# Stage

Stage is a storage service that helps you organize and manage local files for ingestion into your SingleStore Helios database(s). Each workspace group has a Stage where you can create folders and upload files. Stage is also supported in the Shared Edition (Shared workspaces). Through Stage, you can also save query results into files.

> **📝 Note**: The workspace group must be running SingleStore version 8.1 or later.

## Manage a Stage

You can manage files and folders in a Stage using any of the following:

* `Management` API
* Notebooks
* SingleStore Python Client

## Using the Management API

Use the `Stage` path (`/v1/stage` endpoint) in the `Management` API to manage files and folders in a Stage. Refer to [Management API](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/reference/management-api.md) and [Management API Reference](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/reference/management-api/reference.md) for more information.

For example, the following API call lists all the files and folders in the Stage attached to the workspace group with the specified ID:

```Shell
curl -X 'GET' \
  'https://api.singlestore.com/v1/stage/68af2f46-0000-1000-9000-3f6f5365d878/fs/' \
  -H 'accept: application/json'
```

## Using Notebooks or SingleStore Python Client

The [SingleStore Python SDK](https://singlestoredb-python.labs.singlestore.com/index.html) supports the [Stage](https://singlestoredb-python.labs.singlestore.com/api.html#stage) object, which can be used to manage files and folders in a Stage. You can also use the Stage object (including other objects in the SingleStore Python SDK) in a [notebook](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/container-services/notebooks.md). Refer to the [SingleStore Python Client](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/developer-resources/connect-with-application-development-tools/connect-with-python/connect-using-the-singlestore-python-client.md) and [SingleStore Python SDK API Reference](https://singlestoredb-python.labs.singlestore.com/api.html) for more information.

For example, the following code snippet uploads a file named **data.csv** to a Stage attached to a workspace group named **examplewsg**:

```Python
from singlestoredb import manage_workspaces
 
mgr = manage_workspaces('access_key_token_for_the_Management_API')
wg = mgr.workspace_groups['examplewsg']
wg.stage.upload_file('/filepath/data.csv', '/data.csv')
```

## Ingest a File using Stage

Files can be ingested into a database from a Stage using a pipeline.

## Using the LOAD DATA command

Create a table with a structure that can store data from the file. Use the following `LOAD DATA` syntax to load a file from a stage:

```sql
LOAD DATA STAGE 'path_in_stage/filename.extension'
INTO TABLE <table_name>
[FORMAT {JSON | AVRO | CSV}];
```

Refer to [LOAD DATA](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/reference/sql-reference/data-manipulation-language-dml/load-data.md) for a complete syntax and related information.

The following example loads data from a CSV file from a Stage:

```sql
LOAD DATA STAGE 'simple.csv' 
INTO TABLE simple_data 
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' 
IGNORE 1 LINES;
```

> **📝 Note**: `LOAD DATA STAGE` command is not supported in the Shared Edition. The workspace group must be running SingleStore version 8.9 or later.

## Using Pipelines

Create a table with a structure that can store the data from the file. Use the following `CREATE PIPELINE` syntax to load a file from a Stage:

```sql
CREATE PIPELINE <pipeline_name>
AS LOAD DATA STAGE <path_in_Stage/filename> { <pipeline_options> }
INTO TABLE <table_name>
{ <data_format_options> }
```

Once the table and pipeline are created, start the pipeline. Refer to [CREATE PIPELINE](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/reference/sql-reference/pipelines-commands/create-pipeline.md) for the complete syntax and related information.

Here's a sample `CREATE PIPELINE` statement that loads data from a CSV file:

```sql
CREATE PIPELINE dbTest.plTest
AS LOAD DATA STAGE 'data.csv'
BATCH_INTERVAL 2500
SKIP DUPLICATE KEY ERRORS
INTO TABLE t1
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' ENCLOSED BY '"' ESCAPED BY '\\' 
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n' STARTING BY '' 
FORMAT CSV;

```

## Export SQL Results to a Stage

SQL results may be exported to a Stage as follows:

```sql
SELECT * FROM <table_name> GROUP BY 1 INTO STAGE '<table_results.csv>'
FIELDS TERMINATED BY ',' 
LINES TERMINATED BY '\n';
```

Use the `GROUP BY 1` clause to avoid getting multiple files from each leaf node.

## Supported Files

The Stage storage service supports the following file formats:

| CSV     | SQL | JSON |
| ------- | --- | ---- |
| Parquet | GZ  | Zstd |
| Snappy  |     |      |

## Storage Limits

Each Stage can have up to 10GB of storage for free. Individual files must not exceed 5GB in size.

***

Modified at: May 12, 2026

Source: [/cloud/load-data/load-data-from-files/stage/](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/load-data/load-data-from-files/stage/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)