Delta Forge is one SQL engine that reads and writes Delta Lake and Iceberg V3 natively, runs graph algorithms and H3 geospatial as SQL, parses FHIR / HL7 / EDI inline, and builds data lineage from the SQL files you commit to Git.
Write a Delta table here. Read it in any tool that speaks the Delta Lake specification. Same bytes. Same transaction log. Same Iceberg V3 metadata through UniForm. No bespoke catalog. No side trip into someone else's ecosystem. Your tables stay yours, in an open format, on your object storage.
This repository distributes the community edition — free, full-featured for everyday lakehouse work. For commercial and enterprise licensing, see deltaforge.org/pages/pricing.html.
Every other route to a lakehouse drags a cluster behind it. To touch Delta tables you spin up Spark. To touch Iceberg you configure a catalog. To run graph queries you stand up a separate graph database. To index GPS points you run a geospatial service. To track data lineage you buy a fifth tool that still gets it wrong.
Delta Forge puts all of that into one engine and talks SQL to it.
| The work | Usually needs | Delta Forge |
|---|---|---|
| Query a Delta table right now | Start cluster, wait 3-5 min | instant |
| Read/write Delta Lake | A Spark cluster | SQL |
| Read/write Iceberg V3 | Iceberg connector + catalog service | SQL |
| Interop with other Delta engines | Whatever runtime they ship | spec-level |
| Graph algorithms (PageRank, etc.) | Separate graph database | SQL |
| H3 geospatial at scale | Separate geo service | SQL |
| Parse FHIR / HL7 / EDI | Custom parsers + ETL | SQL |
| Data lineage | Separate lineage tool + annotations | built-in |
| Pipeline orchestration | DAG builder + scheduler | Git + SQL |
No other tool ships this combination. None of it requires Spark. None of it locks your data into a proprietary format.
-- Write a real Delta Lake table. Any Delta-compliant engine can read it.
CREATE DELTA TABLE customers (
id BIGINT, name STRING, tier STRING, lifetime_value DOUBLE
) LOCATION 's3://lake/customers'
TBLPROPERTIES ('delta.enableChangeDataFeed' = 'true');
-- Time-travel the same table.
SELECT name, tier, lifetime_value
FROM customers VERSION AS OF 42
WHERE tier = 'Gold';
-- Write Iceberg V3. Same engine, same SQL.
CREATE ICEBERG TABLE metrics (day DATE, value DOUBLE)
LOCATION 's3://lake/metrics';
-- Graph algorithms as a table function.
SELECT c.name, pr.score
FROM cypher('network', $$
CALL algo.pageRank({dampingFactor: 0.85})
YIELD node_id, score RETURN node_id, score
$$) AS (node_id BIGINT, score DOUBLE) pr
JOIN customers c ON pr.node_id = c.id
ORDER BY pr.score DESC LIMIT 10;
-- Billion-point geospatial, indexed, joined to the same lake.
SELECT h3_cell_to_string(h3_latlng_to_cell(lat, lng, 9)) AS hex,
COUNT(*) AS visits
FROM gps_points
GROUP BY hex
ORDER BY visits DESC;
-- A pipeline in 4 lines. Lineage is automatic.
PIPELINE 'daily_revenue'
SCHEDULE '0 2 * * *'
NOTIFY ON FAILURE 'ops@acme.com'
RETRIES 3;Delta Forge writes real Delta Lake transaction logs and real Iceberg V3 metadata. Not a lookalike, not a bridge, not a translation layer. The tables and manifests are byte-compatible with the public Delta Lake and Apache Iceberg V3 specifications.
- Write here. Read anywhere that implements the Delta spec (Spark, Databricks, Trino, Flink, Polars, or any other conformant reader).
- Write here. Read anywhere that implements the Iceberg spec via UniForm.
- Read anything any conformant engine wrote.
- Walk away whenever you want. Your tables are on your object storage, in an open format, owned by you.
Runs on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, on-prem, and fully air-gapped. No proprietary catalog. No vendor dependency. No telemetry leaving your perimeter unless you turn it on.
macOS — Homebrew
brew tap deltaforge-org/tap
brew install --cask deltaforge # Desktop application
brew install deltaforge-cli # Command-line
brew install deltaforge-mcp # Model Context Protocol server
brew install deltaforge-compute # Compute nodeWindows — winget or Scoop
# winget
winget install DeltaForge.Desktop
winget install DeltaForge.Cli
winget install DeltaForge.Mcp
winget install DeltaForge.Compute
# Scoop
scoop bucket add deltaforge https://github.com/deltaforge-org/scoop-bucket
scoop install deltaforge-cli deltaforge-mcp deltaforge-computeLinux — one-line installer (apt repository coming soon)
# One-liner: detects OS + arch, installs deltaforge-cli to /usr/local/bin
curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh
# Pick a different package or install location
curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-mcp
curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --prefix $HOME/.local/binPrefer to grab tarballs directly? They're on the Releases page. A signed apt repository is on the way.
For the canonical, always-up-to-date install instructions, see deltaforge.org/pages/install.html.
| Package | What it is | macOS | Windows | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|---|
deltaforge |
Desktop application | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
deltaforge-cli |
Command-line interface | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
deltaforge-mcp |
Model Context Protocol server | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
deltaforge-compute |
Compute node | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Every release artifact is GPG-signed. Every release ships a SHA256SUMS manifest.
curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/pubkey.asc | gpg --import
gpg --verify deltaforge-cli-<version>-<platform>.tar.gz.sig \
deltaforge-cli-<version>-<platform>.tar.gzFingerprint: B461 8130 D4B0 3CF5 454E 28F0 A859 0BF7 C3DC E5F3
| Resource | Where |
|---|---|
| Website | deltaforge.org |
| Install | deltaforge.org/pages/install.html |
| Features | deltaforge.org/pages/features.html |
| Documentation | docs.deltaforge.org |
| Console | console.deltaforge.org |
| Pricing | deltaforge.org/pages/pricing.html |
| Contact | deltaforge.org/pages/contact.html |
| Issues | Report a bug |
| Releases | All versions |
Delta Forge is distributed under the Delta Forge Community License. See LICENSE and deltaforge.org/pages/terms-of-service.html for the full text.
For commercial and enterprise licensing: deltaforge.org/pages/contact.html.