MLOps.community The DuckLake Lakehouse Format // Hannes Mühleisen // #339
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Sep 19, 2025 
Hannes Mühleisen, co-founder and CEO of DuckDB Labs and Professor of Data Engineering at Radboud University, discusses the innovative DuckLake lakehouse format. He explains how DuckLake transforms data management by separating metadata and computation, enabling a decentralized approach while maintaining centralized control. The conversation covers its rapid adoption due to simplicity, governance models avoiding feature bloat, and surprising community use cases. Hannes also shares insights into upcoming priorities for DuckLake and its potential impact on larger organizations with multiplayer workflows.
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Decoupled Metadata Enables Multiplayer DuckDB
- DuckLake separates metadata (a database) from data (Parquet on object stores) and decentralizes compute to clients.
- This enables true multiplayer usage for DuckDB without locking a single file.
Use Existing Databases For Metadata
- DuckLake reuses an already-present database (catalog server) instead of inventing new services.
- Using a classic SQL DB for metadata simplifies design and leverages decades of database tooling.
Simplicity As A Design Principle
- Design aesthetics and simplicity guide engineering trade-offs at DuckDB Labs.
- Simplicity reduces cognitive load and makes the system easier to maintain and use.