Upload files
Turn a CSV, TSV, Parquet or JSON file into a table in a few clicks: what each database accepts, the 200 MB limit, and updating uploads.
Got an export from your payment tool, your store or an ad platform? Upload it, and it becomes a table you can query, chart and ask the agent about, next to the rest of your data.
What you can upload
| Into | File types | Column types |
|---|---|---|
| A DuckDB warehouse (recommended) | CSV, TSV, Parquet, JSON (.json, .ndjson, .jsonl) | Detected from the data: numbers, dates, true/false and text |
| A Postgres data source | CSV and TSV | Every column comes in as text |
Files can be up to 200 MB. The first row of a CSV or TSV file is used as the column names.
Upload a file
Pick where it goes
Open Explore and select the data source to upload into: usually your DuckDB warehouse.
Choose the file
Click Load data and choose the file. Orcabase suggests a table name from the file name:
Stripe-Payments.csvbecomesstripe_payments.Pick a schema and a table name
Schema is the folder the table goes in (
mainin DuckDB,publicin Postgres, unless you pick another). Table name can use letters, numbers and underscores, and can’t start with a number. It has to be a new table: uploading onto an existing name fails.Load it
Click Load data. When it’s done, Explore opens the new table so you can check it in Preview Data.
Keep uploads tidy
In a DuckDB warehouse, click New schema first and make one for uploads, like uploads. Your own files stay apart from synced data.
Uploading into Postgres
An upload into Postgres runs as the data source’s own login, and that login needs permission to create tables. A read-only user (the kind we recommend for day-to-day queries) can’t, so the upload fails with a permission error. Upload into your DuckDB warehouse instead, or add a second data source that logs in as a user that can create tables.
Postgres uploads load every column as text. To use a column as a number or a date, convert it in your query (for example amount::numeric), or in a data model’s expression.
Updating an upload
An upload is a snapshot. To bring in a newer export, upload it under a new table name, or drop the old table with SQL and upload again. For data that changes often, a sync keeps it fresh for you.
Something unclear or missing? Troubleshooting covers the common errors, or message us.