Problem	Template(s)	Key Rules
Real-time log/event analytics	`usecase-log-event`	DUPLICATE, RANGE partition, dynamic TTL, ZSTD
CDC / MySQL sync to Doris	`usecase-cdc-sync`	UNIQUE MoW, sequence_col, HASH bucket
Dashboard with pre-aggregated metrics	`usecase-dashboard-metrics`	AGGREGATE, BITMAP_UNION, sync MV
User-facing API with low-latency point queries	`usecase-point-query`	UNIQUE MoW, store_row_column, BloomFilter
Star schema with JOIN-heavy analytics	`usecase-star-schema-join`	Colocation, same bucket key/count
Small dimension / lookup table	`usecase-dimension-lookup`	DUPLICATE, RANDOM bucket, 3 buckets
Observability (logs + traces + metrics)	`usecase-observability`	3 tables: DUP logs, DUP traces, AGG metrics
Vehicle/fleet tracking	`usecase-log-event` + `usecase-point-query`	Time-series + point-query hybrid
E-commerce order analytics	`usecase-star-schema-join` + `usecase-dashboard-metrics`	Star schema + AGG rollups
Full-text search / content search	`schema-index-text-search`	Inverted index, MATCH, BM25
User behavior / funnel analysis	`schema-types-bitmap-count-distinct`	BITMAP_UNION, bitmap_intersect
Semi-structured JSON data	`schema-types-variant-json`	VARIANT type, schema_template

My query is slow after evidence shows…

For live slow-query or runtime diagnosis, do not use this table as the first response. First read references/cli-investigation.md and collect or attempt evidence (profile get, profile list, profile history, tablet, EXPLAIN, or auth status). Use this table only after evidence points to the symptom.

Symptom	Check These Rules	Quick Fix
Full table scan on WHERE clause	`schema-keys-selectivity-first`	Move filtered column to sort key position 1
JOINs are slow / shuffle	`usecase-star-schema-join`	Small dims (<1GB): broadcast + runtime filter. Large: colocation
COUNT DISTINCT is slow	`schema-types-bitmap-count-distinct`	Switch to BITMAP_UNION aggregation
LIKE '%keyword%' is slow	`schema-index-ngram-for-like`	Add NGram BloomFilter index
Point query latency too high	`usecase-point-query`	Enable store_row_column + Prepared Statement
Storage growing too fast	`schema-partition-auto-on-demand` + `schema-props-compression`	AUTO PARTITION + ZSTD compression + scheduled DROP PARTITION
Sync MV not being used	`schema-mv-sync-rollup`	Use raw columns (not date_trunc) in MV GROUP BY; unique aliases
Async MV rewrite fails	`schema-mv-async-join` + `schema-mv-async-limits`	Check State/RefreshState; query MV directly if predicate fails
Data skew / hot tablets	`schema-bucket-composite-for-skew`	Composite bucket key or RANDOM
Import fails / data version error	`schema-mv-async-limits`	Check concurrent MV refresh limit (max 3)
VARCHAR in key kills perf	`schema-keys-fixed-length-types`	Move VARCHAR after fixed-length types
Writes slow on UNIQUE table	`schema-model-prefer-mow`	Ensure MoW is enabled (not MoR)

2 ▸ Pre-Flight Checklist (Before Any CREATE TABLE)

Run through this checklist in order. Each step references the relevant rule:

Data model — UNIQUE (updates?) vs DUPLICATE (append?) vs AGGREGATE (pre-agg only?) → schema-model-choose-for-workload
Partition strategy — Time-series? AUTO PARTITION preferred. Small table? Skip. Do NOT combine AUTO with dynamic_partition. → schema-partition-*
Bucket key + count — HASH on JOIN key. Calculate explicit count: daily_GB / target_tablet_GB. Use explicit fallback counts when volume is unknown: 3 for small dimensions, 8 for medium tables, 16-32 for large daily fact tables. → schema-bucket-*
Sort key order — High-selectivity first, fixed-length before VARCHAR → schema-keys-*
Data types — Native types, not STRING. DECIMAL not FLOAT. → schema-types-*
Indexes — BloomFilter for equality, Inverted for text, NGram for LIKE → schema-index-*
Properties — MoW enabled? Compression? Cloud mode replication_num=1? → schema-props-*
DDL hard constraints (Apache Doris rejects DDL if any violated):
- UNIQUE KEY + PARTITION BY RANGE → partition column MUST be in the UNIQUE KEY: UNIQUE KEY(id, dt) PARTITION BY RANGE(dt)
- Key columns must be the FIRST N columns in schema, same order — put key cols first, non-key after. Example: UNIQUE KEY(account_id, symbol) means schema must start with account_id, symbol, ... — never place non-key columns between key columns
- store_row_column = "true" works on UNIQUE MoW and DUPLICATE — NOT on AGGREGATE (Doris rejects AGG: "Aggregate table can't support row column"). Verified on 4.x; older versions were UNIQUE-only
- AUTO PARTITION requires date_trunc() AND empty parens: AUTO PARTITION BY RANGE(date_trunc(col, 'day')) () — bare column name fails, missing () fails
- Dynamic partition requires explicit PARTITION BY RANGE(col) () clause in DDL — properties alone are not enough
- Do not set dynamic_partition.buckets; put the numeric count only in DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(col) BUCKETS N
- compaction_policy = "time_series" only for DUPLICATE tables — fails on UNIQUE
- Async MV refresh: use REFRESH AUTO ON SCHEDULE EVERY 10 MINUTE or REFRESH COMPLETE ON SCHEDULE EVERY 10 MINUTE — NOT REFRESH SCHEDULE EVERY, NOT REFRESH ASYNC EVERY(INTERVAL ...). Minimum interval: 1 MINUTE
- MV using NOW()/CURDATE(): add PROPERTIES ("enable_nondeterministic_function" = "true")
- BOOLEAN defaults must be quoted: DEFAULT "true" not DEFAULT TRUE
- BloomFilter index: use PROPERTIES ("bloom_filter_columns" = "col1,col2") — NOT inline INDEX ... USING BLOOM FILTER
- AGGREGATE column syntax: aggregation function BEFORE default: col BIGINT SUM DEFAULT "0" — NOT col BIGINT DEFAULT "0" SUM
- AGGREGATE DEFAULT "null" only works for VARCHAR — fails on INT, DATE, DECIMAL, BIGINT. Omit DEFAULT entirely for REPLACE_IF_NOT_NULL on non-string types: vip_level INT REPLACE_IF_NOT_NULL (not DEFAULT "null")
- enable_unique_key_partial_update is a session variable, NOT a table property
- Full details: schema-ddl-gotchas

2b ▸ DDL Templates (copy the closest match, customize columns)

For each CREATE TABLE, select the closest template below. Customize column names, types, bucket count, and partition settings. Do NOT write DDL from scratch.

T1: Append-only events/logs (DUPLICATE)

CREATE TABLE events (
    entity_id    VARCHAR(64)  NOT NULL,
    event_time   DATETIME     NOT NULL,
    event_type   VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
    payload      VARIANT
) DUPLICATE KEY(entity_id, event_time, event_type)
PARTITION BY RANGE(event_time) ()
DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(entity_id) BUCKETS 10
PROPERTIES (
    "dynamic_partition.enable" = "true",
    "dynamic_partition.time_unit" = "DAY",
    "dynamic_partition.start" = "-90",
    "dynamic_partition.end" = "3",
    "dynamic_partition.prefix" = "p",
    "compression" = "zstd",
    "compaction_policy" = "time_series",
    "replication_num" = "1"
);

T2: Updatable with partition (UNIQUE MoW + CDC)

