Aggregation

Applies to: Embedded ❌, Enterprise ✅ Use SQL aggregates to summarize records, either across a whole table or within groups. Common examples include counts by category, totals and averages.

Grouping

SELECT category, count(*) AS n, avg(score) AS mean_score
FROM documents
GROUP BY category
HAVING count(*) > 10
ORDER BY n DESC

WHERE filters rows before grouping; HAVING filters groups after. Use WHERE for row-level conditions and HAVING for conditions on aggregate results. The planner may push eligible predicates earlier in the query. Grouping by several expressions produces one row per distinct combination:

SELECT category, source, count(*)
FROM documents
GROUP BY category, source

Aggregate without grouping

Omitting GROUP BY aggregates the whole table into one row, which is the usual way to ask how big something is:

SELECT count(*), min(created_at), max(created_at) FROM documents

count(*) counts rows; count(col) counts non-null values, which is how you measure how populated a computed column is before deciding to refresh it again.

The function set

Registered in DataFusion 54. Names below are what is actually available. General

count  sum  min  max  avg  median
bit_and  bit_or  bit_xor  bool_and  bool_or
first_value  last_value  nth_value  grouping

Statistical

stddev  stddev_pop  stddev_samp
var  var_pop  var_samp
corr  covar_pop  covar_samp
regr_slope  regr_intercept  regr_count  regr_r2
regr_avgx  regr_avgy  regr_sxx  regr_syy  regr_sxy

Approximate

approx_distinct  approx_median
approx_percentile_cont  approx_percentile_cont_with_weight
percentile_cont

Collecting

array_agg  string_agg

The approximate functions are the ones worth reaching for on a large table. approx_distinct answers “roughly how many distinct values” for a fraction of what count(DISTINCT ...) costs, which can help with high-cardinality columns. Measure the accuracy and runtime for your workload. DISTINCT works inside an aggregate: count(DISTINCT category). FILTER narrows one aggregate without narrowing the others:

SELECT
    count(*) AS total,
    count(*) FILTER (WHERE score > 0.9) AS confident
FROM documents

Aggregating a sample

For an estimate over a very large table, aggregate a sample rather than the whole thing:

SELECT category, count(*) * 100 AS estimated
FROM documents TABLESAMPLE (1)
GROUP BY category

For a uniform percentage sample, counts and sums can be scaled by the inverse of the sample fraction to estimate whole-table values. Do not apply that scaling to averages, minima or maxima. Small samples can miss rare categories; consider the sampling method and uncertainty when interpreting the result.

What aggregation does not do

Aggregates run over rows the query already produced. Whether a statement can include vector search is described under SQL vector search. If your server does not support that query form, run the search in an SDK and aggregate its result, or materialize the search output first.

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SQL Reference

Grouping

Aggregate without grouping

The function set

Aggregating a sample

What aggregation does not do

​Grouping

​Aggregate without grouping

​The function set

​Aggregating a sample

​What aggregation does not do

Grouping

Aggregate without grouping

The function set

Aggregating a sample

What aggregation does not do