BigQuery APIs and libraries overview

This page provides an overview of the various APIs associated with BigQuery. While you can use the APIs directly by making raw requests to the server, client libraries let you code in your preferred language and provide simplifications that significantly reduce the amount of code you need to write. BigQuery supports client libraries in C#, Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby. For a more general overview of client libraries within Google Cloud, see Client libraries explained.

For examples of using the various BigQuery libraries and APIs, see the BigQuery Code Samples.

To use the APIs, you must authenticate to verify your client's identity. You can do this by using Application Default Credentials, a service account key file, or user credentials. To learn more about authentication, see the Introduction to authentication.

See Pricing for more information about BigQuery pricing, including data ingestion and data extraction pricing.

BigQuery API

This is the main API that provides resources for creating, modifying, and deleting core resources such as datasets, tables, jobs, and routines.

For information about installation and usage, see BigQuery API client libraries. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

BigQuery Data Policy API

This API helps users manage BigQuery data policies for column-level security and data masking.

For information about this API and its usage, see BigQuery Data Policy API. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C++

C#

Go

Java

PHP

Ruby

BigQuery Connection API

This API provides the control plane for establishing remote connections to allow BigQuery to interact with remote data sources such as Cloud SQL. Some federated query functionality is exposed within the BigQuery API and libraries.

For more information about installation and usage, see BigQuery Connection client libraries. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

BigQuery Migration API

This API supports mechanisms to help users migrate existing data warehouses to BigQuery. It largely models work as a series of workflows and tasks to be processed, such as translating SQL.

For more information about installation and usage, see BigQuery Migration client libraries. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

BigQuery Storage API

This API exposes high throughput data reading for consumers who need to scan large volumes of managed data from their own applications and tools. The API supports a parallel mechanism of scanning storage and exposes support for leveraging features such as column projects and filtering.

For more information about installation and usage, see BigQuery Storage client libraries. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

BigQuery Reservation API

This API provides the mechanisms by which enterprise users can provision and manage dedicated resources such as slots and BigQuery BI Engine memory allocations.

For more information about installation and usage, see BigQuery Reservation client libraries. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

Analytics Hub

This API facilitates data sharing within and across organizations. It allows data providers to publish listings that reference shared BigQuery datasets. With Analytics Hub, users can discover and search for listings that they have access to. Subscribers can view and subscribe to listings. When you subscribe to a listing, Analytics Hub creates a linked dataset in your project.

For more information about this API and its usage, see Analytics Hub API. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language:

C++

C#

Go

Java

Node.js

PHP

Python

Ruby

BigQuery Data Transfer Service API

This API is used for managed ingestion workflows. Examples of workflows include scheduling periodic ingestions from Cloud Storage, automated ingestion of analytics data from other Google properties such as YouTube, or data transfers from third party partners who integrate with the service.

This API is also where scheduled queries are defined and managed within BigQuery.

For more information about installation and usage, see BigQuery Data Transfer Service client libraries. For links to the reference documentation and source code, select a language: