Status of this project and future directions?

[fdcastel]

I attempted to install this extension, but it appears that there is no binary available for DuckDB v1.4.4.

SQL Error: HTTP Error: Failed to download extension "chsql" at URL
"http://community-extensions.duckdb.org/v1.4.4/windows_amd64/chsql.duckdb_extension.gz" (HTTP 404)

With DuckDB v1.5 approaching and issue #32 still unresolved, I’m concerned that this project may no longer be actively maintained.

I’m about to start a new project that will require ClickHouse (or possibly another database -- we haven’t finalized that decision yet).

If we choose ClickHouse, I’d be happy to contribute to this extension with PRs and fixes. However, before committing to that path, I’d like to understand whether the maintainers intend to continue supporting and maintaining this project.

Additionally, DuckDB v1.5 will introduce a new ODBC scanner, which already includes the ClickHouse ODBC driver in its CI tests, effectively providing first-class support to ClickHouse.

So my main questions are:

• Should we invest in this extension for future development, or would it be more sustainable to adopt ClickHouse via ODBC instead?
• In terms of raw performance, should we expect significantly better results from this extension, or would it offer little to no advantage compared to using ODBC?

[lmangani]

Hello @fdcastel absolutely, this is a community extension and any community effort will be supported if you choose to use it.

In terms of raw performance, should we expect significantly better results from this extension, or would it offer little to no advantage compared to using ODBC?

The clickhouse-native extension (not this one which only carries macros) is built using the clickhouse rust native client so it uses the raw binary protocol which AFAIK is the fastest way around. You'll have to test both to find out the answer - feel free to share results!

We'll patch and push the new version updates forward when time allows (although I'd be nice to get contributions, too 😆 )

[fdcastel]

Thank you, @lmangani, for the clarifications and the quick response.

My bad! 😅 I confused the chsql_native and chsql extensions.
Though to be fair, the names didn’t make it easy — naming is HARD 😄