lancedb · wjones127 · Mar 20, 2026
diff --git a/docs/faq/faq-oss.mdx b/docs/faq/faq-oss.mdx
@@ -44,7 +44,20 @@ For large-scale (>1M) or higher dimension vectors, it is beneficial to create a
 
 ### How can I speed up data inserts?
 
-It's highly recommended to perform bulk inserts via batches (for e.g., Pandas DataFrames or lists of dicts in Python) to speed up inserts for large datasets. Inserting records one at a time is slow and can result in suboptimal performance because each insert creates a new data fragment on disk. Batching inserts allows LanceDB to create larger fragments (and their associated manifests), which are more efficient to read and write.
+LanceDB auto-parallelizes large writes when you call `table.add()` with materialized
+data such as `pa.Table`, `pd.DataFrame`, or `pa.dataset()`. No extra configuration
+is needed — writes are automatically split into partitions of ~1M rows or 2GB.
+
+For best results:
+
+- **Create an empty table first**, then call `table.add()`. The `add()` path enables
+  automatic write parallelism, while passing data directly to `create_table()` does not.
+- **For file-based data**, use `pyarrow.dataset.dataset("path/to/data/", format="parquet")`
+  so LanceDB can stream from disk without loading everything into memory.
+- **Avoid inserting one row at a time.** Each insert creates a new data fragment on
+  disk. Batch your data into Arrow tables, DataFrames, or use iterators.
+
+See [Loading Large Datasets](/tables/create#loading-large-datasets) for full examples.
 
 ### Do I need to set a refine factor when using an index?
 

diff --git a/docs/snippets/quickstart.mdx b/docs/snippets/quickstart.mdx
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ export const PyQuickstartVectorSearch1Async = "# Let's search for vectors simila
 
 export const PyQuickstartVectorSearch2 = "# Let's search for vectors similar to \"wizard\"\nquery_vector = [0.7, 0.3, 0.5]\n\nresults = table.search(query_vector).limit(2).to_polars()\nprint(results)\n";
 
+export const TsQuickstartOutputPandas = "result = await table.search(queryVector).limit(2).toArray();\n";
+
 export const TsQuickstartAddData = "const moreData = [\n  { id: \"7\", text: \"mage\", vector: [0.6, 0.3, 0.4] },\n  { id: \"8\", text: \"bard\", vector: [0.3, 0.8, 0.4] },\n];\n\n// Add data to table\nawait table.add(moreData);\n";
 
 export const TsQuickstartCreateTable = "const data = [\n  { id: \"1\", text: \"knight\", vector: [0.9, 0.4, 0.8] },\n  { id: \"2\", text: \"ranger\", vector: [0.8, 0.4, 0.7] },\n  { id: \"9\", text: \"priest\", vector: [0.6, 0.2, 0.6] },\n  { id: \"4\", text: \"rogue\", vector: [0.7, 0.4, 0.7] },\n];\nlet table = await db.createTable(\"adventurers\", data, { mode: \"overwrite\" });\n";
@@ -28,8 +30,6 @@ export const TsQuickstartOpenTable = "table = await db.openTable(\"adventurers\"
 
 export const TsQuickstartOutputArray = "result = await table.search(queryVector).limit(2).toArray();\nconsole.table(result);\n";
 
-export const TsQuickstartOutputPandas = "result = await table.search(queryVector).limit(2).toArray();\n";
-
 export const TsQuickstartVectorSearch1 = "// Let's search for vectors similar to \"warrior\"\nlet queryVector = [0.8, 0.3, 0.8];\n\nlet result = await table.search(queryVector).limit(2).toArray();\nconsole.table(result);\n";
 
 export const TsQuickstartVectorSearch2 = "// Let's search for vectors similar to \"wizard\"\nqueryVector = [0.7, 0.3, 0.5];\n\nconst results = await table.search(queryVector).limit(2).toArray();\nconsole.table(results);\n";

diff --git a/docs/snippets/search.mdx b/docs/snippets/search.mdx
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ export const PyBasicHybridSearch = "data = [\n    {\"text\": \"rebel spaceships
 
 export const PyBasicHybridSearchAsync = "uri = \"data/sample-lancedb\"\nasync_db = await lancedb.connect_async(uri)\ndata = [\n    {\"text\": \"rebel spaceships striking from a hidden base\"},\n    {\"text\": \"have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire\"},\n    {\"text\": \"during the battle rebel spies managed to steal secret plans\"},\n    {\"text\": \"to the Empire's ultimate weapon the Death Star\"},\n]\nasync_tbl = await async_db.create_table(\"documents_async\", schema=Documents)\n# ingest docs with auto-vectorization\nawait async_tbl.add(data)\n# Create a fts index before the hybrid search\nawait async_tbl.create_index(\"text\", config=FTS())\ntext_query = \"flower moon\"\n# hybrid search with default re-ranker\nawait (await async_tbl.search(\"flower moon\", query_type=\"hybrid\")).to_pandas()\n";
 
