1. Client Connection

The Client class provides a unified interface for connecting to seekdb in different modes. It automatically selects the appropriate connection mode based on the parameters provided.

1.1 Embedded seekdb Client

Connect to a local embedded seekdb instance:

import pyseekdb

# Create embedded client with explicit path
client = pyseekdb.Client(
    path="./seekdb",      # Path to seekdb data directory
    database="demo"        # Database name
)

# Create embedded client with default path (current working directory)
# If path is not provided, uses seekdb.db in the current process working directory
client = pyseekdb.Client(
    database="demo"        # Database name (path defaults to current working directory/seekdb.db)
)

1.2 Remote Server Client

Connect to a remote server (supports both seekdb Server and OceanBase Server):

import pyseekdb

# Create remote server client (seekdb Server)
client = pyseekdb.Client(
    host="127.0.0.1",      # Server host
    port=2881,              # Server port (default: 2881)
    database="demo",        # Database name
    user="root",            # Username (default: "root")
    password=""             # Password (can be retrieved from SEEKDB_PASSWORD environment variable)
)

# Create remote server client (OceanBase Server)
client = pyseekdb.Client(
    host="127.0.0.1",      # Server host
    port=2881,              # Server port (default: 2881)
    tenant="sys",          # Tenant name (default: sys)
    database="demo",       # Database name
    user="root",           # Username (default: "root")
    password=""             # Password (can be retrieved from SEEKDB_PASSWORD environment variable)
)

Note: If the password parameter is not provided (empty string), the client will automatically retrieve it from the SEEKDB_PASSWORD environment variable. This is useful for keeping passwords out of your code:

export SEEKDB_PASSWORD="your_password"

# Password will be automatically retrieved from SEEKDB_PASSWORD environment variable
client = pyseekdb.Client(
    host="127.0.0.1",
    port=2881,
    database="demo",
    user="root"
    # password parameter omitted - will use SEEKDB_PASSWORD from environment
)

1.3 Client Methods and Properties

Method / Property	Description
`create_collection()`	Create a new collection (see Collection Management)
`get_collection()`	Get an existing collection object
`delete_collection()`	Delete a collection
`list_collections()`	List all collections in the current database
`has_collection()`	Check if a collection exists
`get_or_create_collection()`	Get an existing collection or create it if it doesn’t exist
`count_collection()`	Count the number of collections in the current database

Note: The Client factory function returns a proxy that only exposes collection operations. For database management operations, use AdminClient (see section 2).