CREATE TABLE orders (
    order_id     BIGINT       NOT NULL,
    order_time   DATETIME     NOT NULL,
    update_time  DATETIME     NOT NULL,
    status       VARCHAR(20),
    amount       DECIMAL(18,2)
) UNIQUE KEY(order_id, order_time)
PARTITION BY RANGE(order_time) ()
DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(order_id) BUCKETS 5
PROPERTIES (
    "enable_unique_key_merge_on_write" = "true",
    "function_column.sequence_col" = "update_time",
    "dynamic_partition.enable" = "true",
    "dynamic_partition.time_unit" = "DAY",
    "dynamic_partition.start" = "-365",
    "dynamic_partition.end" = "3",
    "dynamic_partition.prefix" = "p",
    "replication_num" = "1"
);

T3: Small dimension / lookup (UNIQUE, no partition)

CREATE TABLE dim_product (
    product_id   INT          NOT NULL,
    name         VARCHAR(200),
    category     VARCHAR(50)
) UNIQUE KEY(product_id)
DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(product_id) BUCKETS 3
PROPERTIES (
    "enable_unique_key_merge_on_write" = "true",
    "replication_num" = "1"
);

T4: Pre-aggregated KPIs (AGGREGATE)

CREATE TABLE daily_kpi (
    stat_date    DATE         NOT NULL,
    dimension    VARCHAR(50)  NOT NULL,
    metric_sum   BIGINT       SUM DEFAULT "0",
    metric_max   DOUBLE       MAX DEFAULT "0",
    unique_users BITMAP       BITMAP_UNION
) AGGREGATE KEY(stat_date, dimension)
PARTITION BY RANGE(stat_date) ()
DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(dimension) BUCKETS 3
PROPERTIES (
    "dynamic_partition.enable" = "true",
    "dynamic_partition.time_unit" = "MONTH",
    "dynamic_partition.start" = "-12",
    "dynamic_partition.end" = "1",
    "dynamic_partition.prefix" = "p",
    "replication_num" = "1"
);

T5: Point query / API serving (UNIQUE MoW + row store)

CREATE TABLE user_profiles (
    user_id      BIGINT       NOT NULL,
    update_time  DATETIME     NOT NULL,
    name         VARCHAR(100),
    data         VARIANT
) UNIQUE KEY(user_id)
DISTRIBUTED BY HASH(user_id) BUCKETS 5
PROPERTIES (
    "enable_unique_key_merge_on_write" = "true",
    "function_column.sequence_col" = "update_time",
    "store_row_column" = "true",
    "light_schema_change" = "true",
    "replication_num" = "1"
);

3 ▸ Connection & CLI

Apache Doris speaks the MySQL protocol, so the always-available path is any MySQL-compatible client (mysql) plus SQL and the FE HTTP REST API. Some distributions also ship an optional management CLI (referred to here as doriscli) that adds ergonomic profiling and diagnostics commands — use it when your distribution provides one, otherwise use the native path.

Detect the optional CLI

Before running any queries, detect whether the CLI binary is available:

Check DORIS_CLI_PATH env var — if set, use that binary path
command -v doriscli — use from PATH
If none available: fall back to mysql client (see references/start-*.md)

When doriscli is available, prefer it for all operations:

Task	doriscli Command
Run SQL	`doriscli sql "SELECT ..."`
DDL inspection	`doriscli sql "SHOW CREATE TABLE db.t"`
Table/tablet health	`doriscli tablet db.t` (overview) or `doriscli tablet db.t --detail`
Profile a slow query	`doriscli sql "SELECT ..." --profile` → captures query_id
Get query profile	`doriscli profile get <qid>` or `--full` for complete diagnosis
Compare fast vs slow	`doriscli profile diff <slow_qid> <fast_qid>`
Performance trend	`doriscli profile history <sql_pattern> --days 7`
Test connection	`doriscli auth status`
Switch environment	`doriscli use <name>`

Runtime Query Investigation

For slow queries or runtime performance issues, read references/cli-investigation.md.

