Rusty Conover
Data infrastructure engineer and founder of Query.Farm. Building DuckDB extensions, scaling data platforms, and writing about what I learn along the way.
Recent Activity
View all →Rusty was in full release mode today, shipping multiple versions across the vgi-rpc-typescript, vgi-rpc-go, and vgi-rpc-python trinity with a flurry of 53 commits. Behind the scenes, classified operations ramped up across classified project, classified project, classified project, and classified project — undisclosed work that clearly demanded attention. On the open-source front, Rusty provided community stewardship to Apache Arrow's JavaScript implementation, replying to issue #389 and #402 while identifying a new edge case bug in issue #403 around Struct schema handling. Meanwhile, arrow-js and its upstream Apache counterpart received parallel development love, suggesting some careful interoperability work. A day of shipping, supporting, and scheming behind closed doors.
Rusty was a release machine today, shepherding multiple versions of vgi-rpc-typescript and vgi-rpc-python out the door with surgical precision across 24 commits. Behind the scenes, he tackled some gnarly HTTP filesystem plumbing on duckdb-httpfs, opening PR #271 to address a pesky CURL client tracking issue where total_bytes_received wasn't getting its due diligence. He also forked duckdb-httpfs for some undisclosed local experimentation—sharpening the tools before taking them public. Meanwhile, classified operations on classified project and classified project hummed along in the background, keeping the mystery alive. A day of precision engineering: shipping releases, squashing bugs, and maintaining the infrastructure that keeps the Query-farm ecosystem humming.
Rusty was a busy bee today, shipping multiple releases on vgi-rpc-python with 5 commits across that repo alone, keeping the momentum high with push events and release cycles. Behind the scenes, classified operations at classified project, classified project, classified project, and classified project required attention—because apparently some projects demand discretion. On the open-source front, Rusty was in full stewardship mode, providing expert feedback on issue #5 in adbc_scanner regarding float corruption and ADBC driver quirks, and diving deep into a thorny buffer overread bug in PR #21083 on the main duckdb repository—contributing multiple rounds of review and guidance to help crush that Arrow dictionary conversion crash. A solid day of shipping, reviewing, and keeping the DuckDB ecosystem healthy.
TIME Data Type Compatibility Across Databases
A survey of the TIME data type across 14 databases, comparing supported ranges, maximum values, and whether the special value 24:00:00 is accepted.
Telemetry for DuckDB Extensions Without the Pain
I open-sourced the telemetry client I use across Query.Farm's DuckDB extensions. It's two files, one function call, and it only collects platform and version info.
Releasing vgi-rpc: An RPC Framework Built on Apache Arrow
I built an RPC framework for Python that uses Apache Arrow IPC as the wire format and Python Protocol classes as the interface definition. No .proto files, no codegen — just type annotations.
Acronym-Aware Case Conversions in the DuckDB Inflector Extension
The Inflector extension for DuckDB now supports configurable acronyms, so case conversions preserve terms like HTML, API, and URL as fully uppercase — configured through a native DuckDB setting.
DuckDB Extension Development Workshop
DuckDB Developer Meeting #1 — Amsterdam, Netherlands
Building on Flight: Real-World Lessons from the DuckDB Airport Extension
Apache Arrow Summit 2025 — Paris, France
Query.Farm: Growing DuckDB Community Extensions
DuckDB Amsterdam Meetup #3 — Amsterdam, Netherlands
DuckDB, Apache Arrow, & the Future of Data Engineering
The Hedgineer Podcast (S2E3)
What I've Been Working On
Full activity log →I've been deep in ecosystem stewardship these past few months, systematically upgrading and expanding the DuckDB extension landscape while contributing meaningful enhancements upstream to Apache Arrow. The work spans infrastructure modernization, new extension development, and cross-language compatibility fixes that keep the entire analytical tooling ecosystem humming smoothly. I've also shipped production-ready implementations and refined several personal projects into delightfully practical tools.
- Led a DuckDB 1.5 compatibility push across 40+ extensions, standardizing documentation and future-proofing the entire Query-farm portfolio while opening dozens of dependency upgrade PRs across the ecosystem.
- Contributed upstream enhancements to Apache Arrow across JavaScript, Swift, Rust, and Go—adding custom metadata support for RecordBatch IPC messages and fixing silent data drops in production systems.
- Shipped the complete vgi-rpc ecosystem with production implementations in four languages, unified branding, hosted documentation, and full Apache 2.0 licensing alongside polishing Fair Weather Friend with PWA support, specialized weather scoring modes, and practical safety features.