Introducing KDB-X Public Preview
Advancing high-performance analytics for the AI era
Build together with KDB-X
KDB-X is a new platform under active development by KX, built as the next generation of kdb+. It is a unified data platform, designed from the ground up through community feedback to meet the demands of modern workloads.
It enables developers to seamlessly combine time-series and AI workflows in a scalable, intuitive environment, without relying on fragmented tools. With multi-language support and a flexible framework for community-driven innovation, KDB-X democratizes development across today’s data ecosystems.
KDB-X is now available in Public Preview
through the Community Edition
Developers can test, experiment, and build high-performance data-intensive applications with exclusive access to continuous feature updates, all at no cost. Built on kdb+, KDB-X is ready for technical adoption today, offering users a seamless transition path. Existing customers will have an entitlements on-ramp to KDB-X, allowing them to transition effortlessly to the full paid version when it launches later this year.
Why KDB-X?
kdb+ was built to handle massive amounts of time-series data with extremely low latency, especially in areas like capital markets where traditional databases couldn’t keep up with the volume or speed required for analytical tasks. kdb+ solved this by using an in-memory, columnar architecture optimized for both real-time and historical data, processing billions of events and querying trillions of records with ease. It combined data ingestion and analysis in one system and introduced q, a concise and powerful language allowing developers to elegantly express their ideas and making those same developers more efficient.
Over time, however, the needs of developers have changed. While performance still matters, there’s an increasing emphasis on usability. Developers want clear documentation, good tooling, package management, and support for popular languages like Python. Developers also expect systems that are easy to get started with and integrate well with their existing data stacks.
KDB-X keeps the core performance and compatibility of kdb+ but unites it with a focus on developer experience through improved accessibility, extensibility, and interoperability. It introduces architectural improvements that enable community contributions, making it highly extensible. It supports Python, SQL, and q, and is being built to work with open data formats like Parquet and Iceberg for interoperability. Lastly, it’s built for the AI era with transformative agentic AI interaction and scalable machine learning integration. Our vision is to make it easier for developers to build, extend, and deploy high-performance analytics applications without compromise.
Key advantages
Unified stack
Seamlessly handle streaming, batch, and historical data in real time through a single compute and data environment.
Streaming analytics
Optimized for low-latency execution on high-volume, time-sensitive data streams.
Polyglot access
Support for Python, SQL, and q in a single platform designed for modern data workflows.
Backward compatibility
Supports existing q code, APIs, and workflows, preserving prior investments while enabling next-generation workloads.
High-performance
Built on the proven kdb+ kernel, delivering industry-leading speed for time-series data processing.
Modular architecture
Designed from the ground up for modular integration, making it easier to manage libraries and expand functionality over time.
Vector search and AI
Leverage both structured and unstructured data for unified queries and insights.
Deployment agility
Operate self-managed in cloud or on-premises environments with consistent control and performance.
What’s included with KDB-X Public Preview?
During the Public Preview phase, the Community Edition is available for testing with time-limited access. There will be regular feature drops that will extend the expiration window until the official release later this year with “free-forever” access. This phased rollout allows the KX community to explore, build with, and provide feedback on KDB-X as the platform continues to evolve and KX refines the offering.
Upon its official GA release, KDB-X Community Edition will become free forever with limited resource capacity, while a paid licensed edition will be available with full capacity, enterprise support, service-level agreements (SLAs), and options for integration into production environments. Both editions will include the full feature set of capabilities.
Community Edition |
|
|
Capability |
Available |
| Python API | Yes |
| AI library | Yes |
| Highly efficient time-series database | Yes |
| RAM | 16 GiB |
| Multi-threading | Limited – 4 secondary threads per process |
| TLS | Supported |
| Number of connections | 8 |
| Computer license restrictions | Single node per instance |
| Product support | Limited – community only |
| Environments supported | On-prem, cloud |
| License usage availability | Personal or Commercial usage |
What’s coming
There are several product areas in active design and development for KDB-X. As KX develops them further, Public Preview participants will get first access. These areas include:
Parquet & open table formats
Work with Parquet as a first-class format in KDB-X, with support for direct querying, partitioning, and object store access.
Agentic & NLP experience
Enable agents and language models to interact with KDB-X via structured prompts, query execution, and schema access.
GPU acceleration
Speed up compute-heavy operations such as asof joins, matrix multiplication and vector similarity search.
Module management
Language-level integration for modules with enhanced namespacing, dependencies, and packaging to simplify development and encourage reuse.
Developer tooling
Debug, profile, and validate q code with integrated tools designed to speed up iteration and improve code quality.
Expanded libraries
Carefully curated community and KX modules for integrations with security protocols, monitoring tools, and third-party interoperability.
AI library
Perform fuzzy, hybrid, and advanced time-series search using built-in algorithms for flexible, high-accuracy data matching.
Process & data management
Manage q processes, setup multi-root databases, and utilize efficient inter-process communication with new system-level enhancements.
See our documentation site for continuous roadmap updates
Why participate in the Public Preview?
KDB-X is the result of deep collaboration between the KX engineering team and the global KX community. It was designed to incorporate extensive developer feedback, modernize the tooling ecosystem, and support the demands of real-time, AI-driven development. As KX continues to work directly with the global community, we invite all developers to collaborate and co-create with KX through Public Preview and beyond.
By trying KDB-X, developers gain:
- Early access to platform updates and new capabilities, delivered throughout the preview cycle
- A direct channel to influence the roadmap through structured feedback
- A refined developer experience, including updated documentation, hands-on tutorials, and community support
- Full compatibility with existing kdb+ workflows, minimizing migration risk and time to value
- An opportunity to collaborate with the KX engineering team and help define the direction of the platform
You’re not just trying KDB-X, you’re defining it!
Get Started with KDB-X
We invite you to explore KDB-X and experience its capabilities first-hand.
Your feedback will help us continue to refine and optimize the platform ahead of full release.
Disclaimer: KDB-X is currently in preview mode for testing and is subject to change. This includes potential updates to component names and capabilities as we continue to evolve the product. It is not intended for production use. We welcome your insights and encourage you to share your experiences. Join our public channels via Slack or web forum to stay updated and contribute feedback as we continue to improve.
FAQs
The “Public Preview” is a timed, exclusive early access opportunity for the developer community to provide active feedback, share use cases, and offer technical input from their perspective. With your participation, you will have the opportunity to collaborate directly with KX Engineering and help define the development, direction, and future of KDB-X, ensuring it continues to meet your needs.
KDB-X emphasizes ease of use for new developers, providing training and guided experiences to onboard users without prior q knowledge quickly. KDB-X also offers a Python API to allow Python developers to get started without prior q knowledge and creates a bridge to onboard to q.
KDB-X’s Public Preview is open to all customers, partners, and community users. You can sign up at https://kdb-x.kx.com/ for easy and frictionless onboarding with a new, free license. Once the public preview has concluded, the license will expire; however, KDB-X will become free forever, with a limited-capacity Community Edition, and will also be purchasable with extended capacity for commercial users.
Feedback on Public Preview can be provided via Slack, our community forum, email, or our feedback survey.
Yes, KDB-X is built on the foundation of kdb+ and is intended to be backward compatible with existing q and PyKX code.
KDB-X Public Preview is available through the Community Edition, which offers rich community support from thousands of developers and key KX staff. This is provided through the web forum and our community Slack.
