Release: 2.0.49 | Release Date: April 3, 2026

# SQLAlchemy 2.0 Documentation

ORM Querying Guide

This page is part of the ORM Querying Guide.

Previous: Relationship Loading Techniques | Next: Legacy Query API

# ORM API Features for Querying

## ORM Loader Options

Loader options are objects which, when passed to the `Select.options()` method of a `Select` object or similar SQL construct, affect the loading of both column and relationship-oriented attributes. The majority of loader options descend from the `Load` hierarchy. For a complete overview of using loader options, see the linked sections below.

See also

- Column Loading Options - details mapper and loading options that affect how column and SQL-expression mapped attributes are loaded

- Relationship Loading Techniques - details relationship and loading options that affect how `relationship()` mapped attributes are loaded

## ORM Execution Options

ORM-level execution options are keyword options that may be associated with a statement execution using either the `Session.execute.execution_options` parameter, which is a dictionary argument accepted by `Session` methods such as `Session.execute()` and `Session.scalars()`, or by associating them directly with the statement to be invoked itself using the `Executable.execution_options()` method, which accepts them as arbitrary keyword arguments.

ORM-level options are distinct from the Core level execution options documented at `Connection.execution_options()`. It’s important to note that the ORM options discussed below are not compatible with Core level methods `Connection.execution_options()` or `Engine.execution_options()`; the options are ignored at this level, even if the `Engine` or `Connection` is associated with the `Session` in use.

Within this section, the `Executable.execution_options()` method style will be illustrated for examples.

### Populate Existing

The `populate_existing` execution option ensures that, for all rows loaded, the corresponding instances in the `Session` will be fully refreshed – erasing any existing data within the objects (including pending changes) and replacing with the data loaded from the result.

Example use looks like:

    >>> stmt = select(User).execution_options(populate_existing=True)
    >>> result = session.execute(stmt)
    SELECT user_account.id, user_account.name, user_account.fullname
    FROM user_account
    ...

Normally, ORM objects are only loaded once, and if they are matched up to the primary key in a subsequent result row, the row is not applied to the object. This is both to preserve pending, unflushed changes on the object as well as to avoid the overhead and complexity of refreshing data which is already there. The `Session` assumes a default working model of a highly isolated transaction, and to the degree that data is expected to change within the transaction outside of the local changes being made, those use cases would be handled using explicit steps such as this method.

Using `populate_existing`, any set of objects that matches a query can be refreshed, and it also allows control over relationship loader options. E.g. to refresh an instance while also refreshing a related set of objects:

    stmt = (
        select(User)
        .where(User.name.in_(names))
        .execution_options(populate_existing=True)
        .options(selectinload(User.addresses))
    )
    # will refresh all matching User objects as well as the related
    # Address objects
    users = session.execute(stmt).scalars().all()

Another use case for `populate_existing` is in support of various attribute loading features that can change how an attribute is loaded on a per-query basis. Options for which this apply include:

- The `with_expression()` option

- The `PropComparator.and_()` method that can modify what a loader strategy loads

- The `contains_eager()` option

- The `with_loader_criteria()` option

- The `load_only()` option to select what attributes to refresh

The `populate_existing` execution option is equvialent to the `Query.populate_existing()` method in 1.x style ORM queries.

See also

I’m re-loading data with my Session but it isn’t seeing changes that I committed elsewhere - in Frequently Asked Questions

Refreshing / Expiring - in the ORM `Session` documentation

### Autoflush

This option, when passed as `False`, will cause the `Session` to not invoke the “autoflush” step. It is equivalent to using the `Session.no_autoflush` context manager to disable autoflush:

    >>> stmt = select(User).execution_options(autoflush=False)
    >>> session.execute(stmt)
    SELECT user_account.id, user_account.name, user_account.fullname
    FROM user_account
    ...

This option will also work on ORM-enabled `Update` and `Delete` queries.

The `autoflush` execution option is equvialent to the `Query.autoflush()` method in 1.x style ORM queries.

See also

Flushing

### Fetching Large Result Sets with Yield Per

The `yield_per` execution option is an integer value which will cause the `Result` to buffer only a limited number of rows and/or ORM objects at a time, before making data available to the client.

Normally, the ORM will fetch all rows immediately, constructing ORM objects for each and assembling those objects into a single buffer, before passing this buffer to the `Result` object as a source of rows to be returned. The rationale for this behavior is to allow correct behavior for features such as joined eager loading, uniquifying of results, and the general case of result handling logic that relies upon the identity map maintaining a consistent state for every object in a result set as it is fetched.

The purpose of the `yield_per` option is to change this behavior so that the ORM result set is optimized for iteration through very large result sets (e.g. > 10K rows), where the user has determined that the above patterns don’t apply. When `yield_per` is used, the ORM will instead batch ORM results into sub-collections and yield rows from each sub-collection individually as the `Result` object is iterated, so that the Python interpreter doesn’t need to declare very large areas of memory which is both time consuming and leads to excessive memory use. The option affects both the way the database cursor is used as well as how the ORM constructs rows and objects to be passed to the `Result`.

