{"rowid": 1, "title": "Running SQL queries", "content": "Datasette treats SQLite database files as read-only and immutable. This means it is not possible to execute INSERT or UPDATE statements using Datasette, which allows us to expose SELECT statements to the outside world without needing to worry about SQL injection attacks. \n The easiest way to execute custom SQL against Datasette is through the web UI. The database index page includes a SQL editor that lets you run any SELECT query you like. You can also construct queries using the filter interface on the tables page, then click \"View and edit SQL\" to open that query in the custom SQL editor. \n Note that this interface is only available if the execute-sql permission is allowed. See Controlling the ability to execute arbitrary SQL . \n Any Datasette SQL query is reflected in the URL of the page, allowing you to bookmark them, share them with others and navigate through previous queries using your browser back button. \n You can also retrieve the results of any query as JSON by adding .json to the base URL.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 2, "title": "Named parameters", "content": "Datasette has special support for SQLite named parameters. Consider a SQL query like this: \n select * from Street_Tree_List\nwhere \"PermitNotes\" like :notes\nand \"qSpecies\" = :species \n If you execute this query using the custom query editor, Datasette will extract the two named parameters and use them to construct form fields for you to provide values. \n You can also provide values for these fields by constructing a URL: \n /mydatabase?sql=select...&species=44 \n SQLite string escaping rules will be applied to values passed using named parameters - they will be wrapped in quotes and their content will be correctly escaped. \n Values from named parameters are treated as SQLite strings. If you need to perform numeric comparisons on them you should cast them to an integer or float first using cast(:name as integer) or cast(:name as real) , for example: \n select * from Street_Tree_List\nwhere latitude > cast(:min_latitude as real)\nand latitude < cast(:max_latitude as real) \n Datasette disallows custom SQL queries containing the string PRAGMA (with a small number of exceptions ) as SQLite pragma statements can be used to change database settings at runtime. If you need to include the string \"pragma\" in a query you can do so safely using a named parameter.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 3, "title": "Views", "content": "If you want to bundle some pre-written SQL queries with your Datasette-hosted database you can do so in two ways. The first is to include SQL views in your database - Datasette will then list those views on your database index page. \n The quickest way to create views is with the SQLite command-line interface: \n sqlite3 sf-trees.db \n SQLite version 3.19.3 2017-06-27 16:48:08\nEnter \".help\" for usage hints.\nsqlite> CREATE VIEW demo_view AS select qSpecies from Street_Tree_List;\n \n You can also use the sqlite-utils tool to create a view : \n sqlite-utils create-view sf-trees.db demo_view \"select qSpecies from Street_Tree_List\"", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 4, "title": "Canned queries", "content": "As an alternative to adding views to your database, you can define canned queries inside your datasette.yaml file. Here's an example: \n [[[cog\nfrom metadata_doc import config_example, config_example\nconfig_example(cog, {\n \"databases\": {\n \"sf-trees\": {\n \"queries\": {\n \"just_species\": {\n \"sql\": \"select qSpecies from Street_Tree_List\"\n }\n }\n }\n }\n}) \n ]]] \n [[[end]]] \n Then run Datasette like this: \n datasette sf-trees.db -m metadata.json \n Each canned query will be listed on the database index page, and will also get its own URL at: \n /database-name/canned-query-name \n For the above example, that URL would be: \n /sf-trees/just_species \n You can optionally include \"title\" and \"description\" keys to show a title and description on the canned query page. As with regular table metadata you can alternatively specify \"description_html\" to have your description rendered as HTML (rather than having HTML special characters escaped).", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 5, "title": "Canned query parameters", "content": "Canned queries support named parameters, so if you include those in the SQL you will then be able to enter them using the form fields on the canned query page or by adding them to the URL. This means canned queries can be used to create custom JSON APIs based on a carefully designed SQL statement. \n Here's an example of a canned query with a named parameter: \n select neighborhood, facet_cities.name, state\nfrom facetable\n join facet_cities on facetable.city_id = facet_cities.id\nwhere neighborhood like '%' || :text || '%'\norder by neighborhood; \n In the canned query configuration looks like this: \n [[[cog\nconfig_example(cog, \"\"\"\ndatabases:\n fixtures:\n queries:\n neighborhood_search:\n title: Search neighborhoods\n sql: |-\n select neighborhood, facet_cities.name, state\n from facetable\n join facet_cities on facetable.city_id = facet_cities.id\n where neighborhood like '%' || :text || '%'\n order by neighborhood\n\"\"\") \n ]]] \n [[[end]]] \n Note that we are using SQLite string concatenation here - the || operator - to add wildcard % characters to the string provided by the user. \n You can try this canned query out here:\n https://latest.datasette.io/fixtures/neighborhood_search?text=town \n In this example the :text named parameter is automatically extracted from the query using a regular expression. \n You can alternatively provide an explicit list of named parameters using the \"params\" key, like this: \n [[[cog\nconfig_example(cog, \"\"\"\ndatabases:\n fixtures:\n queries:\n neighborhood_search:\n title: Search neighborhoods\n params:\n - text\n sql: |-\n select neighborhood, facet_cities.name, state\n from facetable\n join facet_cities on facetable.city_id = facet_cities.id\n where neighborhood like '%' || :text || '%'\n order by neighborhood\n\"\"\") \n ]]] \n [[[end]]]", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 6, "title": "Additional canned query options", "content": "Additional options can be specified for canned queries in the YAML or JSON configuration.