kalam-client

Official Rust SDK for KalamDB — SQL, materialized live rows, and strong tenant isolation in one crate.

KalamDB is built for apps where every user or tenant owns a private data space. The same SQL can run for every signed-in customer, while USER tables ensure each query only touches that caller's data. On the server and in native SDKs, the default realtime API is live(): you receive the current materialized row set, not a stream of low-level diff frames that your UI has to reconcile.

→ kalamdb.org · Docs · GitHub

kalam-client provides:

• SQL execution over HTTP
• materialized live query rows over WebSocket with live() and live_with_config()
• low-level realtime events with live_events() when you need raw frames
• per-user and per-tenant isolation with USER tables
• optional topic consumer workers behind the consumer feature
• optional multipart file upload helpers behind the file-uploads feature

Runtime targets:

• Tokio-based async Rust (native-sdk, enabled by default)

Browser WebAssembly builds for @kalamdb/client live in the separate kalam-link-wasm crate (not part of this published SDK).

Installation

Add the crate from crates.io (or a path dependency while developing inside this repository):

[dependencies]
kalam-client = "0.5"
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread"] }

Enable optional capabilities with Cargo features:

# App-facing SQL + live rows (default)
kalam-client = { version = "0.5", features = ["native-sdk"] }

# Topic workers and batch consumption
kalam-client = { version = "0.5", features = ["native-sdk", "consumer"] }

# Multipart SQL file uploads
kalam-client = { version = "0.5", features = ["native-sdk", "file-uploads"] }

Topic workers ship in the same crate behind consumer so app-only installs stay lean, matching how @kalamdb/consumer extends @kalamdb/client in TypeScript.

Why live() First

Most UIs do not want subscription_ack, initial_data_batch, change, and error frames. They want the latest rows.

live() gives you exactly that:

• the current row set already reconciled for insert, update, and delete
• one event shape for initial load and future changes
• shared behavior with the TypeScript and Dart clients
• simpler services, CLIs, and background workers

Use SubscriptionOptions::with_last_rows() when you want an initial rewind from the server. Use LiveRowsConfig { limit: Some(n), .. } when you want the client to keep the materialized live row set bounded over time.

The knobs apply at different layers:

• batch_size chunks the initial snapshot from the server
• last_rows chooses how much history to rewind first
• limit caps the materialized live row set the client keeps afterward

Use live_events() only when you need the raw event protocol.

Quick Start

Start with a USER table. The SQL stays simple, and KalamDB scopes the data per authenticated user.

CREATE NAMESPACE IF NOT EXISTS support;

CREATE TABLE support.inbox (
  id         BIGINT PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT SNOWFLAKE_ID(),
  room       TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'main',
  role       TEXT NOT NULL,
  body       TEXT NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
) WITH (TYPE = 'USER');

use std::time::Duration;

use kalam_client::{
    AuthProvider, KalamLinkClient, LiveRowsConfig, LiveRowsEvent, SubscriptionConfig,
    SubscriptionOptions,
};
use serde_json::json;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let client = KalamLinkClient::builder()
        .base_url("http://localhost:2900")
        .auth(AuthProvider::basic_auth("alice".into(), "Secret123!".into()))
        .timeout(Duration::from_secs(30))
        .build()?;

    client.connect().await?;

    let inbox_sql = "
        SELECT id, room, role, body, created_at
        FROM support.inbox
        WHERE room = 'main'
    ";

    let mut config = SubscriptionConfig::new("inbox", inbox_sql);
    config.options = Some(
        SubscriptionOptions::new()
            .with_last_rows(200)
            .with_batch_size(200),
    );

    let mut live = client
        .live_with_config(
            config,
            LiveRowsConfig {
                limit: Some(200),
                ..LiveRowsConfig::default()
            },
        )
        .await?;

    // `support.inbox` is a USER table. Every signed-in user can run the same SQL
    // text, but KalamDB only returns that caller's rows.
    while let Some(event) = live.next().await {
        match event? {
            LiveRowsEvent::Rows { rows, .. } => {
                for row in rows {
                    println!(
                        "{} {}: {}",
                        row.get("role").and_then(|v| v.as_text()).unwrap_or(""),
                        row.get("id").and_then(|v| v.as_text()).unwrap_or(""),
                        row.get("body").and_then(|v| v.as_text()).unwrap_or(""),
                    );
                }
            }
            LiveRowsEvent::Error { code, message, .. } => {
                eprintln!("live error {code}: {message}");
                break;
            }
        }
    }

    client
        .execute_query(
            "INSERT INTO support.inbox (room, role, body) VALUES ($1, $2, $3)",
            None,
            Some(vec![json!("main"), json!("user"), json!("Need help with billing")]),
            None,
        )
        .await?;

    live.close().await?;
    client.disconnect().await;
    Ok(())
}

See QUICKSTART.md for a shorter copy-paste flow and examples for runnable projects.

Resume From a Specific SeqId

When you want offline resume or a durable checkpoint, persist the last SeqId you applied and feed it back through SubscriptionOptions::with_from().

use kalam_client::{SeqId, SubscriptionOptions};

let start_from = SeqId::from(42_i64);
let options = SubscriptionOptions::new()
    .with_last_rows(200)
    .with_from(start_from);

Each LiveRowsEvent::Rows includes last_seq_id so you can persist checkpoints between sessions.

