lancedb-connect

name	lancedb-connect
description	Resolve how to connect to a LanceDB deployment over the REST API — figure out the base URL, API key, and database header. Use this before making any REST requests to a LanceDB table, whenever the endpoint or auth setup is not already known. Also useful on its own when someone asks how to connect, authenticate, or curl their LanceDB instance.
metadata	{"short-description":"Resolve the base URL and auth headers for a LanceDB deployment"}

Goal

Produce two things every REST request needs:

1. Base URL — the endpoint
2. Headers — x-api-key, and usually x-lancedb-database

Resolution steps

1. If the user already gave a URL and API key (or said which environment they're working against), use that.
2. Otherwise, look for credentials already available in the environment:
   • Env vars like LANCEDB_URI / LANCEDB_HOST / LANCEDB_API_KEY
   • A LanceDB endpoint already running or port-forwarded locally (the REST default port is 2333, i.e. http://localhost:2333)
3. If you didn't find both pieces, ask the user directly: "What's your LanceDB endpoint's URL, and what's your API key?" Also ask which database to use if it isn't obvious. Don't guess or probe further — the user knows their deployment.

Validating the connection

Make a cheap authenticated request and check the status:

curl -s -w "\n%{http_code}" "{base_url}/v1/table/?limit=1" \
  -H "x-api-key: <key>" \
  -H "x-lancedb-database: <database>"

• 200 — connection, key, and database header all good
• 401 — API key missing or wrong
• 400 mentioning a database header — this deployment expects x-lancedb-database

Non-REST equivalents

If the caller would rather use the SDK or CLI than raw REST, the same credentials work:

• Python SDK: lancedb.connect("db://<database>", api_key="<key>", host_override="<base_url>")
• lancedb CLI: a [profiles.<name>] entry in ~/.lancedb/config.toml with http_server_url, api_key, database