write a Batch

The target table must already match the planned schema. New applications should use WriteOptions::default(); its Auto backend selects the optimized writer.

use arrow_array::RecordBatch;
use arrow_sql_server::{
    CompatibilityLevel, MssqlProfile, MssqlVersion, PlanOptions, TableName,
    WriteOptions, WriteStats, connect_mssql_client_from_ado_string,
};

async fn write_batch(
    connection_string: &str,
    batch: &RecordBatch,
) -> arrow_sql_server::Result<WriteStats> {
    let profile = MssqlProfile::new(
        MssqlVersion::SqlServer2022,
        CompatibilityLevel::SQL_SERVER_2022,
    )?;
    let planned_schema = profile
        .plan_arrow_schema(batch.schema().as_ref(), PlanOptions::default())?
        .into_value();

    let table = TableName::new("dbo", "people")?;
    let mut client = connect_mssql_client_from_ado_string(connection_string).await?;
    let mut writer = client
        .bulk_writer(table, planned_schema, WriteOptions::default())
        .await?;

    writer.write_batch(batch).await?;
    writer.finish().await
}

For a complete first run that creates a table, writes a batch, and verifies the row count, follow Getting Started.

Supported Data

The default planner and both production writers support common Arrow scalar types, including:

  • booleans and signed or unsigned integers,
  • floating-point values,
  • UTF-8 and binary arrays, including Arrow view arrays,
  • decimal values up to SQL Server precision 38,
  • dates, times, timestamps, and timezone-aware timestamps.

Nested Arrow values and SQL Server-to-Arrow reads are not currently supported. See the complete type-mapping reference for policies, runtime checks, and unsupported types.

SQL Server profiles cover SQL Server 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2025 with compatibility-level validation.

Learn More

Start here:

Advanced and maintainer documentation: