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VSTG

VSTG Skips Table Gets

A pure Python, zero dependency bloom filter, built so a check that would otherwise hit your database on every request almost never has to.

The name is also short for vestige, a trace left behind by something that passed through, which is what the underlying bit array actually is.

The problem this solves

Before:

def check_username(request):
  username = request.GET["username"]
  taken = User.objects.filter(username=username).exists()
  return JsonResponse({"available": not taken})

After:

import vstg

def check_username(request):
  username = request.GET["username"]

  if not vstg.might_contain("usernames", username.encode("utf-8")):
    return JsonResponse({"available": True})

  taken = User.objects.filter(username=username).exists()
  return JsonResponse({"available": not taken})

Every username that was never registered returns without the database being touched. The rare "maybe" still runs the exact same query as before, so correctness never changes, only how often the expensive path is needed.

Install

pip install vstg

No dependencies are ever installed alongside it.

For contributing, clone and install in editable mode instead:

git clone https://github.com/vszlx4/vstg.git
cd vstg
pip install -e '.[dev]'

Usage

from pathlib import Path
import vstg

vstg.init(Path("bloom_state"))
vstg.register("usernames", capacity=10_000_000, error_rate=0.001)

vstg.might_contain("usernames", username.encode("utf-8"))  # check
vstg.add("usernames", username.encode("utf-8"))            # record

init and register run once, at startup. might_contain and add run everywhere else, for the life of the process.

Customization

vstg.register(
  "usernames",
  capacity=10_000_000,
  error_rate=0.001,
  policy=vstg.PersistPolicy(
    checkpoint_interval_seconds=300,
    checkpoint_insert_threshold=50_000,
    checkpoint_on_shutdown=True,
  ),
)

vstg.register(
  "email_verification_tokens",
  capacity=500_000,
  error_rate=0.01,
  shard_count=8,
)

Every named filter is independent, its own capacity, error rate, and policy. shard_count, left unset, gives a single checkpoint file. Set it and a checkpoint only rewrites the shards that actually changed. Capacity, error rate, and policy are fixed the moment register is called, for the rest of the process.

The math

A filter is a bit array of length $m$, all bits starting at $0$. Inserting a member sets $k$ of those bits, each position derived by hashing the member. Checking a member reads the same $k$ positions: any bit still $0$ proves the member was never inserted, since insertion only ever sets bits. All $k$ bits set means probably inserted, since an unrelated combination of other members could have set the same positions by coincidence.

Sizing, given an expected item count $n$ (capacity) and a target false positive probability $p$ (error_rate):

$$ m = -\frac{n \ln p}{(\ln 2)^2} \qquad\qquad k = \frac{m}{n} \ln 2 $$

optimal_size and optimal_hash_count in core.py compute exactly these two values.

Bit positions, rather than running $k$ separate hash functions, two hashes are computed once and every position derived from them (Kirsch-Mitzenmacher):

$$ i_j = (h_1 + j \cdot h_2) \bmod m, \qquad j = 0, \dots, k-1 $$

Resulting false positive rate, after $n$ insertions into an $m$-bit array with $k$ hash rounds:

$$ p \approx \left(1 - e^{-kn/m}\right)^k $$

The sizing formulas above are exactly this expression solved for the $m$ and $k$ that minimize it at the requested $n$ and $p$. Exceeding the configured capacity degrades the real rate past what was requested, since $n$ in this formula grows while $m$ and $k$ stay fixed.

Full API

  • BloomFilter — the bit array, add, might_contain, in memory only.
  • ManagedBloomFilter — a BloomFilter plus automatic checkpointing.
  • ShardedBloomFilter — checkpointing partitioned across shard files.
  • BloomFilterRegistry — the named collection vstg.register uses internally.
  • PersistPolicy — checkpoint trigger configuration for all three above.

Contributing

Two space indentation, mypy --strict, no runtime dependencies, a docstring on every module, class, and function.

git clone https://github.com/vszlx4/vstg.git
cd vstg
pip install -e '.[dev]'
python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

License

MIT, see LICENSE.