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 7, "title": "hide_sql", "content": "Canned queries default to displaying their SQL query at the top of the page. If the query is extremely long you may want to hide it by default, with a \"show\" link that can be used to make it visible. \n Add the \"hide_sql\": true option to hide the SQL query by default.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 8, "title": "fragment", "content": "Some plugins, such as datasette-vega , can be configured by including additional data in the fragment hash of the URL - the bit that comes after a # symbol. \n You can set a default fragment hash that will be included in the link to the canned query from the database index page using the \"fragment\" key. \n This example demonstrates both fragment and hide_sql : \n [[[cog\nconfig_example(cog, \"\"\"\ndatabases:\n fixtures:\n queries:\n neighborhood_search:\n fragment: fragment-goes-here\n hide_sql: true\n sql: |-\n select neighborhood, facet_cities.name, state\n from facetable join facet_cities on facetable.city_id = facet_cities.id\n where neighborhood like '%' || :text || '%' order by neighborhood;\n\"\"\") \n ]]] \n [[[end]]] \n See here for a demo of this in action.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 9, "title": "Writable canned queries", "content": "Canned queries by default are read-only. You can use the \"write\": true key to indicate that a canned query can write to the database. \n See Access to specific canned queries for details on how to add permission checks to canned queries, using the \"allow\" key. \n [[[cog\nconfig_example(cog, {\n \"databases\": {\n \"mydatabase\": {\n \"queries\": {\n \"add_name\": {\n \"sql\": \"INSERT INTO names (name) VALUES (:name)\",\n \"write\": True\n }\n }\n }\n }\n}) \n ]]] \n [[[end]]] \n This configuration will create a page at /mydatabase/add_name displaying a form with a name field. Submitting that form will execute the configured INSERT query. \n You can customize how Datasette represents success and errors using the following optional properties: \n \n \n on_success_message - the message shown when a query is successful \n \n \n on_success_message_sql - alternative to on_success_message : a SQL query that should be executed to generate the message \n \n \n on_success_redirect - the path or URL the user is redirected to on success \n \n \n on_error_message - the message shown when a query throws an error \n \n \n on_error_redirect - the path or URL the user is redirected to on error \n \n \n For example: \n [[[cog\nconfig_example(cog, {\n \"databases\": {\n \"mydatabase\": {\n \"queries\": {\n \"add_name\": {\n \"sql\": \"INSERT INTO names (name) VALUES (:name)\",\n \"params\": [\"name\"],\n \"write\": True,\n \"on_success_message_sql\": \"select 'Name inserted: ' || :name\",\n \"on_success_redirect\": \"/mydatabase/names\",\n \"on_error_message\": \"Name insert failed\",\n \"on_error_redirect\": \"/mydatabase\",\n }\n }\n }\n }\n}) \n ]]] \n [[[end]]] \n You can use \"params\" to explicitly list the named parameters that should be displayed as form fields - otherwise they will be automatically detected. \"params\" is not necessary in the above example, since without it \"name\" would be automatically detected from the query. \n You can pre-populate form fields when the page first loads using a query string, e.g. /mydatabase/add_name?name=Prepopulated . The user will have to submit the form to execute the query. \n If you specify a query in \"on_success_message_sql\" , that query will be executed after the main query. The first column of the first row return by that query will be displayed as a success message. Named parameters from the main query will be made available to the success message query as well.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 10, "title": "Magic parameters", "content": "Named parameters that start with an underscore are special: they can be used to automatically add values created by Datasette that are not contained in the incoming form fields or query string. \n These magic parameters are only supported for canned queries: to avoid security issues (such as queries that extract the user's private cookies) they are not available to SQL that is executed by the user as a custom SQL query. \n Available magic parameters are: \n \n \n _actor_* - e.g. _actor_id , _actor_name \n \n Fields from the currently authenticated Actors . \n \n \n \n _header_* - e.g. _header_user_agent \n \n Header from the incoming HTTP request. The key should be in lower case and with hyphens converted to underscores e.g. _header_user_agent or _header_accept_language . \n \n \n \n _cookie_* - e.g. _cookie_lang \n \n The value of the incoming cookie of that name. \n \n \n \n _now_epoch \n \n The number of seconds since the Unix epoch. \n \n \n \n _now_date_utc \n \n The date in UTC, e.g. 2020-06-01 \n \n \n \n _now_datetime_utc \n \n The ISO 8601 datetime in UTC, e.g. 2020-06-24T18:01:07Z \n \n \n \n _random_chars_* - e.g. _random_chars_128 \n \n A random string of characters of the specified length. \n \n \n \n Here's an example configuration that adds a message from the authenticated user, storing various pieces of additional metadata using magic parameters: \n [[[cog\nconfig_example(cog, \"\"\"\ndatabases:\n mydatabase:\n queries:\n add_message:\n allow:\n id: \"*\"\n sql: |-\n INSERT INTO messages (\n user_id, message, datetime\n ) VALUES (\n :_actor_id, :message, :_now_datetime_utc\n )\n write: true\n\"\"\") \n ]]] \n [[[end]]] \n The form presented at /mydatabase/add_message will have just a field for message - the other parameters will be populated by the magic parameter mechanism. \n Additional custom magic parameters can be added by plugins using the register_magic_parameters(datasette) hook.