sql-usage

Development

Timeplus streaming SQL covering stream types, EMIT policies, window functions, JOINs, materialized views, external streams, and UDFs. Make sure to use this skill for any SQL-related question including writing queries, debugging SQL errors, understanding streaming behavior, or designing stream processing pipelines, even if the user doesn't explicitly mention streaming SQL.

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Streaming SQL

Source of truth: https://docs.timeplus.com | Raw markdown: https://github.com/timeplus-io/docs/tree/main/docs

Naming rules

Element	Style	Example
Keywords	`UPPERCASE`	`SELECT`, `CREATE STREAM`, `EMIT`, `JOIN`
Functions	`lowercase`	`count()`, `tumble()`, `date_diff_within()`
Data types	`lowercase`	`int64`, `float64`, `string`, `datetime64`
Identifiers	`lowercase_with_underscores`	`event_time`, `user_id`
Reserved fields	`_tp_` prefix	`_tp_time` (event timestamp), `_tp_delta` (changelog)

Stream type decision table

Need	Type	Syntax
Immutable events, time-series, high throughput	append (default)	`CREATE STREAM ... ORDER BY`
Updates/upserts, point queries, KV (first choice)	mutable	`CREATE MUTABLE STREAM ... PRIMARY KEY`
Version history, ASOF JOINs	versioned_kv	`CREATE STREAM ... PRIMARY KEY ... SETTINGS mode='versioned_kv'`
CDC semantics, track deletes via `_tp_delta`	changelog_kv	`CREATE STREAM ... PRIMARY KEY ... SETTINGS mode='changelog_kv'`
External source (Kafka, Pulsar, etc.)	external	`CREATE EXTERNAL STREAM ... SETTINGS type='kafka'`

Full details → references/stream-types.md

Query modes

SELECT FROM stream → streaming (continuous, future events)
SELECT FROM table(stream) → historical (batch scan, returns once)

Three trigger types:

Query type	Trigger
Non-aggregation (tail/filter/transform)	When events arrive
Window aggregation	Window end + watermark
Global aggregation	Fixed interval (default 2s if `EMIT PERIODIC` omitted)

Window functions quick reference

Function	Signature	Use case
`tumble`	`tumble(stream, [time_col], interval, [tz])`	Fixed non-overlapping windows
`hop`	`hop(stream, [time_col], slide, size, [tz])`	Sliding/overlapping windows
`session`	`session(stream, [time_col], MAXSPAN x AND TIMEOUT y)`	Inactivity-based windows

time_col defaults to _tp_time if omitted
Intervals: 1s, 5m, 2h, 3d, 1w, 1M, 1q, 1y
window_start, window_end auto-generated (left-closed, right-open [))
Hop: slide and size must use same unit; slide > size is unsupported
Window nesting: max 2 levels; window-over-global is unsupported

EMIT policy quick reference

Context	Policy	Effect
Window	`EMIT AFTER WINDOW CLOSE`	Default for windowed agg
Window	`EMIT AFTER WINDOW CLOSE WITH DELAY 2s`	Allow late events
Window	`EMIT AFTER WINDOW CLOSE WITH DELAY 1s AND TIMEOUT 3s`	Late events + force-close
Window	`EMIT ON UPDATE`	Emit when agg value changes per key
Window	`EMIT ON UPDATE WITH BATCH 2s`	Batched update detection
Global	`EMIT PERIODIC 5s`	Default (2s), batch periodic output
Global	`EMIT PERIODIC 5s REPEAT`	Emit even without new events
Global	`EMIT ON UPDATE`	Immediate on every change
Global	`EMIT CHANGELOG`	With `_tp_delta` (+1/-1)
Global	`EMIT PER EVENT`	Per-event (debug only, no parallelism)
Global	`EMIT AFTER KEY EXPIRE ... WITH MAXSPAN x AND TIMEOUT y`	Tracing/span aggregation

Full formal syntax → references/emit-policies.md

JOIN quick reference

Pattern	Syntax key	Use case
Static enrichment	`stream JOIN table(lookup)`	Enrich with historical data
Dynamic enrichment	`append JOIN versioned_kv USING(k)`	Latest version auto-picked
Bidirectional	`mutable JOIN mutable`	Both sides updatable
Range (time-bounded)	`stream JOIN stream ... AND date_diff_within(2m)`	Bounded stream-to-stream
ASOF	`append ASOF JOIN versioned_kv ON ... AND t1 >= t2`	Closest version match
LATEST	`append LATEST JOIN versioned_kv ON ...`	Latest value only
Direct lookup	`stream JOIN mutable ... SETTINGS join_algorithm='direct'`	PK/index lookup, no full load
Dictionary	`stream JOIN dict ... SETTINGS join_algorithm='direct'`	External source lookup

Supported: INNER, LEFT, FULL. Unsupported: RIGHT, CROSS. Strictness: ALL (default), ASOF, LATEST.

Full examples → references/join-patterns.md

Materialized view checklist

Stateless test default: use MatView without INTO, then verify with table(mv)
Create target stream FIRST only when you need an extra sink stream
Use explicit INTO target only when a target stream is required by the scenario
Configure checkpointing: SETTINGS checkpoint_interval=30
High-cardinality: SETTINGS default_hash_table='hybrid', max_hot_keys=10000
Schema evolution (with target stream): ALTER STREAM target + ALTER VIEW ... MODIFY QUERY
Cleanup order: DROP VIEW → (if created) DROP STREAM target → DROP STREAM source

Full config → references/mv-production.md

External stream (Kafka) quick reference

CREATE EXTERNAL STREAM events(raw string)
SETTINGS type='kafka', brokers='host:9092', topic='events';

Key settings: data_format, security_protocol, sasl_mechanism, kafka_schema_registry_url Virtual columns: _tp_message_key, _tp_message_headers, _tp_sn (offset), _tp_shard (partition) Query options: SETTINGS shards='0,2', seek_to='earliest'

Full details → references/external-streams.md

UDF quick reference

CREATE FUNCTION udf_name(param type) RETURNS type LANGUAGE JAVASCRIPT AS $ ... $;

Scalar: receives array of values (batched), returns array. UDAF: implement initialize, process, finalize, serialize, deserialize, merge.

Full details → references/udf.md