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Overview

If your data already lives in Parquet files, you can load it into Xata. This is a common path when your source database doesn’t expose a live PostgreSQL connection but can export snapshots to object storage instead. A typical flow is to export your database to Parquet files in an AWS S3 bucket, and then have Xata load those files into your branch.

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Export to Parquet in AWS S3

Both AWS Aurora and AWS RDS can export snapshots to Amazon S3 in Apache Parquet format. AWS writes the export as a set of Parquet files, one set per table, into the S3 bucket you choose. In both cases the export lands in S3 as Parquet files that preserve your table schema and data.
If you have a live PostgreSQL connection to your source database, you can migrate directly with xata clone instead. See the AWS Aurora and AWS RDS guides.

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Import Parquet files into Xata

Importing Parquet files into Xata is currently handled on a case-by-case basis. If you’d like to import Parquet files — whether exported from AWS Aurora, AWS RDS, or another source — reach out to us and we’ll help you load them into your branch. When you contact us, it helps to share:
  • The location of your Parquet files (for example, the S3 bucket and prefix)
  • The source database and how the export was produced (AWS Aurora, AWS RDS, or other)
  • The approximate size and number of tables
  • A schema-only pg_dump of your source database: 
    pg_dump --schema-only --no-owner --no-privileges '<<source-connection-string>>' > schema.sql

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Verification

After your data is loaded, verify it:
  1. Connect to Xata Branch: 
    psql `xata branch url`
  2. Check Data Integrity: 
    -- List tables
\dt

-- Compare row counts
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM your_table;

-- Check sample data
SELECT * FROM your_table LIMIT 10;