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 11, "title": "JSON API for writable canned queries", "content": "Writable canned queries can also be accessed using a JSON API. You can POST data to them using JSON, and you can request that their response is returned to you as JSON. \n To submit JSON to a writable canned query, encode key/value parameters as a JSON document: \n POST /mydatabase/add_message\n\n{\"message\": \"Message goes here\"} \n You can also continue to submit data using regular form encoding, like so: \n POST /mydatabase/add_message\n\nmessage=Message+goes+here \n There are three options for specifying that you would like the response to your request to return JSON data, as opposed to an HTTP redirect to another page. \n \n \n Set an Accept: application/json header on your request \n \n \n Include ?_json=1 in the URL that you POST to \n \n \n Include \"_json\": 1 in your JSON body, or &_json=1 in your form encoded body \n \n \n The JSON response will look like this: \n {\n \"ok\": true,\n \"message\": \"Query executed, 1 row affected\",\n \"redirect\": \"/data/add_name\"\n} \n The \"message\" and \"redirect\" values here will take into account on_success_message , on_success_message_sql , on_success_redirect , on_error_message and on_error_redirect , if they have been set.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 12, "title": "Pagination", "content": "Datasette's default table pagination is designed to be extremely efficient. SQL OFFSET/LIMIT pagination can have a significant performance penalty once you get into multiple thousands of rows, as each page still requires the database to scan through every preceding row to find the correct offset. \n When paginating through tables, Datasette instead orders the rows in the table by their primary key and performs a WHERE clause against the last seen primary key for the previous page. For example: \n select rowid, * from Tree_List where rowid > 200 order by rowid limit 101 \n This represents page three for this particular table, with a page size of 100. \n Note that we request 101 items in the limit clause rather than 100. This allows us to detect if we are on the last page of the results: if the query returns less than 101 rows we know we have reached the end of the pagination set. Datasette will only return the first 100 rows - the 101st is used purely to detect if there should be another page. \n Since the where clause acts against the index on the primary key, the query is extremely fast even for records that are a long way into the overall pagination set.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 13, "title": "Cross-database queries", "content": "SQLite has the ability to run queries that join across multiple databases. Up to ten databases can be attached to a single SQLite connection and queried together. \n Datasette can execute joins across multiple databases if it is started with the --crossdb option: \n datasette fixtures.db extra_database.db --crossdb \n If it is started in this way, the /_memory page can be used to execute queries that join across multiple databases. \n References to tables in attached databases should be preceded by the database name and a period. \n For example, this query will show a list of tables across both of the above databases: \n select\n 'fixtures' as database, *\nfrom\n [fixtures].sqlite_master\nunion\nselect\n 'extra_database' as database, *\nfrom\n [extra_database].sqlite_master \n Try that out here .", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 14, "title": "Changelog", "content": "", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 15, "title": "1.0a19 (2025-04-21)", "content": "Tiny cosmetic bug fix for mobile display of table rows. ( #2479 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 16, "title": "1.0a18 (2025-04-16)", "content": "Fix for incorrect foreign key references in the internal database schema. ( #2466 ) \n \n \n The prepare_connection() hook no longer runs for the internal database. ( #2468 ) \n \n \n Fixed bug where link: HTTP headers used invalid syntax. ( #2470 ) \n \n \n No longer tested against Python 3.8. Now tests against Python 3.13. \n \n \n FTS tables are now hidden by default if they correspond to a content table. ( #2477 ) \n \n \n Fixed bug with foreign key links to rows in databases with filenames containing a special character. Thanks, Jack Stratton . ( #2476 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 17, "title": "1.0a17 (2025-02-06)", "content": "DATASETTE_SSL_KEYFILE and DATASETTE_SSL_CERTFILE environment variables as alternatives to --ssl-keyfile and --ssl-certfile . Thanks, Alex Garcia. ( #2422 ) \n \n \n SQLITE_EXTENSIONS environment variable has been renamed to DATASETTE_LOAD_EXTENSION . ( #2424 ) \n \n \n datasette serve environment variables are now documented here . \n \n \n The register_magic_parameters(datasette) plugin hook can now register async functions. ( #2441 ) \n \n \n Datasette is now tested against