Evidence first is mandatory: collect or attempt profile, tablet, DDL, stats, EXPLAIN, history, active-query, or connection evidence before forming hypotheses. If evidence cannot be collected locally, state that and provide the exact commands to run
Prefer existing profiles: use profile get <query_id>, profile list, or profile history before re-executing SQL
Proactive discovery: for vague slow-query reports, start with auth status, profile list --active, and recent profile list before asking the user for more context
Safety gate: before running user SQL with --profile, check whether it is safe (no DDL, no mutation, no unbounded scan). For unknown, peak-hour, or expensive SQL, run doriscli sql "EXPLAIN <query>" --format json first and ask confirmation or request an existing query_id
Hypotheses, not verdicts: diagnostic mappings are heuristics. Present evidence, likely cause, what to check next, and when the conclusion may be wrong
If doriscli is unavailable, fall back to SQL commands listed in the reference
Always use --format json for structured agent-readable output

Quick-start guides

references/start-self-hosted.md — Self-hosted / BYOC / on-prem
Cloud mode (storage-compute) connection differs only in the HTTP port (8080 vs 8030) — same guide applies

4 ▸ Cluster Sizing

Sizing guides are in:

references/sizing-fe.md — FE node sizing
references/sizing-be-integrated.md — BE sizing (integrated storage)
references/sizing-be-cloud.md — BE sizing (cloud / storage-compute)
references/sizing-storage-formula.md — Storage calculation formula

5 ▸ Rule Index by Category

Data Model — CRITICAL (4 rules)

schema-model-choose-for-workload — DUP vs UNIQUE vs AGG decision tree
schema-model-prefer-mow — Always MoW for UNIQUE tables
schema-model-avoid-agg-for-updates — AGG cannot UPDATE/DELETE
schema-model-sequence-col-for-cdc — Sequence column for out-of-order CDC

Partition Strategy — CRITICAL (4 rules)

schema-partition-range-for-timeseries — RANGE for time-series
schema-partition-dynamic-ttl — Dynamic partition for automated TTL
schema-partition-auto-on-demand — AUTO for sporadic data
schema-partition-skip-for-small — Skip partitioning under 1 GB

Bucket Strategy — CRITICAL (5 rules)

schema-bucket-hash-vs-random — HASH for pruning, RANDOM for DUP only
schema-bucket-high-cardinality-key — Choose high-cardinality column
schema-bucket-composite-for-skew — Composite key to fix data skew
schema-bucket-target-size — Target 1-10 GB per tablet
schema-bucket-cloud-mandatory-hash — Cloud MoW requires HASH

Sort Key — CRITICAL (5 rules)

schema-keys-selectivity-first — High selectivity first
schema-keys-fixed-length-types — Fixed-length before VARCHAR
schema-keys-prefix-index-limits — 36 bytes max, VARCHAR terminates it
schema-keys-cluster-key-for-mow — Cluster key for UNIQUE tables
schema-keys-avoid-float — No FLOAT/DOUBLE in sort key

Data Types — HIGH (5 rules)

schema-types-native-vs-string — Native types, not STRING
schema-types-zonemap-limitations — JSON/ARRAY disable ZoneMap
schema-types-variant-json — VARIANT for semi-structured JSON
schema-types-bitmap-count-distinct — BITMAP_UNION for exact count-distinct
schema-types-doris-specifics — DATETIME precision, VARCHAR vs STRING

Indexes — HIGH (7 rules)

schema-index-bloomfilter — BloomFilter for equality
schema-index-inverted — Inverted for text/range
schema-index-ngram-for-like — NGram for LIKE %pattern%
schema-index-bitmap — Bitmap for medium cardinality
schema-index-vector — HNSW/IVF for ANN search
schema-index-text-search — Full-text MATCH + BM25

Query Acceleration — HIGH (3 rules)

schema-mv-sync-rollup — Sync MV for single-table aggregation
schema-mv-async-join — Async MV for multi-table JOIN
schema-mv-async-limits — Operational limits (50M rows, 3 concurrent)

Table Properties — HIGH/MEDIUM (2 rules)

schema-props-cloud-forced — Cloud mode forced properties
schema-props-compression — LZ4 vs ZSTD compression

Caching — MEDIUM (2 rules)

schema-cache-file-cache — File cache for cloud mode
schema-cache-query-partition — Query and partition cache

doris-best-practices

Apache Doris Best Practices

1 ▸ Problem-First Routing

I need to build…