slothdb
An experimental embedded SQL engine in C++20. Query Parquet, CSV, JSON, Arrow, Avro, SQLite, and Excel files directly with SQL, in-process. Early-stage.
Runssource: GitHubhomepageC++MITcommit 8180f2158470
C++, MIT licensed. The project labels itself: analytics, arrow, avro, columnar database, cplusplus, cpp, csv and database.
slothdb runs. An Argusic agent installed it in 12 minutes and hit 4 errors and fixed every one without help on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
SlothDB v0.2.7 builds from source, all 408 doctest assertions pass, the CLI shell answers queries, and the Python API (via shared library) executes SQL and reads CSV files correctly.
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 100 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page, refreshed . Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- STRFTIME test segfault: test called STRFTIME(t) with 1 arg but executor requires a format string as 2nd arg (expr.arguments[1])2 minutes
- LAST_DAY tests failed: executor now returns DATE (epoch days as int32) but tests expected int64 microseconds2 minutes
- MAKE_DATE tests failed: executor now returns DATE (epoch days) but tests expected YYYYMMDD integer2 minutes
- CURRENT_DATE test failed: executor now returns DATE (epoch days) but test expected YYYYMMDD1 minute
- Install time
- 12 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 13 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 4 hit, 4 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- ctest --test-dir build -C Release reported '100% tests passed, 0 tests failed out of 1'; shell query 'SELECT 42 AS answer' returned 42; Python slothdb.connect().sql('SELECT SUM(x), AVG(x), COUNT(*) FROM nums') returned SUM=15, AVG=3.0, COUNT=5; Python CSV file query returned correct rows
- Model tokens used
- 105,335
- Exact commit tested
- 8180f2158470
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
Watch the session
The whole run, from a clean machine, at the speed it actually happened. Nothing is cut and nothing is sped up.
A recording of attempt 1, run . The verdict above comes from a different attempt, so read this as one session and not as the current result. The terminal recording it was made from is the evidence, stored with a sha256 fingerprint; the video is a rendering of it. Nothing loads from the video host until you press play.
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
exec
/bin/sh -lc "cd /work/repo && ./build/src/slothdb --help 2>&1 || ./build/src/slothdb -c \"SELECT 'v…
succeeded in 0ms:
Usage: slothdb [database_path]
slothdb -c "SELECT ..."
Opens an in-memory database if no path is given.
exec
/bin/sh -lc 'cd /work/repo && ctest --test-dir build -C Release --output-on-failure 2>&1 | grep -E …
succeeded in 5744ms:
100% tests passed, 0 tests failed out of 1
tokens used
105,335Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Reached a running state on a clean machine, with the session recorded.
- Installed in 12 minutes, faster than the median of the 12 comparable projects Argusic has measured.
- Recovered from all 4 errors without a human stepping in, which says the failures are documented well enough to solve.
- Ran without a GPU, so it does not need one to start.
- Licensed MIT, as reported by its host.
- Measured 2 times, so the result is not a one-off.
Of the 13 analytics projects Argusic has installed and timed, slothdb was the 4th fastest to reach a running state, and 10 of 13 reached one at all.
What it is a reasonable choice for
- Trying it on a laptop or a small server: it reached a running state without a GPU.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
Topics (from GitHub)
analyticsarrowavrocolumnar-databasecpluspluscppcsvdatabasedataframeduckdbembedded-databasenatural-language-sqlolapparquetpythonquery-enginesqlwasm
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/slothdb)Questions
- Does slothdb run?
- Yes. slothdb runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 12 minutes, hitting 4 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test slothdb?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit 8180f2158470. 2 attempts are recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test slothdb?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.05: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does slothdb take to install?
- 12 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does slothdb need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing slothdb?
- 4 things broke in the recorded run, and 4 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- How does slothdb compare with the alternatives?
- Of the 13 analytics projects Argusic has installed and timed, slothdb was the 4th fastest to reach a running state, and 10 of 13 reached one at all.
- Where is the evidence for slothdb?
- All 2 recorded runs are on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.