Python 3.13. \n \n \n Breadcrumbs on database and table pages now include a consistent self-link for resetting query string parameters. ( #2454 ) \n \n \n Fixed issue where Datasette could crash on metadata.json with nested values. ( #2455 ) \n \n \n New internal methods datasette.set_actor_cookie() and datasette.delete_actor_cookie() , described here . ( #1690 ) \n \n \n /-/permissions page now shows a list of all permissions registered by plugins. ( #1943 ) \n \n \n If a table has a single unique text column Datasette now detects that as the foreign key label for that table. ( #2458 ) \n \n \n The /-/permissions page now includes options for filtering or exclude permission checks recorded against the current user. ( #2460 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug where replacing a database with a new one with the same name did not pick up the new database correctly. ( #2465 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 18, "title": "0.65.1 (2024-11-28)", "content": "Fixed bug with upgraded HTTPX 0.28.0 dependency. ( #2443 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 19, "title": "0.65 (2024-10-07)", "content": "Upgrade for compatibility with Python 3.13 (by vendoring Pint dependency). ( #2434 ) \n \n \n Dropped support for Python 3.8.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 20, "title": "1.0a16 (2024-09-05)", "content": "This release focuses on performance, in particular against large tables, and introduces some minor breaking changes for CSS styling in Datasette plugins. \n \n \n Removed the unit conversions feature and its dependency, Pint. This means Datasette is now compatible with the upcoming Python 3.13. ( #2400 , #2320 ) \n \n \n The datasette --pdb option now uses the ipdb debugger if it is installed. You can install it using datasette install ipdb . Thanks, Tiago Ilieve . ( #2342 ) \n \n \n Fixed a confusing error that occurred if metadata.json contained nested objects. ( #2403 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug with ?_trace=1 where it returned a blank page if the response was larger than 256KB. ( #2404 ) \n \n \n Tracing mechanism now also displays SQL queries that returned errors or ran out of time. datasette-pretty-traces 0.5 includes support for displaying this new type of trace. ( #2405 ) \n \n \n Fixed a text spacing with table descriptions on the homepage. ( #2399 ) \n \n \n \n \n Performance improvements for large tables: \n \n \n \n Suggested facets now only consider the first 1000 rows. ( #2406 ) \n \n \n Improved performance of date facet suggestion against large tables. ( #2407 ) \n \n \n Row counts stop at 10,000 rows when listing tables. ( #2398 ) \n \n \n On table page the count stops at 10,000 rows too, with a \"count all\" button to execute the full count. ( #2408 ) \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n New .dicts() internal method on Results that returns a list of dictionaries representing the results from a SQL query: ( #2414 ) \n rows = (await db.execute(\"select * from t\")).dicts() \n \n \n Default Datasette core CSS that styles inputs and buttons now requires a class of \"core\" on the element or a containing element, for example
. ( #2415 ) \n \n \n Similarly, default table styles now only apply to . ( #2420 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 21, "title": "1.0a15 (2024-08-15)", "content": "Datasette now defaults to hiding SQLite \"shadow\" tables, as seen in extensions such as SQLite FTS and sqlite-vec . Virtual tables that it makes sense to display, such as FTS core tables, are no longer hidden. Thanks, Alex Garcia . ( #2296 ) \n \n \n Fixed bug where running Datasette with one or more -s/--setting options could over-ride settings that were present in datasette.yml . ( #2389 ) \n \n \n The Datasette homepage is now duplicated at /-/ , using the default index.html template. This ensures that the information on that page is still accessible even if the Datasette homepage has been customized using a custom index.html template, for example on sites like datasette.io . ( #2393 ) \n \n \n Failed CSRF checks now display a more user-friendly error page. ( #2390 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug where the json1 extension was not correctly detected on the /-/versions page. Thanks, Seb Bacon . ( #2326 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug where the Datasette write API did not correctly accept Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8 . ( #2384 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug where Datasette would fail to start if metadata.yml contained a queries block. ( #2386 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 22, "title": "1.0a14 (2024-08-05)", "content": "This alpha introduces significant changes to Datasette's Metadata system, some of which represent breaking changes in advance of the full 1.0 release. The new Upgrade guide document provides detailed coverage of those breaking changes and how they affect plugin authors and Datasette API consumers. \n \n \n The /databasename?sql= interface and JSON API for executing arbitrary SQL queries can now be found at /databasename/-/query?sql= . Requests with a ?sql= parameter to the old endpoints will be redirected. Thanks, Alex Garcia . ( #2360 ) \n \n \n Metadata about tables, databases, instances and columns is now stored in Datasette's internal database . Thanks, Alex Garcia. ( #2341 ) \n \n \n Database write connections now execute using the IMMEDIATE isolation level for SQLite. This should help avoid a rare SQLITE_BUSY error that could occur when a transaction upgraded to a write mid-flight. ( #2358 ) \n \n \n Fix for a bug where canned queries with named parameters could fail against