Server Protocols¶

ApexBase is embedded by default, but it can also expose the same data over PostgreSQL Wire and Arrow Flight.

Which Protocol Should I Use?¶

Interface	Best for	Command
Python API	Embedded apps, scripts, notebooks	`ApexClient("./data")`
PostgreSQL Wire	DBeaver, DataGrip, psql, pgAdmin, BI tools, libpq clients	`apexbase-server`
Arrow Flight	Fast columnar transfer into Arrow-native systems	`apexbase-flight`
Combined server	Running both protocols from one process	`apexbase-serve`

Start Both Servers¶

apexbase-serve --dir ./data

Default ports:

Protocol	Port
PostgreSQL Wire	`5432`
Arrow Flight	`50051`

Custom ports:

apexbase-serve --dir ./data --pg-port 15432 --flight-port 50052

Disable one protocol:

apexbase-serve --dir ./data --no-flight
apexbase-serve --dir ./data --no-pg

PostgreSQL Wire¶

Start only the PostgreSQL-compatible server:

apexbase-server --dir ./data --host 127.0.0.1 --port 5432

Connect with psql:

psql -h 127.0.0.1 -p 5432 -d apexbase

Connect with Python:

import psycopg2

conn = psycopg2.connect(host="127.0.0.1", port=5432, dbname="apexbase")
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users")
print(cur.fetchall())

Authentication is currently disabled for the local server; any credentials supplied by clients are accepted.

Arrow Flight¶

Start only the Flight server:

apexbase-flight --dir ./data --host 127.0.0.1 --port 50051

Query with PyArrow Flight:

import pyarrow.flight as fl

client = fl.connect("grpc://127.0.0.1:50051")
table = client.do_get(fl.Ticket(b"SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 100")).read_all()
df = table.to_pandas()

Arrow Flight is the best option when result sets are large and the consumer can work with Arrow tables.

Operational Notes¶

Use the same --dir that your embedded Python or Rust app uses.
Run one writer-heavy workload at a time unless your application has tested its concurrency pattern.
Prefer binding to 127.0.0.1 for local tools.
Put the server behind your own network controls if exposing it beyond the machine.