Tip

From the above, it follows that the `Result` must be consumed in an iterable fashion, that is, using iteration such as `for row in result` or using partial row methods such as `Result.fetchmany()` or `Result.partitions()`. Calling `Result.all()` will defeat the purpose of using `yield_per`.

Using `yield_per` is equivalent to making use of both the `Connection.execution_options.stream_results` execution option, which selects for server side cursors to be used by the backend if supported, and the `Result.yield_per()` method on the returned `Result` object, which establishes a fixed size of rows to be fetched as well as a corresponding limit to how many ORM objects will be constructed at once.

Tip

`yield_per` is now available as a Core execution option as well, described in detail at Using Server Side Cursors (a.k.a. stream results). This section details the use of `yield_per` as an execution option with an ORM `Session`. The option behaves as similarly as possible in both contexts.

When used with the ORM, `yield_per` must be established either via the `Executable.execution_options()` method on the given statement or by passing it to the `Session.execute.execution_options` parameter of `Session.execute()` or other similar `Session` method such as `Session.scalars()`. Typical use for fetching ORM objects is illustrated below:

    >>> stmt = select(User).execution_options(yield_per=10)
    >>> for user_obj in session.scalars(stmt):
    ...     print(user_obj)
    SELECT user_account.id, user_account.name, user_account.fullname
    FROM user_account
    [...] ()
    User(id=1, name='spongebob', fullname='Spongebob Squarepants')
    User(id=2, name='sandy', fullname='Sandy Cheeks')
    ...
    >>> # ... rows continue ...

The above code is equivalent to the example below, which uses `Connection.execution_options.stream_results` and `Connection.execution_options.max_row_buffer` Core-level execution options in conjunction with the `Result.yield_per()` method of `Result`:

    # equivalent code
    >>> stmt = select(User).execution_options(stream_results=True, max_row_buffer=10)
    >>> for user_obj in session.scalars(stmt).yield_per(10):
    ...     print(user_obj)
    SELECT user_account.id, user_account.name, user_account.fullname
    FROM user_account
    [...] ()
    User(id=1, name='spongebob', fullname='Spongebob Squarepants')
    User(id=2, name='sandy', fullname='Sandy Cheeks')
    ...
    >>> # ... rows continue ...

`yield_per` is also commonly used in combination with the `Result.partitions()` method, which will iterate rows in grouped partitions. The size of each partition defaults to the integer value passed to `yield_per`, as in the below example:

    >>> stmt = select(User).execution_options(yield_per=10)
    >>> for partition in session.scalars(stmt).partitions():
    ...     for user_obj in partition:
    ...         print(user_obj)
    SELECT user_account.id, user_account.name, user_account.fullname
    FROM user_account
    [...] ()
    User(id=1, name='spongebob', fullname='Spongebob Squarepants')
    User(id=2, name='sandy', fullname='Sandy Cheeks')
    ...
    >>> # ... rows continue ...

The `yield_per` execution option is not compatible with “subquery” eager loading loading or “joined” eager loading when using collections. It is potentially compatible with “select in” eager loading , provided the database driver supports multiple, independent cursors.

Additionally, the `yield_per` execution option is not compatible with the `Result.unique()` method; as this method relies upon storing a complete set of identities for all rows, it would necessarily defeat the purpose of using `yield_per` which is to handle an arbitrarily large number of rows.

Changed in version 1.4.6: An exception is raised when ORM rows are fetched from a `Result` object that makes use of the `Result.unique()` filter, at the same time as the `yield_per` execution option is used.

When using the legacy `Query` object with 1.x style ORM use, the `Query.yield_per()` method will have the same result as that of the `yield_per` execution option.

See also

Using Server Side Cursors (a.k.a. stream results)

### Identity Token

Deep Alchemy

This option is an advanced-use feature mostly intended to be used with the Horizontal Sharding extension. For typical cases of loading objects with identical primary keys from different “shards” or partitions, consider using individual `Session` objects per shard first.

The “identity token” is an arbitrary value that can be associated within the identity key of newly loaded objects. This element exists first and foremost to support extensions which perform per-row “sharding”, where objects may be loaded from any number of replicas of a particular database table that nonetheless have overlapping primary key values. The primary consumer of “identity token” is the Horizontal Sharding extension, which supplies a general framework for persisting objects among multiple “shards” of a particular database table.

The `identity_token` execution option may be used on a per-query basis to directly affect this token. Using it directly, one can populate a `Session` with multiple instances of an object that have the same primary key and source table, but different “identities”.

One such example is to populate a `Session` with objects that come from same-named tables in different schemas, using the Translation of Schema Names feature which can affect the choice of schema within the scope of queries. Given a mapping as:

    from sqlalchemy.orm import DeclarativeBase
    from sqlalchemy.orm import Mapped
    from sqlalchemy.orm import mapped_column

    class Base(DeclarativeBase):
        pass

    class MyTable(Base):
        __tablename__ = "my_table"

        id: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(primary_key=True)
        name: Mapped[str]

The default “schema” name for the class above is `None`, meaning, no schema qualification will be written into SQL statements. However, if we make use of `Connection.execution_options.schema_translate_map`, mapping `None` to an alternate schema, we can place instances of `MyTable` into two different schemas:

    engine = create_engine(
        "postgresql+psycopg://scott:tiger@localhost/test",
    )

    with Session(
        engine.execution_options(schema_translate_map={None: "test_schema"})
    ) as sess:
        sess.add(MyTable(name="this is schema one"))
        sess.commit()

    with Session(
        engine.execution_options(schema_translate_map={None: "test_schema_2"})
    ) as sess:
        sess.add(MyTable(name="this is schema two"))
        sess.commit()

The above two blocks create a `Session` object linked to a different schema translate map each time, and an instance of `MyTable` is persisted into both `test_schema.my_table` as well as `test_schema_2.my_table`.