SQLite 3.46. ( #2353 ) \n \n \n Datasette now serves E-Tag headers for static files. Thanks, Agustin Bacigalup . ( #2306 ) \n \n \n Dropdown menus now use a z-index that should avoid them being hidden by plugins. ( #2311 ) \n \n \n Incorrect table and row names are no longer reflected back on the resulting 404 page. ( #2359 ) \n \n \n Improved documentation for async usage of the track_event(datasette, event) hook. ( #2319 ) \n \n \n Fixed some HTTPX deprecation warnings. ( #2307 ) \n \n \n Datasette now serves a attribute. Thanks, Charles Nepote . ( #2348 ) \n \n \n Datasette's automated tests now run against the maximum and minimum supported versions of SQLite: 3.25 (from September 2018) and 3.46 (from May 2024). Thanks, Alex Garcia. ( #2352 ) \n \n \n Fixed an issue where clicking twice on the URL output by datasette --root produced a confusing error. ( #2375 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 23, "title": "0.64.8 (2024-06-21)", "content": "Security improvement: 404 pages used to reflect content from the URL path, which could be used to display misleading information to Datasette users. 404 errors no longer display additional information from the URL. ( #2359 ) \n \n \n Backported a better fix for correctly extracting named parameters from canned query SQL against SQLite 3.46.0. ( #2353 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 24, "title": "0.64.7 (2024-06-12)", "content": "Fixed a bug where canned queries with named parameters threw an error when run against SQLite 3.46.0. ( #2353 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 25, "title": "1.0a13 (2024-03-12)", "content": "Each of the key concepts in Datasette now has an actions menu , which plugins can use to add additional functionality targeting that entity. \n \n \n Plugin hook: view_actions() for actions that can be applied to a SQL view. ( #2297 ) \n \n \n Plugin hook: homepage_actions() for actions that apply to the instance homepage. ( #2298 ) \n \n \n Plugin hook: row_actions() for actions that apply to the row page. ( #2299 ) \n \n \n Action menu items for all of the *_actions() plugin hooks can now return an optional \"description\" key, which will be displayed in the menu below the action label. ( #2294 ) \n \n \n Plugin hooks documentation page is now organized with additional headings. ( #2300 ) \n \n \n Improved the display of action buttons on pages that also display metadata. ( #2286 ) \n \n \n The header and footer of the page now uses a subtle gradient effect, and options in the navigation menu are better visually defined. ( #2302 ) \n \n \n Table names that start with an underscore now default to hidden. ( #2104 ) \n \n \n pragma_table_list has been added to the allow-list of SQLite pragma functions supported by Datasette. select * from pragma_table_list() is no longer blocked. ( #2104 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 26, "title": "1.0a12 (2024-02-29)", "content": "New query_actions() plugin hook, similar to table_actions() and database_actions() . Can be used to add a menu of actions to the canned query or arbitrary SQL query page. ( #2283 ) \n \n \n New design for the button that opens the query, table and database actions menu. ( #2281 ) \n \n \n \"does not contain\" table filter for finding rows that do not contain a string. ( #2287 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug in the makeColumnActions(columnDetails) JavaScript plugin mechanism where the column action menu was not fully reset in between each interaction. ( #2289 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 27, "title": "1.0a11 (2024-02-19)", "content": "The \"replace\": true argument to the /db/table/-/insert API now requires the actor to have the update-row permission. ( #2279 ) \n \n \n Fixed some UI bugs in the interactive permissions debugging tool. ( #2278 ) \n \n \n The column action menu now aligns better with the cog icon, and positions itself taking into account the width of the browser window. ( #2263 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 28, "title": "1.0a10 (2024-02-17)", "content": "The only changes in this alpha correspond to the way Datasette handles database transactions. ( #2277 ) \n \n \n The database.execute_write_fn() method has a new transaction=True parameter. This defaults to True which means all functions executed using this method are now automatically wrapped in a transaction - previously the functions needed to roll transaction handling on their own, and many did not. \n \n \n Pass transaction=False to execute_write_fn() if you want to manually handle transactions in your function. \n \n \n Several internal Datasette features, including parts of the JSON write API , had been failing to wrap their operations in a transaction. This has been fixed by the new transaction=True default.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 29, "title": "1.0a9 (2024-02-16)", "content": "This alpha release adds basic alter table support to the Datasette Write API and fixes a permissions bug relating to the /upsert API endpoint.