ClickHouse JS RowBinary Codec Generator for Node.js
This skill generates both directions of the wire format: readers (decode
bytes → values) and writers (encode values → bytes, the mirror). A given
task normally needs only one side. This file is the shared entry point — the
format gate plus the principles common to both directions; the per-direction
decisions, guidance, and the per-type reference tables live in two sibling files.
Pick your side — read only the one you need:
- Decoding a
RowBinary* response from ClickHouse into JS values →
reader.md. Streaming vs whole-buffer, row-objects vs columnar,
fixed vs runtime schema, and the per-type reader reference.
- Encoding JS values into a
RowBinary payload to send to ClickHouse →
writer.md. The Sink/writeX building blocks, writeRows
streaming, and the per-type writer reference.
The per-type code is real, split by direction under src/readers/ and
src/writers/.
First: is RowBinary even the right format?
RowBinary exists for throughput, but it is not automatically the fastest
path — match the format to the shape of the data before committing to a
bespoke parser.
Prefer a JSON* format (e.g. JSONEachRow) when the result is mostly
strings / JSON-like values that you consume wholesale — randomly accessing
essentially every field, running string/regexp methods on them, treating values
as text. V8's native JSON.parse is heavily optimized C++ and builds JS strings
and objects faster than a JS-level RowBinary decoder can; pair it with HTTP
response compression (gzip / zstd, which crushes JSON's repetitive keys) and
the wire cost shrinks too.
RowBinary clearly wins when the result is dominated by:
- Wide numerics —
Int128/Int256/UInt128/UInt256,
Decimal128/Decimal256.
- Binary / fixed-width blobs —
IPv4, IPv6, UUID, FixedString.
- High-volume fixed-width numeric columns generally, where each value is a
single
DataView read.
Prefer the Native format when columnar load and client-side analytics are
the main goal (fold/scan/filter columns, feed typed arrays to a Worker or WASM).
Native is column-major, so it loads straight into one typed array per column
with no transpose.
For help choosing and consuming a JSON* format (or CSV / TSV) instead, use the
clickhouse-js-node-coding skill.
Core guidance (both directions)
These principles apply whether you are generating a reader or a writer; the
side-specific operational guidance is in reader.md /
writer.md.
Little-endian only. RowBinary is little-endian; target x86/ARM. Read and
write every multi-byte number with DataView accessors passing a literal
true for the littleEndian flag.
Correct first, then optimize. First emit a correct codec built from the
plain per-type API. Only after it's correct (and tested) specialize it. Don't
bake performance assumptions in before correctness.
Monomorphize generic/composite types. Emit specialized, inlined code per
type combination instead of passing functions as arguments where the type is
known ahead of time.
Inline the leaf ops. The per-type readX/writeX functions are the
correct, composable reference; the generated codec should INLINE their bodies,
not call them, so the row loop is straight-line with no per-field indirection
(and so the fixed-width coalescing can fold the offset arithmetic together).
Annotate the type per column. Inlining erases the type structure, so put a
short comment above each column's encode/decode block naming the ClickHouse
type it handles.
Shared scratch is not reentrant. Some hot methods reuse a module-level
scratch buffer as a write-then-read pair — correct only because the access is
fully synchronous. An async/yield boundary between populating and reading
it corrupts the value.
TypeScript by default. Generate TypeScript code and helpers unless the user
explicitly asks for plain JavaScript.
Worked examples
Six end-to-end examples with real speedup are catalogued in EXAMPLES.md.
Out of scope
- JSON / CSV / TSV / Parquet parsing → use
clickhouse-js-node-coding.
- Connection errors, hangs, type mismatches → use
clickhouse-js-node-troubleshooting.
- Browser / Web Worker / Edge →
@clickhouse/client-web.
Still Stuck?
