SQL Guide
Beacon embeds Apache DataFusion as its query engine, giving you a broad standard SQL dialect — SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, JOIN, ORDER BY, window functions, and more.
Running SQL
| Surface | How | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP API | POST /api/query with { "sql": "..." } | BEACON_ENABLE_SQL=true |
| Arrow Flight SQL | Any Flight SQL client (DataGrip, ADBC, DBeaver) | Enabled by default |
What you can query
Registered tables — any External Table or View:
sql
SELECT * FROM ocean_profiles LIMIT 100Files on the fly — using Table Functions without a persistent table:
sql
SELECT * FROM read_netcdf(['argo/**/*.nc']) LIMIT 100