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 30, "title": "Alter table support for create, insert, upsert and update", "content": "The JSON write API can now be used to apply simple alter table schema changes, provided the acting actor has the new alter-table permission. ( #2101 ) \n The only alter operation supported so far is adding new columns to an existing table. \n \n \n The /db/-/create API now adds new columns during large operations to create a table based on incoming example \"rows\" , in the case where one of the later rows includes columns that were not present in the earlier batches. This requires the create-table but not the alter-table permission. \n \n \n When /db/-/create is called with rows in a situation where the table may have been already created, an \"alter\": true key can be included to indicate that any missing columns from the new rows should be added to the table. This requires the alter-table permission. \n \n \n /db/table/-/insert and /db/table/-/upsert and /db/table/row-pks/-/update all now also accept \"alter\": true , depending on the alter-table permission. \n \n \n Operations that alter a table now fire the new alter-table event .", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 31, "title": "Permissions fix for the upsert API", "content": "The /database/table/-/upsert API had a minor permissions bug, only affecting Datasette instances that had configured the insert-row and update-row permissions to apply to a specific table rather than the database or instance as a whole. Full details in issue #2262 . \n To avoid similar mistakes in the future the datasette.permission_allowed() method now specifies default= as a keyword-only argument.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 32, "title": "Permission checks now consider opinions from every plugin", "content": "The datasette.permission_allowed() method previously consulted every plugin that implemented the permission_allowed() plugin hook and obeyed the opinion of the last plugin to return a value. ( #2275 ) \n Datasette now consults every plugin and checks to see if any of them returned False (the veto rule), and if none of them did, it then checks to see if any of them returned True . \n This is explained at length in the new documentation covering How permissions are resolved .", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 33, "title": "Other changes", "content": "The new DATASETTE_TRACE_PLUGINS=1 environment variable turns on detailed trace output for every executed plugin hook, useful for debugging and understanding how the plugin system works at a low level. ( #2274 ) \n \n \n Datasette on Python 3.9 or above marks its non-cryptographic uses of the MD5 hash function as usedforsecurity=False , for compatibility with FIPS systems. ( #2270 ) \n \n \n SQL relating to Datasette's internal database now executes inside a transaction, avoiding a potential database locked error. ( #2273 ) \n \n \n The /-/threads debug page now identifies the database in the name associated with each dedicated write thread. ( #2265 ) \n \n \n The /db/-/create API now fires a insert-rows event if rows were inserted after the table was created. ( #2260 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 34, "title": "1.0a8 (2024-02-07)", "content": "This alpha release continues the migration of Datasette's configuration from metadata.yaml to the new datasette.yaml configuration file, introduces a new system for JavaScript plugins and adds several new plugin hooks. \n See Datasette 1.0a8: JavaScript plugins, new plugin hooks and plugin configuration in datasette.yaml for an annotated version of these release notes.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 35, "title": "Configuration", "content": "Plugin configuration now lives in the datasette.yaml configuration file , passed to Datasette using the -c/--config option. Thanks, Alex Garcia. ( #2093 ) \n datasette -c datasette.yaml \n Where datasette.yaml contains configuration that looks like this: \n plugins:\n datasette-cluster-map:\n latitude_column: xlat\n longitude_column: xlon \n Previously plugins were configured in metadata.yaml , which was confusing as plugin settings were unrelated to database and table metadata. \n \n \n The -s/--setting option can now be used to set plugin configuration as well. See Configuration via the command-line for details. ( #2252 ) \n The above YAML configuration example using -s/--setting looks like this: \n datasette mydatabase.db \\\n -s plugins.datasette-cluster-map.latitude_column xlat \\\n -s plugins.datasette-cluster-map.longitude_column xlon \n \n \n The new /-/config page shows the current instance configuration, after redacting keys that could contain sensitive data such as API keys or passwords. ( #2254 ) \n \n \n Existing Datasette installations may already have configuration set in metadata.yaml that should be migrated to datasette.yaml . To avoid breaking these installations, Datasette will silently treat table configuration, plugin configuration and allow blocks in metadata as if they had been specified in configuration instead. ( #2247 ) ( #2248 ) ( #2249 ) \n \n \n Note that the datasette publish command has not yet been updated to accept a datasette.yaml configuration file. This will be addressed in #2195 but for the moment you can include those settings in metadata.yaml instead.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 36, "title": "JavaScript plugins", "content": "Datasette now includes a JavaScript plugins mechanism , allowing JavaScript to customize Datasette in a way that can collaborate with other plugins. \n This provides two initial hooks, with more to come in the future: \n \n \n makeAboveTablePanelConfigs() can add additional panels to the top of the table page. \n \n \n makeColumnActions() can add additional actions to the column menu. \n \n \n Thanks Cameron Yick for contributing this feature. ( #2052 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 37, "title": "Plugin hooks", "content": "New jinja2_environment_from_request(datasette, request, env) plugin hook, which can be used to customize the current Jinja environment based on the incoming request. This can be used to modify the template lookup path based on the incoming request hostname, among other things. ( #2225 ) \n \n \n New family of template slot plugin hooks : top_homepage , top_database , top_table , top_row , top_query , top_canned_query . Plugins can use these to provide additional HTML to be injected at the top of the corresponding pages. ( #1191 ) \n \n \n \n \n New track_event() mechanism for plugins to emit and receive events when certain events occur within Datasette. ( #2240 ) \n \n \n \n Plugins can register additional event classes using register_events(datasette) . \n \n \n They can then trigger those events with the datasette.track_event(event) internal method. \n \n \n Plugins can subscribe to notifications of events using the track_event(datasette, event) plugin hook. \n \n \n Datasette core now emits login , logout , create-token , create-table , drop-table , insert-rows , upsert-rows , update-row , delete-row events, documented here . \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n New internal function for plugin authors: await db.execute_isolated_fn(fn) , for creating a new SQLite connection, executing code and then closing that connection, all while preventing other code from writing to that particular database. This connection will not have the prepare_connection() plugin hook executed against it, allowing plugins to perform actions that might otherwise be blocked by existing connection configuration. ( #2218 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 38, "title": "Documentation", "content": "Documentation describing how to write tests that use signed actor cookies using datasette.client.actor_cookie() . ( #1830 ) \n \n \n Documentation on how to register a plugin for the duration of a test . ( #2234 ) \n \n \n The configuration documentation now shows examples of both YAML and JSON for each setting.", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 39, "title": "Minor fixes", "content": "Datasette no longer attempts to run SQL queries in parallel when rendering a table page, as this was leading to some rare crashing bugs. ( #2189 ) \n \n \n Fixed warning: DeprecationWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API ( #2057 ) \n \n \n Fixed bug where ?_extra=columns parameter returned an incorrectly shaped response. ( #2230 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 40, "title": "0.64.6 (2023-12-22)", "content": "Fixed a bug where CSV export with expanded labels could fail if a foreign key reference did not correctly resolve. ( #2214 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 41, "title": "0.64.5 (2023-10-08)", "content": "Dropped dependency on click-default-group-wheel , which could cause a dependency conflict. ( #2197 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 42, "title": "1.0a7 (2023-09-21)", "content": "Fix for a crashing bug caused by viewing the table page for a named in-memory database. ( #2189 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 43, "title": "0.64.4 (2023-09-21)", "content": "Fix for a crashing bug caused by viewing the table page for a named in-memory database. ( #2189 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 44, "title": "1.0a6 (2023-09-07)", "content": "New plugin hook: actors_from_ids(datasette, actor_ids) and an internal method to accompany it, await .actors_from_ids(actor_ids) . This mechanism is intended to be used by plugins that may need to display the actor who was responsible for something managed by that plugin: they can now resolve the recorded IDs of actors into the full actor objects. ( #2181 ) \n \n \n DATASETTE_LOAD_PLUGINS environment variable for controlling which plugins are loaded by Datasette. ( #2164 ) \n \n \n Datasette now checks if the user has permission to view a table linked to by a foreign key before turning that foreign key into a clickable link. ( #2178 ) \n \n \n The execute-sql permission now implies that the actor can also view the database and instance. ( #2169 ) \n \n \n Documentation describing a pattern for building plugins that themselves define further hooks for other plugins. ( #1765 ) \n \n \n Datasette is now tested against the Python 3.12 preview. ( #2175 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 45, "title": "1.0a5 (2023-08-29)", "content": "When restrictions are applied to API tokens , those restrictions now behave slightly differently: applying the view-table restriction will imply the ability to view-database for the database containing that table, and both view-table and view-database will imply view-instance . Previously you needed to create a token with restrictions that explicitly listed view-instance and view-database and view-table in order to view a table without getting a permission denied error. ( #2102 ) \n \n \n New datasette.yaml (or .json ) configuration file, which can be specified using datasette -c path-to-file . The goal here to consolidate settings, plugin configuration, permissions, canned queries, and other Datasette configuration into a single single file, separate from metadata.yaml . The legacy settings.json config file used for Configuration directory mode has been removed, and datasette.yaml has a \"settings\" section where the same settings key/value pairs can be included. In the next future alpha release, more configuration such as plugins/permissions/canned queries will be moved to the datasette.yaml file. See #2093 for more details. Thanks, Alex Garcia. \n \n \n The -s/--setting option can now take dotted paths to nested settings. These will then be used to set or over-ride the same options as are present in the new configuration file. ( #2156 ) \n \n \n New --actor '{\"id\": \"json-goes-here\"}' option for use with datasette --get to treat the simulated request as being made by a specific actor, see datasette --get . ( #2153 ) \n \n \n The Datasette _internal database has had some changes. It no