Release notes

Firebolt continuously releases updates so that you can benefit from the latest and most stable service. These updates might happen daily, but we aggregate release notes to cover a longer time period for easier reference. The most recent release notes from the latest version are below.

Firebolt might roll out releases in phases. New features and changes may not yet be available to all accounts on the release date shown.

Firebolt Release Notes - Version 4.12

New Features

Added ST_S2CELLIDFROMPOINT to retrieve the S2 Cell ID of a GEOGRAPHY Point

You can now use ST_S2CELLIDFROMPOINT to retrieve the S2 cell ID, which identifies the region on Earth that fully contains, or covers, a single Point GEOGRAPHY object. You can also specify a cell resolution level.

Added keyboard shortcuts to the Firebolt Develop Space

The Firebolt Develop Space user interface added the following Windows/Mac keyboard shortcuts:

  • Ctrl + Alt + E / Ctrl + ⌘ + E – Toggle expanding or collapsing query results.
  • Ctrl + Alt + N / Ctrl + ⌘ + N – Create a new script.
  • Ctrl + Alt + [ / Ctrl + ⌘ + [ – Jump to the previous script.
  • Ctrl + Alt + ] / Ctrl + ⌘ + ] – Jump to the next script.

Introduced the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES view for built-in functions and operators

Added the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES view to return information about all of Firebolt’s built-in functions and operators including their database, schema, name, type, return data type, parameter data types, and whether they are deterministic.

Added support for the GEOGRAPHY data type in external tables using CSV and JSON formats

Firebolt can now read columns of type GEOGRAPHY from external tables in CSV or JSON format, which allows the querying of geospatial data including Points and Polygons.

Removed secured objects from information_schema views

Users can now only access information about objects for which they have the appropriate permissions or ownership in information_schema views.

Added a new MONITOR USAGE privilege

You can use the MONITOR USAGE privilege to view all queries running on an engine using information_schema.engine_query_history or information_schema.engine_running_queries views.

Introduced support for network policy ADD/REMOVE commands
Admins can now append or remove specific IP addresses in ALLOW or BLOCK lists without overriding existing values. This update simplifies network policy management when handling large IP lists and reduces the risk of concurrent updates overwriting each other.

Performance Improvements

Improved performance of the ST_COVERS, ST_CONTAINS, and ST_INTERSECTS functions

Optimized the ST_COVERS, ST_CONTAINS, and ST_INTERSECTS functions to improve performance when processing LineStrings and Points with non-intersecting inputs, and Polygons with inputs that do not intersect their boundaries.

Improved performance of the REGEXP_LIKE_ANY function

The REGEXP_LIKE_ANY function now performs more efficiently when matching against multiple patterns by compiling a single combined RE2 regular expression object instead of evaluating each pattern separately.

Behavior Changes

Updated user name rules to improve consistency and validation

The following changes affect the use of user names in CREATE USER AND ALTER USER:

  • The @ character is no longer allowed in user names.
  • The range of permissible characters in user names is expanded. For more information, see CREATE USER.
  • When renaming a user with ALTER USER old_name RENAME TO new_name, the new_name must now comply with the updated user name rules.
  • Any new names created with CREATE USER must now comply with the updated user name rules.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an error where APACHE_DATASKETCHES_HLL_ESTIMATE failed for NULL inputs

Resolved an error in the APACHE_DATASKETCHES_HLL_ESTIMATE function that occurred if any of its input values were NULL. The function can now process NULL inputs.

Resolved issue that allowed account lockout on last login

Fixed an issue where the ALTER USER SET LOGIN/SERVICE_ACCOUNT=... statement could lock out the only active login in an account, rendering the account inaccessible. The operation now fails with an explicit error message in such cases.

Fixed incorrect ownership modification for information_schema

The statement ALTER SCHEMA information_schema SET OWNER owner_name; previously succeeded, which was incorrect, because information_schema cannot be modified. The operation now fails with an explicit error message.

Fixed an out-of-memory error during large CSV imports

Updated the ingestion pipeline for COPY FROM to ensure that large CSV files without a predefined schema can load into new tables without causing memory errors. This error did not affect external tables.

Prevent running queries when using a dropped database

When the current database does not exist, such as when it has been dropped, most queries fail as expected. We fixed a bug where some queries against specific information_schema views, such as engines, catalogs, applicable_roles, would still succeed in such cases. These queries now fail consistently, like all other queries against a non-existent database. For example, running SELECT * FROM information_schema.engines when the database is dropped previously worked, but now fails.