First Query

Run your first SQL queries against Pinot using the Query Console and REST API.

Outcome

Run your first SQL queries against Pinot and understand the query interface.

Prerequisites

• You have completed either First batch ingest or First stream ingest. The transcript table exists and contains data.

• The Pinot cluster is running (Controller on port 9000, Broker on port 8099).

Steps

1. Open the Query Console

Navigate to http://localhost:9000 in your browser. Click Query Console in the left sidebar. You should see the transcript table listed in the table explorer on the left.

2. Run a simple SELECT

Paste the following query into the query editor and click Run Query:

SELECT * FROM transcript LIMIT 10

The results panel shows all columns in the transcript table -- studentID, firstName, lastName, gender, subject, score, and timestamp. The rows returned come from whichever data you loaded (batch, stream, or both). LIMIT 10 caps the result set so the response is fast.

3. Run an aggregation

SELECT subject, AVG(score) AS avg_score
FROM transcript
GROUP BY subject
ORDER BY avg_score DESC

This query calculates the average score per subject and sorts the results from highest to lowest. Pinot executes aggregations directly on each server's segment data and merges the results at the Broker, making GROUP BY queries fast even on large datasets.

4. Run a count

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM transcript

This returns the total number of rows in the table. The exact count depends on which ingestion steps you completed:

• Batch ingest only -- 4 rows

• Stream ingest only -- the number of events you published (up to 12 in the tutorial)

• Both -- the combined total

5. Run a filter

SELECT firstName, lastName, score
FROM transcript
WHERE score > 3.5

This filters rows to show only students with a score above 3.5. Pinot pushes filter predicates down to the servers so only matching rows are scanned and returned.

6. Try the REST API

The Query Console UI is convenient for exploration, but production applications query Pinot through its REST API. Open a terminal and run:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8099/query/sql \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"sql": "SELECT * FROM transcript LIMIT 5"}'

Port 8099 is the Broker, which handles all query requests. The Query Console UI uses the same API under the hood. The response is a JSON object containing the result rows, schema, and query execution metadata.

Verify

All five queries return results without errors. You have successfully completed the end-to-end onboarding flow: you set up a Pinot cluster, defined a schema and table, loaded data, and queried it through both the UI and the REST API.

What's next

You have finished the linear Start Here path. From here, explore the areas most relevant to your use case:

• Query Syntax -- the full SQL reference for Pinot's query language

• Multi-Stage Query Engine -- enable JOINs and complex queries across tables

• Architecture -- understand how queries flow from Broker to Server and back

• Stream Ingestion from Kafka -- set up real-time ingestion for production workloads