-export const PyClassDefinition = "class Metadata(BaseModel):\n    source: str\n    timestamp: datetime\n\n\nclass Document(BaseModel):\n    content: str\n    meta: Metadata\n\n\nclass LanceSchema(LanceModel):\n    id: str\n    vector: Vector(1536)\n    payload: Document\n";
-
 export const PyClassDocuments = "class Documents(LanceModel):\n    vector: Vector(embeddings.ndims()) = embeddings.VectorField()\n    text: str = embeddings.SourceField()\n";
 
+export const PyClassDefinition = "class Metadata(BaseModel):\n    source: str\n    timestamp: datetime\n\n\nclass Document(BaseModel):\n    content: str\n    meta: Metadata\n\n\nclass LanceSchema(LanceModel):\n    id: str\n    vector: Vector(1536)\n    payload: Document\n";
+
 export const PyCreateTableAsyncWithNestedSchema = "# Let's add 100 sample rows to our dataset\ndata = [\n    LanceSchema(\n        id=f\"id{i}\",\n        vector=np.random.randn(1536),\n        payload=Document(\n            content=f\"document{i}\",\n            meta=Metadata(source=f\"source{i % 10}\", timestamp=datetime.now()),\n        ),\n    )\n    for i in range(100)\n]\n\nasync_tbl = await async_db.create_table(\n    \"documents_async\", data=data, mode=\"overwrite\"\n)\n";
 
 export const PyCreateTableWithNestedSchema = "# Let's add 100 sample rows to our dataset\ndata = [\n    LanceSchema(\n        id=f\"id{i}\",\n        vector=np.random.randn(1536),\n        payload=Document(\n            content=f\"document{i}\",\n            meta=Metadata(source=f\"source{i % 10}\", timestamp=datetime.now()),\n        ),\n    )\n    for i in range(100)\n]\n\n# Synchronous client\ntbl = db.create_table(\"documents\", data=data, mode=\"overwrite\")\n";

diff --git a/docs/snippets/tables.mdx b/docs/snippets/tables.mdx
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ export const PyAddDataPydanticModel = "from lancedb.pydantic import LanceModel,
 
 export const PyAddDataToTable = "import pyarrow as pa\n\n# create an empty table with schema\ndata = [\n    {\"vector\": [3.1, 4.1], \"item\": \"foo\", \"price\": 10.0},\n    {\"vector\": [5.9, 26.5], \"item\": \"bar\", \"price\": 20.0},\n    {\"vector\": [10.2, 100.8], \"item\": \"baz\", \"price\": 30.0},\n    {\"vector\": [1.4, 9.5], \"item\": \"fred\", \"price\": 40.0},\n]\n\nschema = pa.schema(\n    [\n        pa.field(\"vector\", pa.list_(pa.float32(), 2)),\n        pa.field(\"item\", pa.utf8()),\n        pa.field(\"price\", pa.float32()),\n    ]\n)\n\ntable_name = \"basic_ingestion_example\"\ntable = db.create_table(table_name, schema=schema, mode=\"overwrite\")\n# Add data\ntable.add(data)\n";
 
+export const PyAddFromDataset = "import pyarrow.dataset as ds\n\ndataset = ds.dataset(data_path, format=\"parquet\")\ndb = tmp_db\ntable = db.create_table(\"my_table\", schema=dataset.schema, mode=\"overwrite\")\ntable.add(dataset)\n";
+
 export const PyAlterColumnsDataType = "# Change price from int32 to int64 for larger numbers\ntable.alter_columns({\"path\": \"price\", \"data_type\": pa.int64()})\n";
 
 export const PyAlterColumnsMultiple = "# Rename, change type, and make nullable in one operation\ntable.alter_columns(\n    {\n        \"path\": \"sale_price\",\n        \"rename\": \"final_price\",\n        \"data_type\": pa.float64(),\n        \"nullable\": True,\n    }\n)\n";
@@ -24,13 +26,13 @@ export const PyAlterColumnsWithExpression = "# For custom transforms, create a n
 
 export const PyAlterVectorColumn = "vector_dim = 768  # Your embedding dimension\ntable_name = \"vector_alter_example\"\ndb = tmp_db\ndata = [\n    {\n        \"id\": 1,\n        \"embedding\": np.random.random(vector_dim).tolist(),\n    },\n]\ntable = db.create_table(table_name, data, mode=\"overwrite\")\n\ntable.alter_columns(\n    dict(path=\"embedding\", data_type=pa.list_(pa.float32(), vector_dim))\n)\n";
 
