--- title: "Choose a client" slug: "dev-start-choose-a-client" updated: 2026-10-30T18:18:46Z published: 2026-10-30T18:18:46Z canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/dev-start-choose-a-client" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vastdata.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Choose a client *Applies to VAST Cluster 5.5.* Which clients work with which service, and the page that shows each one. A blank cell means no page in these docs covers that client with that service; it doesn't mean the combination can't work. ## Clients and services | Client | [VAST DataBase](/develop/docs/dev-database-overview) | [Vector Search](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-overview) | [Event Broker](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-overview) | [DataEngine](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-overview) | [DataStore](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-overview) | [Catalog](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-overview) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **VAST DataBase Python SDK** (`vastdb`) | [Quickstart](/develop/docs/dev-database-quickstart), [Python SDK](/develop/docs/dev-database-integrations-python-sdk) | [Python SDK](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-integrations-python-sdk) | [Read topics with the SDK](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-querying-topics#read-with-the-python-sdk) | [From a function](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-integrations-vast-database-and-vector-search) | | [Quickstart](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-quickstart), [find files](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-guides-find-files) | | **VAST Query Engine** over ADBC | [VAST Query Engine (ADBC)](/develop/docs/dev-database-integrations-adbc) | [ADBC](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-integrations-adbc), [quickstart](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-quickstart) | [Query topics](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-querying-topics#query-with-the-vast-query-engine) | | | | | **LangChain** (`langchain-vastdb`) | | [LangChain](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-integrations-langchain) | | | | | | **Trino** | [Trino](/develop/docs/dev-database-integrations-trino) | Not for search ([limits](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-reference-limits)) | [Query topics](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-querying-topics#query-with-trino-or-spark) | | | [Trino](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-integrations-trino-and-spark#trino) | | **Apache Spark** | [Spark](/develop/docs/dev-database-integrations-spark) | Not for search ([limits](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-reference-limits)) | [Query topics](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-querying-topics#query-with-trino-or-spark), [Spark Structured Streaming](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-integrations-stream-processing#spark-structured-streaming) | | [Spark and Hadoop (S3A)](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-integrations-spark-and-hadoop) | [Spark](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-integrations-trino-and-spark#spark) | | **boto3, AWS CLI, s3fs, PyArrow** | [Stage files for import](/develop/docs/dev-database-guides-ingest#stage-the-files) | [Import Parquet files](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-guides-ingest#import-parquet-files) | [Configure a bucket notification](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-s3-bucket-events#configure-the-notification) | [Upload an object](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-quickstart#9-upload-an-object) | [Quickstart](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-quickstart), [Python clients](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-integrations-python), [AWS CLI and tools](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-integrations-aws-cli-and-tools) | | | **NFS mounts** | | | | [NFS file triggers](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-guides-triggers#s3-objects-and-nfs-files) | [NFS for applications](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-guides-nfs-for-applications), [multiprotocol access](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-guides-multiprotocol) | | | **Kafka clients** | | | [Quickstart](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-quickstart), [producing](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-producing), [consuming](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-guides-consuming), [Kafka tools](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-integrations-index) | [Dead-letter topic](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-integrations-dead-letter-topic) | | | | **DataEngine CLI** (`vastde`) | | | | [Quickstart](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-quickstart), [pipelines as code](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-guides-pipelines-as-code) | | | Notes on the matrix: - **Vector search goes through the VAST Query Engine.** The Python SDK's `vector_search()` runs its search through the Query Engine too. The Trino and Spark connectors don't support vector index-based search ([VAST Vector Search overview](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-overview#how-you-access-it)). - **Event Broker topics are tables.** Every client in the VAST DataBase column can read a topic, but topic tables are read-only through the VAST DataBase API: you write events with a Kafka producer ([VAST Event Broker overview](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-overview#how-it-fits-with-vast-database)). - **Kafka clients:** supported clients include the Confluent Kafka clients (Python 2.4 to 2.8, Java, .NET, C and Rust), Sarama and franz-go; these docs use `confluent-kafka` for Python. Other Kafka tools, such as Kafka Connect, MirrorMaker 2 and Flink, have their own status ([Kafka compatibility](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-reference-kafka-compatibility#supported-clients), [integrations](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-integrations-index)). - **Catalog and audit log** are system tables in VAST DataBase, reached with the same SDK, Trino and Spark clients as your own tables ([VAST Catalog overview](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-overview#which-tools-reach-them)). - **Client versions** for the SDK, Trino, Spark and the ADBC driver are on [version compatibility](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-versions). ## Automation tools To create views, policies, users, keys, tables, topics or DataEngine pipelines from code or CI, use the automation tools: the VMS REST API, `vastpy`, the VAST Terraform provider and the VAST admin MCP server. [Automation tools](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-automation-tools) compares what each one covers, how it authenticates and which API version it calls. Each service has its own CI/CD and automation page with examples: - [VAST DataBase](/develop/docs/dev-database-operations-ci-cd) - [VAST Vector Search](/develop/docs/dev-vector-search-operations-ci-cd) - [VAST Event Broker](/develop/docs/dev-event-broker-operations-ci-cd) - [VAST DataEngine](/develop/docs/dev-dataengine-operations-ci-cd), which also uses `vastde` - [VAST DataStore](/develop/docs/dev-datastore-operations-ci-cd) - [VAST Catalog](/develop/docs/dev-catalog-operations-ci-cd)