Lower-Level Realtime API

If you need raw protocol frames, use live_events().

use kalam_client::{ChangeEvent, SubscriptionConfig};

let config =
    SubscriptionConfig::new("raw-inbox", "SELECT * FROM support.inbox WHERE room = 'main'");
let mut events = client.live_events_with_config(config).await?;

while let Some(change) = events.next().await {
    match change? {
        ChangeEvent::Insert { rows, .. } => println!("inserted {}", rows.len()),
        ChangeEvent::Update { rows, .. } => println!("updated {}", rows.len()),
        ChangeEvent::Delete { old_rows, .. } => println!("deleted {}", old_rows.len()),
        _ => {}
    }
}

Use this API for protocol tooling, debugging, or custom reconciliation. For app UI state, prefer live().

Topics and Workers

Topic workers live behind the optional consumer feature so app-only installs keep the main SDK lean.

[dependencies]
kalam-client = { version = "0.5", features = ["native-sdk", "consumer"] }

Use the default client surface for app-facing SQL, live rows, subscriptions, auth, and files. Enable consumer for TopicConsumer, ConsumerBuilder, consume_batch(), and ack().

use kalam_client::AutoOffsetReset;

let consumer = client
    .consumer()
    .group_id("billing-workers")
    .topic("support.events")
    .auto_offset_reset(AutoOffsetReset::Earliest)
    .build()?;

See examples/topic-consumer for a fuller worker loop.

Files

KalamDB tables can include FILE columns. Upload with multipart SQL, read metadata from query results, and download bytes through the same client.

Enable uploads with the file-uploads feature (included in native-cli / e2e-tests):

kalam-client = { version = "0.5", features = ["native-sdk", "file-uploads"] }

use kalam_client::{FileUpload, QueryParam};

let files = vec![FileUpload::new("upload", "photo.jpg", std::fs::read("photo.jpg")?).with_mime("image/jpeg")];

client.execute_with_files(
    "INSERT INTO docs.files (id, attachment) VALUES ($1, FILE(\"upload\"))",
    files,
    Some(vec![QueryParam::from("doc1")]),
    None,
).await?;

let rows = client
    .execute_query(
        "SELECT attachment FROM docs.files WHERE id = $1",
        None,
        Some(vec![QueryParam::from("doc1")]),
        None,
    )
    .await?;

let table_id = TableId::from_strings("docs", "files");
let file_ref = rows.results[0].rows[0][0]
    .as_bound_file(&table_id)
    .expect("FILE column");
let download = client.download_bound_file(&file_ref, None).await?;
std::fs::write("downloaded.jpg", &download.bytes)?;

Key types:

• FileRef — table-agnostic file metadata plus stored_name()
• TableId — type-safe namespace/table identity from kalamdb-commons
• BoundFileRef — FileRef plus table context for downloads
• FileUpload — multipart upload payload for FILE("placeholder") SQL
• QueryParam — type-safe SQL parameters (Text, Int, File, …)
• KalamCellValue::as_file() — parse FILE cells from query/live rows
• KalamCellValue::as_bound_file(&TableId) — parse and attach table context
• FileDownload — bytes plus response headers from download_bound_file() / download_file()

Authentication

AuthProvider is the canonical way to configure the client.

use kalam_client::AuthProvider;

// Static JWT
let auth = AuthProvider::jwt_token(token);

// Basic auth (exchanged for JWT on first use)
let auth = AuthProvider::basic_auth("alice".into(), "secret".into());

// Local root / system user
let auth = AuthProvider::system_user_auth(std::env::var("KALAMDB_ROOT_PASSWORD")?);

The SDK handles:

• Basic-auth-to-JWT exchange
• default namespace forwarding for /v1/api/sql plus unqualified live/file contexts
• shared WebSocket connection management
• reconnect controls and SeqId tracking

Examples and Tests

Run the SDK test suite from this directory:

NO_SERVER=true ./test.sh   # offline API tests only
./test.sh                    # full suite (requires a running server)

From the repo root:

cd link/sdks/rust
cargo build -p kalam-client --features native-sdk
cargo run -p quickstart
cargo run -p file-attachments
cargo run -p live-inbox
cargo run -p topic-consumer

Set KALAMDB_SERVER_URL (default http://localhost:2900) and credentials as needed.

API Pointers

• execute_query() and related SQL helpers for reads and writes
• QueryParam, FileUpload, FileRef, and FileDownload for typed SQL and FILE columns
• execute_with_files() for FILE column uploads (file-uploads feature)
• download_bound_file() for context-bound FILE downloads; download_file() remains available for explicit namespace/table calls
• live() and live_with_config() for materialized realtime rows
• live_events() and live_events_with_config() for low-level subscription frames
• TopicConsumer and client.consumer() (feature consumer) for topic consumption and commits

Full docs: kalamdb.org/docs/sdk/rust
Issues: github.com/kalamdb/KalamDB/issues

For crate development, publishing, and contribution details, see DEV.md.

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (Apache-2.0). See LICENSE.