HeliosDB Nano Documentation

HeliosDB Nano Documentation

High-performance embedded database with vector search, time-travel queries, and Git-like branching

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What is HeliosDB Nano?

HeliosDB Nano is a lightweight, embeddable database engine written in Rust that combines the simplicity of SQLite with advanced features typically found in enterprise databases:

• PostgreSQL-Compatible SQL - Standard SQL syntax with 95%+ PostgreSQL compatibility
• Vector Search - Built-in HNSW indexing for similarity search and AI/ML applications
• Database Branching - Git-like branching for development, testing, and experimentation
• Time-Travel Queries - Query historical data at any point in time
• Materialized Views - Automatic and incremental view refresh
• Multi-Tenancy - Row-level security and tenant isolation

Quick Start

Installation

=== “Cargo (Rust)”

```bash
cargo add heliosdb-nano
```

=== “pip (Python)”

```bash
pip install heliosdb-nano
```

=== “npm (Node.js)“

```bash
npm install heliosdb-nano
```

Basic Usage

use heliosdb_nano::EmbeddedDatabase;

// Create or open database
let db = EmbeddedDatabase::new("./mydb")?;

// Create table
db.execute("CREATE TABLE users (id INT PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT)")?;

// Insert data
db.execute("INSERT INTO users VALUES (1, 'Alice')")?;

// Query
let results = db.query("SELECT * FROM users")?;

Try the REPL

# Start interactive shell
heliosdb-nano repl --data-dir ./mydb

# Or in-memory mode
heliosdb-nano repl --memory

Key Features

• :material-source-branch: Database Branching

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  Create isolated branches for development, testing, or experimentation without duplicating data.

  :octicons-arrow-right-24: Learn more

• :material-clock-time-four: Time-Travel Queries

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  Query data as it existed at any point in time using AS OF TIMESTAMP syntax.

  :octicons-arrow-right-24: Learn more

• :material-vector-point: Vector Search

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  Built-in HNSW vector indexing for similarity search, RAG applications, and embeddings.

  :octicons-arrow-right-24: Learn more

• :material-table-refresh: Materialized Views

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  Auto-refreshing views with incremental updates and CPU-aware scheduling.

  :octicons-arrow-right-24: Learn more

Deployment Options

Mode	Description	Best For
Embedded	In-process library	Applications, edge devices, testing
Server	PostgreSQL-compatible server	Multi-client access, production
In-Memory	RAM-only storage	Testing, caching, ephemeral data

Documentation Sections

• Getting Started - Installation, quick start, deployment
• User Guide - SQL reference, REPL commands, configuration
• Features - Branching, time-travel, vectors, security
• API Reference - REST API, Rust, Python, TypeScript, Go SDKs
• Developer Guide - Architecture, contributing

Version History

Version	Highlights
v3.4	Multi-tenancy, Row-Level Security, CDC, enhanced SMFI
v3.3	Self-Maintaining Filter Index (SMFI), speculative filters
v3.0	Database branching, time-travel, materialized views
v2.0	Vector search, HNSW indexing, product quantization

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Need help? Check the FAQ or open an issue.