October 19, 2025: This Week in OpenDAL

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This weekly update is generated by LLMs. You're welcome to join our Discord for in-depth discussions.

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Overall Activity Summary

The Apache OpenDAL repository has seen significant activity this week, with numerous pull requests and issues being addressed. Key themes include documentation improvements, feature enhancements, refactoring efforts, and the removal or migration of legacy components. Contributors have been actively engaging in discussions about the future direction of the project, including splitting the repository into multiple sub-repositories and improving support for various services.

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Key Ongoing Projects

1. Migration of Python Bindings:

   • WIP: Enhance py build #6622 by @chitralverma is enhancing Python bindings with stub generation, adding stubs for types like Entry, EntryMode, and Metadata.
   • chore(bindings/python): Add Justfile and format codebase #6677 by @chitralverma adds a Justfile and formats the Python codebase for better developer experience.

2. Refactoring Efforts:

   • refactor: Centralize date/time handling with Timestamp wrapper #6650 by @dami0806 introduces a centralized Timestamp wrapper for date/time handling, improving API consistency and future-proofing.
   • refactor: Move Config related back to config.rs instead #6667 by @Xuanwo moves configuration-related code back to config.rs for cleaner project structure.

3. Feature Enhancements:

   • feat: Add from_uri support for all services #6668 by @Xuanwo adds from_uri support for all services, enabling easier initialization of operators from URIs.
   • feat(buffer): add chunk iterator for Buffer #6672 by @TennyZhuang adds chunk iterator support for Buffer, allowing zero-copy splitting into fixed-size chunks.
   • feat(python): add delete_many API #6679 by @TennyZhuang introduces delete_many API for Python bindings, enabling batch deletions.

4. Write Returns Metadata:

   • Multiple services are being updated to support Write Returns Metadata, including feat(services/gdrive): Implement write returns metadata #6683 by @yunchipang for Google Drive, feat(services/dropbox): Implement write returns metadata #6673 for Dropbox, feat(services/swift): Implement write returns metadata #6669 for Swift, and feat(services/webdav): Implement write returns metadata #6660 for WebDAV.

5. Repository Migration and Cleanup:

   • Tracking Issue: Move oli/ofs out; remove oay #6689 and related PRs (docs(apps): add migration guide, update links; remove bin/{oli,ofs} (#6689) #6705, ci: remove ofs behavior tests and planning (#6689) #6704, chore: cleanup for moving oli/ofs and removing oay (#6689) #6700, chore: remove oay: delete bin/oay; drop CI; update release/dev tooling, dependabot, docs #6691) focus on moving oli and ofs to standalone repositories and removing oay.

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Priority Items

1. Google Drive Behavior Test Issue:

   • bug(services/gdrive): behavior tests failure for Google Drive #6684 by @erickguan reports timing issues with Google Drive behavior tests. This is a blocker for merging feat(services/gdrive): Implement write returns metadata #6683 and requires immediate resolution.

2. Python Operator List Issue:

   • bug: python operator.list with start_after does not work for local file system #6676 by @heman026 highlights a bug where start_after does not work for local file systems. This needs investigation and fixing.

3. S3-Compatible Services Error Handling:

   • bug: delete operation not retired with s3 compatible service #6645 by @leiysky reports that delete operations are not being retried for certain S3-compatible services. This issue has been fixed in chore: support more error codes for S3-compatible services #6651.

4. docs.rs Build Failure:

   • docs.rs built failed for doc_auto_cfg feature has been removed #6655 by @Xuanwo reports a build failure due to the removal of the doc_auto_cfg feature. This has been addressed in fix(docs): docs.rs built failed #6658 by @FreeChenMou.

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Notable Discussions

1. Splitting Mono Repo:

   • Split opendal mono repo in multiple repos #6617: Discussion initiated by @Xuanwo on splitting the OpenDAL repository into multiple sub-repositories to improve focus and development speed.

2. Deprecation of bin/oay:

   • Deprecate and remove `bin/oay` #6662: @Xuanwo and @PsiACE propose removing the bin/oay directory due to lack of traction and maintenance challenges.

3. Pagination Support:

   • Native Pagination Support for File Listing in OpenDAL #6040: @cbisht31 inquires about native pagination support for file listing in OpenDAL.

4. Updating User Metadata:

   • Updating user metadata without writing #6624: @baszalmstra asks whether OpenDAL can update user metadata without rewriting the entire file.

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Emerging Trends

1. Repository Restructuring:

   • There is a clear trend toward splitting the mono repo into multiple sub-repositories to streamline development and maintenance.

2. Focus on Python Bindings:

   • Several PRs and issues are centered around improving Python bindings, including better documentation, stub generation, and new APIs.

3. Metadata Enhancements:

   • Many services are being updated to support Write Returns Metadata, reflecting a focus on improving metadata handling across the board.

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Good First Issues

1. Tracking issues of OpenDAL wasm32-unknown-unknown target support #3803: Tracking issues for OpenDAL wasm32-unknown-unknown target support. Contributors can help add support for more services or integrate behavior tests for the WASM target.
2. servcices/vercel_artifacts: Tracking issues of not passed test cases #2198: Address test failures for services/vercel_artifacts. Tasks include implementing stat, delete, and create_dir support.
3. new feature: Allow s3 service to configure assume role's tags #4975: Allow S3 service to configure assume role's tags. This involves adding support for tags in reqsign first.
4. Implement Write Returns Metadata for all services #5693: Implement Write Returns Metadata for all services. Contributors can help extract metadata from write responses for various services.
5. new feature: publish the source and lock files for binaries (oli, oay...) #6198: Publish source and lock files for binaries like oli and oay. This will make it easier to package OpenDAL for platforms like NixOS.

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Thank you to all contributors for your hard work and dedication! Let's keep building together!