-export const PyBatchDataInsertion = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ndef make_batches():\n    for i in range(5):  # Create 5 batches\n        yield pa.RecordBatch.from_arrays(\n            [\n                pa.array([[3.1, 4.1], [5.9, 26.5]], pa.list_(pa.float32(), 2)),\n                pa.array([f\"item{i*2+1}\", f\"item{i*2+2}\"]),\n                pa.array([float((i * 2 + 1) * 10), float((i * 2 + 2) * 10)]),\n            ],\n            [\"vector\", \"item\", \"price\"],\n        )\n\nschema = pa.schema(\n    [\n        pa.field(\"vector\", pa.list_(pa.float32(), 2)),\n        pa.field(\"item\", pa.utf8()),\n        pa.field(\"price\", pa.float32()),\n    ]\n)\n# Create table with batches\ntable_name = \"batch_ingestion_example\"\ntable = db.create_table(table_name, make_batches(), schema=schema, mode=\"overwrite\")\n";
+export const PyBatchDataInsertion = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ndef make_batches():\n    for i in range(5):  # Create 5 batches\n        yield pa.RecordBatch.from_arrays(\n            [\n                pa.array([[3.1, 4.1], [5.9, 26.5]], pa.list_(pa.float32(), 2)),\n                pa.array([f\"item{i * 2 + 1}\", f\"item{i * 2 + 2}\"]),\n                pa.array([float((i * 2 + 1) * 10), float((i * 2 + 2) * 10)]),\n            ],\n            [\"vector\", \"item\", \"price\"],\n        )\n\nschema = pa.schema(\n    [\n        pa.field(\"vector\", pa.list_(pa.float32(), 2)),\n        pa.field(\"item\", pa.utf8()),\n        pa.field(\"price\", pa.float32()),\n    ]\n)\n# Create table with batches\ntable_name = \"batch_ingestion_example\"\ntable = db.create_table(table_name, make_batches(), schema=schema, mode=\"overwrite\")\n";
 
-export const PyConsistencyCheckoutLatest = "uri = str(tmp_db.uri)\nwriter_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nreader_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nwriter_table = writer_db.create_table(\"consistency_checkout_latest_table\", [{\"id\": 1}], mode=\"overwrite\")\nreader_table = reader_db.open_table(\"consistency_checkout_latest_table\")\n\nwriter_table.add([{\"id\": 2}])\nrows_before_refresh = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows before checkout_latest: {rows_before_refresh}\")\n\nreader_table.checkout_latest()\nrows_after_refresh = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows after checkout_latest: {rows_after_refresh}\")\n";
+export const PyConsistencyCheckoutLatest = "uri = str(tmp_db.uri)\nwriter_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nreader_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nwriter_table = writer_db.create_table(\n    \"consistency_checkout_latest_table\", [{\"id\": 1}], mode=\"overwrite\"\n)\nreader_table = reader_db.open_table(\"consistency_checkout_latest_table\")\n\nwriter_table.add([{\"id\": 2}])\nrows_before_refresh = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows before checkout_latest: {rows_before_refresh}\")\n\nreader_table.checkout_latest()\nrows_after_refresh = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows after checkout_latest: {rows_after_refresh}\")\n";
 
-export const PyConsistencyEventual = "from datetime import timedelta\n\nuri = str(tmp_db.uri)\nwriter_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nreader_db = lancedb.connect(uri, read_consistency_interval=timedelta(seconds=3600))\nwriter_table = writer_db.create_table(\"consistency_eventual_table\", [{\"id\": 1}], mode=\"overwrite\")\nreader_table = reader_db.open_table(\"consistency_eventual_table\")\nwriter_table.add([{\"id\": 2}])\nrows_after_write = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows visible before eventual refresh interval: {rows_after_write}\")\n";
+export const PyConsistencyEventual = "from datetime import timedelta\n\nuri = str(tmp_db.uri)\nwriter_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nreader_db = lancedb.connect(uri, read_consistency_interval=timedelta(seconds=3600))\nwriter_table = writer_db.create_table(\n    \"consistency_eventual_table\", [{\"id\": 1}], mode=\"overwrite\"\n)\nreader_table = reader_db.open_table(\"consistency_eventual_table\")\nwriter_table.add([{\"id\": 2}])\nrows_after_write = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows visible before eventual refresh interval: {rows_after_write}\")\n";
 
