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Tangent Lake uses DuckDB to attach multiple databases in a single session and execute federated SQL across them—securely and on demand.

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DuckDB and ATTACH

DuckDB is an in‑process analytics database optimized for interactive workloads. A key feature used by Tangent Lake is ATTACH, which connects DuckDB to multiple sources (Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, DuckDB files, and more).

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What this enables

  • Cross‑engine joins: Join Postgres + MySQL + SQLite in one query
  • Live analytics: Query without ETL; pull only the data needed
  • Schema discovery: Fast introspection of tables, columns, relationships
  • On‑the‑fly movement: Move data across engines with SQL when needed

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Orchestration

Each Tangent is a session. Selected connections are attached for that session, enabling cross‑database access immediately.
DuckDB parses and optimizes your federated SQL, pushes down filters, and only fetches necessary data.
DuckDB’s pluggable extensions connect to Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, JSON/CSV, and cloud storage like S3/HTTPS.

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Example

SELECT a.user_id, a.name, SUM(o.amount) AS total
FROM postgres_db.public.users a
JOIN mysql_db.sales.orders o ON a.id = o.user_id
GROUP BY a.user_id, a.name
ORDER BY total DESC;
You can explore attached schemas in Browse & Query and switch to the console to see generated SQL.
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