Data engineering · science · architecture

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Working notes for people who move data for a living. Pipelines, lakehouses, table formats, and the architecture underneath them.

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  1. 01The Plan and the Worker: Two Open Specifications for Agent HarnessesTwo open specifications, the Agentic Graph Specification and the Open Agent Profile, turn agent plans and agent identity into portable, reviewable files.2026-08-10
  2. 02Apache Arrow Flight and ADBC, and Why Database Connectivity Finally Went Columnar2026-08-06
  3. 03Budgeting for Agentic Analytics When Every Question Costs Something DifferentBudgeting for agentic analytics when every question costs something different: token economics, query economics, instrumentation, and the cost controls that actually return.2026-08-04
  4. 04The Five Layers of an Agentic Lakehouse and Where the MCP Server SitsThe five layers of an agentic lakehouse and where the MCP server sits: storage, catalog, semantic layer, MCP gateway, and agent surface, plus identity, session isolation, and budgets.2026-08-04
  5. 05Autonomous Table Optimization When Your Query Workload Stops Being PredictableAutonomous table optimization when query workloads stop being predictable: observing file layout and query patterns, scoring compaction work, adaptive sort order, and cost discipline.2026-08-04
  6. 06Building Apache Iceberg Lakehouses That Run Without an Internet ConnectionHow to build an Apache Iceberg lakehouse that runs fully offline: storage, catalog, compute, cross-zone transfer, compliance, and the failure modes that bite.2026-08-04
  7. 07Wiring Analytical Queries to Transactional APIs in Closed-Loop Decision AgentsWiring analytical queries to transactional APIs in closed-loop decision agents: conditional writes, sagas with compensations, decision records, and blast radius controls.2026-08-04
  8. 08Surviving Optimistic Commit Collisions When Hundreds of Agents Write to IcebergSurviving optimistic commit collisions when hundreds of agents write to Iceberg: which conflicts are real, commit buffers, partitioning, and the patterns that prevent commit storms.2026-08-04

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