-export const PyConsistencyStrong = "from datetime import timedelta\n\nuri = str(tmp_db.uri)\nwriter_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nreader_db = lancedb.connect(uri, read_consistency_interval=timedelta(0))\nwriter_table = writer_db.create_table(\"consistency_strong_table\", [{\"id\": 1}], mode=\"overwrite\")\nreader_table = reader_db.open_table(\"consistency_strong_table\")\nwriter_table.add([{\"id\": 2}])\nrows_after_write = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows visible with strong consistency: {rows_after_write}\")\n";
+export const PyConsistencyStrong = "from datetime import timedelta\n\nuri = str(tmp_db.uri)\nwriter_db = lancedb.connect(uri)\nreader_db = lancedb.connect(uri, read_consistency_interval=timedelta(0))\nwriter_table = writer_db.create_table(\n    \"consistency_strong_table\", [{\"id\": 1}], mode=\"overwrite\"\n)\nreader_table = reader_db.open_table(\"consistency_strong_table\")\nwriter_table.add([{\"id\": 2}])\nrows_after_write = reader_table.count_rows()\nprint(f\"Rows visible with strong consistency: {rows_after_write}\")\n";
 
 export const PyCreateEmptyTable = "import pyarrow as pa\n\nschema = pa.schema(\n    [\n        pa.field(\"vector\", pa.list_(pa.float32(), 2)),\n        pa.field(\"item\", pa.string()),\n        pa.field(\"price\", pa.float32()),\n    ]\n)\ndb = tmp_db\ntbl = db.create_table(\"test_empty_table\", schema=schema, mode=\"overwrite\")\n";
 
@@ -60,11 +62,11 @@ export const PyDropColumnsSingle = "# Remove the first temporary column\ntable.d
 
 export const PyDropTable = "db = tmp_db\n# Create a table first\ndata = [{\"vector\": [1.1, 1.2], \"lat\": 45.5}]\ndb.create_table(\"my_table\", data, mode=\"overwrite\")\n\n# Drop the table\ndb.drop_table(\"my_table\")\n";
 
-export const PyInsertIfNotExists = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ntable = db.create_table(\n    \"users_example\",\n    data=pa.table(\n        {\n            \"id\": [1, 2],\n            \"name\": [\"Alice\", \"Bob\"],\n            \"login_count\": [10, 20],\n        }\n    ),\n    mode=\"overwrite\",\n)\n\nincoming_users = pa.table(\n    {\n        \"id\": [2, 3],\n        \"name\": [\"Bobby\", \"Charlie\"],\n        \"login_count\": [21, 5],\n    }\n)\n\n(\n    table.merge_insert(\"id\")\n    .when_not_matched_insert_all()\n    .execute(incoming_users)\n)\n";
+export const PyInsertIfNotExists = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ntable = db.create_table(\n    \"users_example\",\n    data=pa.table(\n        {\n            \"id\": [1, 2],\n            \"name\": [\"Alice\", \"Bob\"],\n            \"login_count\": [10, 20],\n        }\n    ),\n    mode=\"overwrite\",\n)\n\nincoming_users = pa.table(\n    {\n        \"id\": [2, 3],\n        \"name\": [\"Bobby\", \"Charlie\"],\n        \"login_count\": [21, 5],\n    }\n)\n\n(table.merge_insert(\"id\").when_not_matched_insert_all().execute(incoming_users))\n";
 
 export const PyMergeDeleteMissingBySource = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ntable = db.create_table(\n    \"users_example\",\n    data=pa.table(\n        {\n            \"id\": [1, 2, 3],\n            \"name\": [\"Alice\", \"Bob\", \"Charlie\"],\n            \"login_count\": [10, 20, 5],\n        }\n    ),\n    mode=\"overwrite\",\n)\n\nincoming_users = pa.table(\n    {\n        \"id\": [2, 3],\n        \"name\": [\"Bobby\", \"Charlie\"],\n        \"login_count\": [21, 5],\n    }\n)\n\n(\n    table.merge_insert(\"id\")\n    .when_matched_update_all()\n    .when_not_matched_insert_all()\n    .when_not_matched_by_source_delete()\n    .execute(incoming_users)\n)\n";
 
