# Formats (/docs/reference/sql/formats)



Formats [#formats]

This page describes the RawTree engine binary used to generate this reference. It does not define Query API support. Descriptions retain upstream ClickHouse terminology. See [SQL interface scope](/docs/reference/clickhouse-compatibility#service-interfaces).

The Query API returns `JSON` by default. It also accepts `JSONEachRow`, `JSONEachRowWithProgress`, `JSONCompact`, `CSV`, `CSVWithNames`, `TSV`, `TSVWithNames`, and `TabSeparated` as output formats.

These names match the backend allowlist and ignore case.

The table below lists engine-level input and output support. Endpoint input rules can differ.

Generic table inserts accept JSON objects or arrays. OTLP accepts JSON or protobuf. Splunk HEC accepts JSON events or raw text.

Firehose transform records can contain JSON objects, JSON arrays, or TSV text.

| Format                                         | Input | Output |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ----- | ------ |
| `Arrow`                                        | Yes   | Yes    |
| `ArrowStream`                                  | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Avro`                                         | Yes   | Yes    |
| `AvroConfluent`                                | Yes   | Yes    |
| `BSONEachRow`                                  | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Buffers`                                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CapnProto`                                    | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CSV`                                          | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CSVWithNames`                                 | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CSVWithNamesAndTypes`                         | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CustomSeparated`                              | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CustomSeparatedIgnoreSpaces`                  | Yes   | No     |
| `CustomSeparatedIgnoreSpacesWithNames`         | Yes   | No     |
| `CustomSeparatedIgnoreSpacesWithNamesAndTypes` | Yes   | No     |
| `CustomSeparatedWithNames`                     | Yes   | Yes    |
| `CustomSeparatedWithNamesAndTypes`             | Yes   | Yes    |
| `DWARF`                                        | Yes   | No     |
| `Form`                                         | Yes   | No     |
| `GeoJSON`                                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Hash`                                         | No    | Yes    |
| `HiveText`                                     | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSON`                                         | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONAsObject`                                 | Yes   | No     |
| `JSONAsString`                                 | Yes   | No     |
| `JSONColumns`                                  | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONColumnsWithMetadata`                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompact`                                  | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactColumns`                           | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactEachRow`                           | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactEachRowWithNames`                  | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactEachRowWithNamesAndTypes`          | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactEachRowWithProgress`               | No    | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactStrings`                           | No    | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactStringsEachRow`                    | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactStringsEachRowWithNames`           | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactStringsEachRowWithNamesAndTypes`   | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONCompactStringsEachRowWithProgress`        | No    | Yes    |
| `JSONEachRow`                                  | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONEachRowWithProgress`                      | No    | Yes    |
| `JSONL`                                        | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONLines`                                    | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONObjectEachRow`                            | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONStrings`                                  | No    | Yes    |
| `JSONStringsEachRow`                           | Yes   | Yes    |
| `JSONStringsEachRowWithProgress`               | No    | Yes    |
| `LineAsString`                                 | Yes   | Yes    |
| `LineAsStringWithNames`                        | No    | Yes    |
| `LineAsStringWithNamesAndTypes`                | No    | Yes    |
| `Markdown`                                     | No    | Yes    |
| `MD`                                           | No    | Yes    |
| `MsgPack`                                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `MySQLDump`                                    | Yes   | No     |
| `MySQLWire`                                    | No    | Yes    |
| `Native`                                       | Yes   | Yes    |
| `NDJSON`                                       | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Npy`                                          | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Null`                                         | No    | Yes    |
| `ODBCDriver2`                                  | No    | Yes    |
| `One`                                          | Yes   | No     |
| `ORC`                                          | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Parquet`                                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `ParquetMetadata`                              | Yes   | No     |
| `PNG`                                          | No    | Yes    |
| `PostgreSQLWire`                               | No    | Yes    |
| `Pretty`                                       | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyCompact`                                | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyCompactMonoBlock`                       | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyCompactNoEscapes`                       | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyCompactNoEscapesMonoBlock`              | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyJSONEachRow`                            | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyJSONLines`                              | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyMonoBlock`                              | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyNDJSON`                                 | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyNoEscapes`                              | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettyNoEscapesMonoBlock`                     | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettySpace`                                  | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettySpaceMonoBlock`                         | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettySpaceNoEscapes`                         | No    | Yes    |
| `PrettySpaceNoEscapesMonoBlock`                | No    | Yes    |
| `Prometheus`                                   | No    | Yes    |
| `Protobuf`                                     | Yes   | Yes    |
| `ProtobufList`                                 | Yes   | Yes    |
| `ProtobufSingle`                               | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Puffin`                                       | Yes   | No     |
| `PuffinMetadata`                               | Yes   | No     |
| `Raw`                                          | Yes   | Yes    |
| `RawBLOB`                                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `RawWithNames`                                 | Yes   | Yes    |
| `RawWithNamesAndTypes`                         | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Regexp`                                       | Yes   | No     |
| `RowBinary`                                    | Yes   | Yes    |
| `RowBinaryWithDefaults`                        | Yes   | No     |
| `RowBinaryWithNames`                           | Yes   | Yes    |
| `RowBinaryWithNamesAndTypes`                   | Yes   | Yes    |
| `RowBinaryWithNamesAndTypesAndDefaults`        | Yes   | No     |
| `SQLInsert`                                    | No    | Yes    |
| `TabSeparated`                                 | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TabSeparatedRaw`                              | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TabSeparatedRawWithNames`                     | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TabSeparatedRawWithNamesAndTypes`             | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TabSeparatedWithNames`                        | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TabSeparatedWithNamesAndTypes`                | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Template`                                     | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TemplateIgnoreSpaces`                         | Yes   | No     |
| `TSKV`                                         | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TSV`                                          | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TSVRaw`                                       | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TSVRawWithNames`                              | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TSVRawWithNamesAndTypes`                      | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TSVWithNames`                                 | Yes   | Yes    |
| `TSVWithNamesAndTypes`                         | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Values`                                       | Yes   | Yes    |
| `Vertical`                                     | No    | Yes    |
| `XML`                                          | No    | Yes    |