---
id: sqlalchemy-drill
version: "1.1.10"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# sqlalchemy-drill — Apache Drill for SQLAlchemy

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 3.1M/mo

## What it is and what it does

sqlalchemy-drill provides a SQLAlchemy dialect that bridges Python applications to Apache Drill, a distributed SQL query engine. It abstracts Drill's native connection protocols (REST, JDBC, ODBC) into SQLAlchemy's standard database interface, allowing you to execute queries and retrieve results as if Drill were any other SQL database. The package was originally built to support Apache Superset's data visualization capabilities but works as a general-purpose Drill connector.

The dialect handles protocol-specific details: REST connections stream results over HTTP with optional SSL, JDBC requires manual JVM startup and environment variables pointing to driver files, and ODBC uses system-level driver configuration. For Drill versions 1.19 and later, the dialect returns properly typed results; earlier versions return all data as strings requiring manual type conversion. Query result metadata is accessible via the cursor's result_md field.

Use it for:

- Connect Apache Superset to Drill for interactive data visualization and dashboard creation.
- Execute ad-hoc SQL queries against Drill from Python applications using standard SQLAlchemy patterns.
- Build ETL pipelines that read from Drill storage plugins and transform results in Python.
- Integrate Drill as a data source in Python analytics tools that expect SQLAlchemy dialects.
- Query distributed datasets stored in Drill's supported formats without writing native Drill syntax.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

SQLAlchemy dialect for Apache Drill that enables SQL queries against Drill data sources via REST, JDBC, or ODBC connections.

Yes, with conditions. Install this if you need SQLAlchemy integration with Apache Drill and accept that the package is aging with limited recent maintenance activity. The MIT license and low install friction are favorable. Verify that your Drill version and intended connection mode are compatible with the package's current state before committing to production use.

## Install

pip install sqlalchemy-drill
uv add sqlalchemy-drill
poetry add sqlalchemy-drill

## Installing sqlalchemy-drill

Before you install: Low install friction with three runtime dependencies: requests, ijson, and sqlalchemy. Maintenance status is aging—last release was 190 days ago, though the repository remains active and unarchived.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making this suitable for most deployment contexts.

Quickstart:

pip install sqlalchemy-drill

from sqlalchemy import create_engine
engine = create_engine('drill+sadrill://localhost:8047/dfs?use_ssl=False')
result = engine.execute('select current_timestamp')

For JDBC connections, requires manual JVM startup and environment variables DRILL_JDBC_DRIVER_PATH and DRILL_JDBC_JAR_NAME to be set. For ODBC, requires system ODBC driver installation.

Verify before relying:

- Whether JDBC and ODBC connection modes work reliably in production beyond Superset.
- Current compatibility with Drill versions released after the last update.
- Support status for Python versions beyond 3.9 listed in classifiers.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 3.1M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

sqlalchemy drill connector, apache drill sql adapter, drill database dialect, drill rest api sqlalchemy, drill query engine python, superset drill integration, drill odbc sqlalchemy, drill-connector, sqlalchemy-dialect, superset-integration

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