longer shows up in the datasette.databases list by default, and is now instead available to plugins using the datasette.get_internal_database() . Plugins are invited to use this as a private database to store configuration and settings and secrets that should not be made visible through the default Datasette interface. Users can pass the new --internal internal.db option to persist that internal database to disk. Thanks, Alex Garcia. ( #2157 ).", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 46, "title": "1.0a4 (2023-08-21)", "content": "This alpha fixes a security issue with the /-/api API explorer. On authenticated Datasette instances (instances protected using plugins such as datasette-auth-passwords ) the API explorer interface could reveal the names of databases and tables within the protected instance. The data stored in those tables was not revealed. \n For more information and workarounds, read the security advisory . The issue has been present in every previous alpha version of Datasette 1.0: versions 1.0a0, 1.0a1, 1.0a2 and 1.0a3. \n Also in this alpha: \n \n \n The new datasette plugins --requirements option outputs a list of currently installed plugins in Python requirements.txt format, useful for duplicating that installation elsewhere. ( #2133 ) \n \n \n Writable canned queries can now define a on_success_message_sql field in their configuration, containing a SQL query that should be executed upon successful completion of the write operation in order to generate a message to be shown to the user. ( #2138 ) \n \n \n The automatically generated border color for a database is now shown in more places around the application. ( #2119 ) \n \n \n Every instance of example shell script code in the documentation should now include a working copy button, free from additional syntax. ( #2140 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 47, "title": "1.0a3 (2023-08-09)", "content": "This alpha release previews the updated design for Datasette's default JSON API. ( #782 ) \n The new default JSON representation for both table pages ( /dbname/table.json ) and arbitrary SQL queries ( /dbname.json?sql=... ) is now shaped like this: \n {\n \"ok\": true,\n \"rows\": [\n {\n \"id\": 3,\n \"name\": \"Detroit\"\n },\n {\n \"id\": 2,\n \"name\": \"Los Angeles\"\n },\n {\n \"id\": 4,\n \"name\": \"Memnonia\"\n },\n {\n \"id\": 1,\n \"name\": \"San Francisco\"\n }\n ],\n \"truncated\": false\n} \n Tables will include an additional \"next\" key for pagination, which can be passed to ?_next= to fetch the next page of results. \n The various ?_shape= options continue to work as before - see Different shapes for details. \n A new ?_extra= mechanism is available for tables, but has not yet been stabilized or documented. Details on that are available in #262 .", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 48, "title": "Smaller changes", "content": "Datasette documentation now shows YAML examples for Metadata by default, with a tab interface for switching to JSON. ( #1153 ) \n \n \n register_output_renderer(datasette) plugins now have access to error and truncated arguments, allowing them to display error messages and take into account truncated results. ( #2130 ) \n \n \n render_cell() plugin hook now also supports an optional request argument. ( #2007 ) \n \n \n New Justfile to support development workflows for Datasette using Just . \n \n \n datasette.render_template() can now accepts a datasette.views.Context subclass as an alternative to a dictionary. ( #2127 ) \n \n \n datasette install -e path option for editable installations, useful while developing plugins. ( #2106 ) \n \n \n When started with the --cors option Datasette now serves an Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600 header, ensuring CORS OPTIONS requests are repeated no more than once an hour. ( #2079 ) \n \n \n Fixed a bug where the _internal database could display None instead of null for in-memory databases. ( #1970 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 49, "title": "0.64.2 (2023-03-08)", "content": "Fixed a bug with datasette publish cloudrun where deploys all used the same Docker image tag. This was mostly inconsequential as the service is deployed as soon as the image has been pushed to the registry, but could result in the incorrect image being deployed if two different deploys for two separate services ran at exactly the same time. ( #2036 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 50, "title": "0.64.1 (2023-01-11)", "content": "Documentation now links to a current source of information for installing Python 3. ( #1987 ) \n \n \n Incorrectly calling the Datasette constructor using Datasette(\"path/to/data.db\") instead of Datasette([\"path/to/data.db\"]) now returns a useful error message. ( #1985 )", "sections_fts": 124, "rank": null} {"rowid": 51, "title": "0.64 (2023-01-09)", "content": "Datasette now strongly recommends against allowing arbitrary SQL queries if you are using SpatiaLite . SpatiaLite includes SQL functions that could cause the Datasette server to crash. See SpatiaLite for more details. \n \n \n New default_allow_sql setting, providing an easier way to disable all arbitrary SQL execution by end users: datasette --setting default_allow_sql off . See also Controlling the ability to execute arbitrary SQL . ( #1409 ) \n \n \n Building a location to time zone API with SpatiaLite is a new Datasette tutorial showing how to safely use SpatiaLite to create a location to time zone API. \n \n \n New documentation about how to debug problems loading SQLite extensions . The error message shown when an extension cannot be loaded has also been improved. ( #1979 ) \n \n \n Fixed an accessibility issue: the