-export const PyMergeMatchedUpdateOnly = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ntable = db.create_table(\n    \"users_example\",\n    data=pa.table(\n        {\n            \"id\": [1, 2],\n            \"name\": [\"Alice\", \"Bob\"],\n            \"login_count\": [10, 20],\n        }\n    ),\n    mode=\"overwrite\",\n)\n\nincoming_users = pa.table(\n    {\n        \"id\": [2, 3],\n        \"name\": [\"Bobby\", \"Charlie\"],\n        \"login_count\": [21, 5],\n    }\n)\n\n(\n    table.merge_insert(\"id\")\n    .when_matched_update_all()\n    .execute(incoming_users)\n)\n";
+export const PyMergeMatchedUpdateOnly = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ntable = db.create_table(\n    \"users_example\",\n    data=pa.table(\n        {\n            \"id\": [1, 2],\n            \"name\": [\"Alice\", \"Bob\"],\n            \"login_count\": [10, 20],\n        }\n    ),\n    mode=\"overwrite\",\n)\n\nincoming_users = pa.table(\n    {\n        \"id\": [2, 3],\n        \"name\": [\"Bobby\", \"Charlie\"],\n        \"login_count\": [21, 5],\n    }\n)\n\n(table.merge_insert(\"id\").when_matched_update_all().execute(incoming_users))\n";
 
 export const PyMergePartialColumns = "import pyarrow as pa\n\ntable = db.create_table(\n    \"users_example\",\n    data=pa.table(\n        {\n            \"id\": [1, 2],\n            \"name\": [\"Alice\", \"Bob\"],\n            \"login_count\": [10, 20],\n        }\n    ),\n    mode=\"overwrite\",\n)\n\nincoming_users = pa.table(\n    {\n        \"id\": [2, 3],\n        \"name\": [\"Bobby\", \"Charlie\"],\n    }\n)\n\n(\n    table.merge_insert(\"id\")\n    .when_matched_update_all()\n    .when_not_matched_insert_all()\n    .execute(incoming_users)\n)\n";
 

diff --git a/docs/tables/create.mdx b/docs/tables/create.mdx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import {
     RsCreateTableFromArrow as RsCreateTableFromArrow,
     PyCreateTableFromPydantic as CreateTableFromPydantic,
     PyCreateTableNestedSchema as CreateTableNestedSchema,
+    PyAddFromDataset as AddFromDataset,
     PyCreateTableFromIterator as CreateTableFromIterator,
     TsCreateTableFromIterator as TsCreateTableFromIterator,
     RsCreateTableFromIterator as RsCreateTableFromIterator,
@@ -217,9 +218,39 @@ for a `created_at` field.
 
 When you run this code it, should raise the `ValidationError`.
 
-### Use Iterators / Write Large Datasets
+### Loading Large Datasets
 
-For large ingests, prefer batching instead of adding one row at a time. Python and Rust can create a table directly from Arrow batch iterators or readers. In TypeScript, the practical pattern today is to create an empty table and append Arrow batches in chunks.
+When ingesting large datasets, use `table.add()` on an existing table rather than
+passing all data to `create_table()`. The `add()` method auto-parallelizes large
+writes, while `create_table(name, data)` does not.
+
+<Tip>
+For best performance with large datasets, create an empty table first and then call
+`table.add()`. This enables automatic write parallelism for materialized data sources.
+</Tip>
+
+#### From files (Parquet, CSV, etc.)
+<Badge color="green">Python Only</Badge>
+
+For file-based data, pass a `pyarrow.dataset.Dataset` to `table.add()`. This streams
+data from disk without loading the entire dataset into memory.
+
+<CodeGroup>
+    <CodeBlock filename="Python" language="Python" icon="python">
+    {AddFromDataset}
+    </CodeBlock>
+</CodeGroup>
+
+<Note>
+`pa.dataset()` input is currently Python-only. TypeScript and Rust support for
+file-based dataset ingestion is tracked in
+[lancedb#3173](https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/issues/3173).
+</Note>
+
+#### From iterators (custom batch generation)
+
+When you need custom batch logic — generating embeddings on the fly, transforming
+rows from an external source, etc. — use an iterator of `RecordBatch` objects.
 
 <CodeGroup>
     <CodeBlock filename="Python" language="Python" icon="python">
@@ -237,6 +268,19 @@ For large ingests, prefer batching instead of adding one row at a time. Python a
 
 Python can also consume iterators of other supported types like Pandas DataFrames or Python lists.
 
+#### Write parallelism
+
+<Note title="Automatic parallelism">
+For materialized data (`pa.Table`, `pd.DataFrame`, `pa.dataset()`), LanceDB
+automatically parallelizes large writes — no configuration needed. Auto-parallelism
+targets approximately 1M rows or 2GB per write partition.
+
+For streaming sources (iterators, `RecordBatchReader`), LanceDB cannot determine
+total size upfront. A `parallelism` parameter to control this manually is planned
+but not yet exposed in Python or TypeScript
+([tracking issue](https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/issues/3173)).
+</Note>
+
 ## Open existing tables
 
 If you forget the name of your table, you can always get a listing of all table names.