Release: 2.1.0b1 | Release Date: January 21, 2026

# SQLAlchemy 2.1 Documentation

# Source code for examples.sharding.separate_schema_translates

    """Illustrates sharding using a single database with multiple schemas,
    where a different "schema_translates_map" can be used for each shard.

    In this example we will set a "shard id" at all times.

    """

    from __future__ import annotations

    import datetime
    import os

    from sqlalchemy import create_engine
    from sqlalchemy import ForeignKey
    from sqlalchemy import inspect
    from sqlalchemy import select
    from sqlalchemy.ext.horizontal_shard import set_shard_id
    from sqlalchemy.ext.horizontal_shard import ShardedSession
    from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase
    from sqlalchemy.orm import Mapped
    from sqlalchemy.orm import mapped_column
    from sqlalchemy.orm import relationship
    from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker

    echo = True
    engine = create_engine("sqlite://", echo=echo)

    with engine.connect() as conn:
        # use attached databases on sqlite to get "schemas"
        for i in range(1, 5):
            if os.path.exists("schema_%s.db" % i):
                os.remove("schema_%s.db" % i)
            conn.exec_driver_sql(
                'ATTACH DATABASE "schema_%s.db" AS schema_%s' % (i, i)
            )

    db1 = engine.execution_options(schema_translate_map={None: "schema_1"})
    db2 = engine.execution_options(schema_translate_map={None: "schema_2"})
    db3 = engine.execution_options(schema_translate_map={None: "schema_3"})
    db4 = engine.execution_options(schema_translate_map={None: "schema_4"})

    # create session function.  this binds the shard ids
    # to databases within a ShardedSession and returns it.
    Session = sessionmaker(
        class_=ShardedSession,
        shards={
            "north_america": db1,
            "asia": db2,
            "europe": db3,
            "south_america": db4,
        },
    )

    # mappings and tables
    class Base(DeclarativeBase):
        pass

    # table setup.  we'll store a lead table of continents/cities, and a secondary
    # table storing locations. a particular row will be placed in the database
    # whose shard id corresponds to the 'continent'.  in this setup, secondary rows
    # in 'weather_reports' will be placed in the same DB as that of the parent, but
    # this can be changed if you're willing to write more complex sharding
    # functions.

    class WeatherLocation(Base):
        __tablename__ = "weather_locations"

        id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
        continent: Mapped[str]
        city: Mapped[str]

        reports: Mapped[list[Report]] = relationship(back_populates="location")

        def __init__(self, continent: str, city: str):
            self.continent = continent
            self.city = city

    class Report(Base):
        __tablename__ = "weather_reports"

        id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
        location_id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(
            ForeignKey("weather_locations.id")
        )
        temperature: Mapped[float]
        report_time: Mapped[datetime.datetime] = mapped_column(
            default=datetime.datetime.now
        )

        location: Mapped[WeatherLocation] = relationship(back_populates="reports")

        def __init__(self, temperature: float):
            self.temperature = temperature

    # define sharding functions.

    # we'll use a straight mapping of a particular set of "country"
    # attributes to shard id.
    shard_lookup = {
        "North America": "north_america",
        "Asia": "asia",
        "Europe": "europe",
        "South America": "south_america",
    }

    def shard_chooser(mapper, instance, clause=None):
        """shard chooser.

        this is primarily invoked at persistence time.

        looks at the given instance and returns a shard id
        note that we need to define conditions for
        the WeatherLocation class, as well as our secondary Report class which will
        point back to its WeatherLocation via its 'location' attribute.

        """
        if isinstance(instance, WeatherLocation):
            return shard_lookup[instance.continent]
        else:
            return shard_chooser(mapper, instance.location)

    def identity_chooser(mapper, primary_key, *, lazy_loaded_from, **kw):
        """identity chooser.

        given a primary key identity, return which shard we should look at.

        in this case, we only want to support this for lazy-loaded items;
        any primary query should have shard id set up front.

        """
        if lazy_loaded_from:
            # if we are in a lazy load, we can look at the parent object
            # and limit our search to that same shard, assuming that's how we've
            # set things up.
            return [lazy_loaded_from.identity_token]
        else:
            raise NotImplementedError()

    def execute_chooser(context):
        """statement execution chooser.

        given an :class:`.ORMExecuteState` for a statement, return a list
        of shards we should consult.

        """
        if context.lazy_loaded_from:
            return [context.lazy_loaded_from.identity_token]
        else:
            return ["north_america", "asia", "europe", "south_america"]

    # configure shard chooser
    Session.configure(
        shard_chooser=shard_chooser,
        identity_chooser=identity_chooser,
        execute_chooser=execute_chooser,
    )

    def setup():
        # create tables
        for db in (db1, db2, db3, db4):
            Base.metadata.create_all(db)

    def main():
        setup()

        # save and load objects!

        tokyo = WeatherLocation("Asia", "Tokyo")
        newyork = WeatherLocation("North America", "New York")
        toronto = WeatherLocation("North America", "Toronto")
        london = WeatherLocation("Europe", "London")
        dublin = WeatherLocation("Europe", "Dublin")
        brasilia = WeatherLocation("South America", "Brasila")
        quito = WeatherLocation("South America", "Quito")

        tokyo.reports.append(Report(80.0))
        newyork.reports.append(Report(75))
        quito.reports.append(Report(85))

        with Session() as sess:
            sess.add_all(
                [tokyo, newyork, toronto, london, dublin, brasilia, quito]
            )

            sess.commit()

            t = sess.get(
                WeatherLocation,
                tokyo.id,
                identity_token="asia",
            )
            assert t.city == tokyo.city
            assert t.reports[0].temperature == 80.0

            # select across shards
            asia_and_europe = sess.execute(
                select(WeatherLocation).filter(
                    WeatherLocation.continent.in_(["Europe", "Asia"])
                )
            ).scalars()

            assert {c.city for c in asia_and_europe} == {
                "Tokyo",
                "London",
                "Dublin",
            }

            # optionally set a shard id for the query and all related loaders
            north_american_cities_w_t = sess.execute(
                select(WeatherLocation)
                .filter(WeatherLocation.city.startswith("T"))
                .options(set_shard_id("north_america"))
            ).scalars()

            # Tokyo not included since not in the north_america shard
            assert {c.city for c in north_american_cities_w_t} == {
                "Toronto",
            }

            # the Report class uses a simple integer primary key.  So across two
            # databases, a primary key will be repeated.  The "identity_token"
            # tracks in memory that these two identical primary keys are local to
            # different shards.
            newyork_report = newyork.reports[0]
            tokyo_report = tokyo.reports[0]

            assert inspect(newyork_report).identity_key == (
                Report,
                (1,),
                "north_america",
            )
            assert inspect(tokyo_report).identity_key == (Report, (1,), "asia")

            # the token representing the originating shard is also available
            # directly
            assert inspect(newyork_report).identity_token == "north_america"
            assert inspect(tokyo_report).identity_token == "asia"

    if __name__ == "__main__":
        main()