Azure Tables SDK for Python

NoSQL key-value store for structured data (Azure Storage Tables or Cosmos DB Table API).

Installation

pip install azure-data-tables azure-identity

Environment Variables

# Azure Storage Tables
AZURE_STORAGE_ACCOUNT_URL=https://<account>.table.core.windows.net

# Cosmos DB Table API
COSMOS_TABLE_ENDPOINT=https://<account>.table.cosmos.azure.com

Authentication

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.data.tables import TableServiceClient, TableClient

credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
endpoint = "https://<account>.table.core.windows.net"

# Service client (manage tables)
service_client = TableServiceClient(endpoint=endpoint, credential=credential)

# Table client (work with entities)
table_client = TableClient(endpoint=endpoint, table_name="mytable", credential=credential)

Client Types

Client	Purpose
TableServiceClient	Create/delete tables, list tables
TableClient	Entity CRUD, queries

Table Operations

# Create table
service_client.create_table("mytable")

# Create if not exists
service_client.create_table_if_not_exists("mytable")

# Delete table
service_client.delete_table("mytable")

# List tables
for table in service_client.list_tables():
    print(table.name)

# Get table client
table_client = service_client.get_table_client("mytable")

Entity Operations

Important: Every entity requires PartitionKey and RowKey (together form unique ID).

Create Entity

entity = {
    "PartitionKey": "sales",
    "RowKey": "order-001",
    "product": "Widget",
    "quantity": 5,
    "price": 9.99,
    "shipped": False
}

# Create (fails if exists)
table_client.create_entity(entity=entity)

# Upsert (create or replace)
table_client.upsert_entity(entity=entity)

Get Entity

# Get by key (fastest)
entity = table_client.get_entity(
    partition_key="sales",
    row_key="order-001"
)
print(f"Product: {entity['product']}")

Update Entity

# Replace entire entity
entity["quantity"] = 10
table_client.update_entity(entity=entity, mode="replace")

# Merge (update specific fields only)
update = {
    "PartitionKey": "sales",
    "RowKey": "order-001",
    "shipped": True
}
table_client.update_entity(entity=update, mode="merge")

Delete Entity

table_client.delete_entity(
    partition_key="sales",
    row_key="order-001"
)

Query Entities

Query Within Partition

# Query by partition (efficient)
entities = table_client.query_entities(
    query_filter="PartitionKey eq 'sales'"
)
for entity in entities:
    print(entity)

Query with Filters

# Filter by properties
entities = table_client.query_entities(
    query_filter="PartitionKey eq 'sales' and quantity gt 3"
)

# With parameters (safer)
entities = table_client.query_entities(
    query_filter="PartitionKey eq @pk and price lt @max_price",
    parameters={"pk": "sales", "max_price": 50.0}
)

Select Specific Properties

entities = table_client.query_entities(
    query_filter="PartitionKey eq 'sales'",
    select=["RowKey", "product", "price"]
)

List All Entities

# List all (cross-partition - use sparingly)
for entity in table_client.list_entities():
    print(entity)

Batch Operations

from azure.data.tables import TableTransactionError

# Batch operations (same partition only!)
operations = [
    ("create", {"PartitionKey": "batch", "RowKey": "1", "data": "first"}),
    ("create", {"PartitionKey": "batch", "RowKey": "2", "data": "second"}),
    ("upsert", {"PartitionKey": "batch", "RowKey": "3", "data": "third"}),
]

try:
    table_client.submit_transaction(operations)
except TableTransactionError as e:
    print(f"Transaction failed: {e}")

Async Client

from azure.data.tables.aio import TableServiceClient, TableClient
from azure.identity.aio import DefaultAzureCredential

async def table_operations():
    credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
    
    async with TableClient(
        endpoint="https://<account>.table.core.windows.net",
        table_name="mytable",
        credential=credential
    ) as client:
        # Create
        await client.create_entity(entity={
            "PartitionKey": "async",
            "RowKey": "1",
            "data": "test"
        })
        
        # Query
        async for entity in client.query_entities("PartitionKey eq 'async'"):
            print(entity)

import asyncio
asyncio.run(table_operations())

Data Types

Python Type	Table Storage Type
str	String
int	Int64
float	Double
bool	Boolean
datetime	DateTime
bytes	Binary
UUID	Guid

Best Practices

1. Design partition keys for query patterns and even distribution
2. Query within partitions whenever possible (cross-partition is expensive)
3. Use batch operations for multiple entities in same partition
4. Use upsert_entity for idempotent writes
5. Use parameterized queries to prevent injection
6. Keep entities small — max 1MB per entity
7. Use async client for high-throughput scenarios