The `Session` objects above are independent. If we wanted to persist both objects in one transaction, we would need to use the Horizontal Sharding extension to do this.

However, we can illustrate querying for these objects in one session as follows:

    with Session(engine) as sess:
        obj1 = sess.scalar(
            select(MyTable)
            .where(MyTable.id == 1)
            .execution_options(
                schema_translate_map={None: "test_schema"},
                identity_token="test_schema",
            )
        )
        obj2 = sess.scalar(
            select(MyTable)
            .where(MyTable.id == 1)
            .execution_options(
                schema_translate_map={None: "test_schema_2"},
                identity_token="test_schema_2",
            )
        )

Both `obj1` and `obj2` are distinct from each other. However, they both refer to primary key id 1 for the `MyTable` class, yet are distinct. This is how the `identity_token` comes into play, which we can see in the inspection of each object, where we look at `InstanceState.key` to view the two distinct identity tokens:

    >>> from sqlalchemy import inspect
    >>> inspect(obj1).key
    (<class '__main__.MyTable'>, (1,), 'test_schema')
    >>> inspect(obj2).key
    (<class '__main__.MyTable'>, (1,), 'test_schema_2')

The above logic takes place automatically when using the Horizontal Sharding extension.

Added in version 2.0.0rc1: - added the `identity_token` ORM level execution option.

See also

Horizontal Sharding - in the ORM Examples section. See the script `separate_schema_translates.py` for a demonstration of the above use case using the full sharding API.

#### Inspecting entities and columns from ORM-enabled SELECT and DML statements

The `select()` construct, as well as the `insert()`, `update()` and `delete()` constructs (for the latter DML constructs, as of SQLAlchemy 1.4.33), all support the ability to inspect the entities in which these statements are created against, as well as the columns and datatypes that would be returned in a result set.

For a `Select` object, this information is available from the `Select.column_descriptions` attribute. This attribute operates in the same way as the legacy `Query.column_descriptions` attribute. The format returned is a list of dictionaries:

    >>> from pprint import pprint
    >>> user_alias = aliased(User, name="user2")
    >>> stmt = select(User, User.id, user_alias)
    >>> pprint(stmt.column_descriptions)
    [{'aliased': False,
      'entity': <class 'User'>,
      'expr': <class 'User'>,
      'name': 'User',
      'type': <class 'User'>},
     {'aliased': False,
      'entity': <class 'User'>,
      'expr': <....InstrumentedAttribute object at ...>,
      'name': 'id',
      'type': Integer()},
     {'aliased': True,
      'entity': <AliasedClass ...; User>,
      'expr': <AliasedClass ...; User>,
      'name': 'user2',
      'type': <class 'User'>}]

When `Select.column_descriptions` is used with non-ORM objects such as plain `Table` or `Column` objects, the entries will contain basic information about individual columns returned in all cases:

    >>> stmt = select(user_table, address_table.c.id)
    >>> pprint(stmt.column_descriptions)
    [{'expr': Column('id', Integer(), table=<user_account>, primary_key=True, nullable=False),
      'name': 'id',
      'type': Integer()},
     {'expr': Column('name', String(), table=<user_account>, nullable=False),
      'name': 'name',
      'type': String()},
     {'expr': Column('fullname', String(), table=<user_account>),
      'name': 'fullname',
      'type': String()},
     {'expr': Column('id', Integer(), table=<address>, primary_key=True, nullable=False),
      'name': 'id_1',
      'type': Integer()}]

Changed in version 1.4.33: The `Select.column_descriptions` attribute now returns a value when used against a `Select` that is not ORM-enabled. Previously, this would raise `NotImplementedError`.

For `insert()`, `update()` and `delete()` constructs, there are two separate attributes. One is `UpdateBase.entity_description` which returns information about the primary ORM entity and database table which the DML construct would be affecting:

    >>> from sqlalchemy import update
    >>> stmt = update(User).values(name="somename").returning(User.id)
    >>> pprint(stmt.entity_description)
    {'entity': <class 'User'>,
     'expr': <class 'User'>,
     'name': 'User',
     'table': Table('user_account', ...),
     'type': <class 'User'>}

Tip

The `UpdateBase.entity_description` includes an entry `"table"` which is actually the table to be inserted, updated or deleted by the statement, which is not always the same as the SQL “selectable” to which the class may be mapped. For example, in a joined-table inheritance scenario, `"table"` will refer to the local table for the given entity.

The other is `UpdateBase.returning_column_descriptions` which delivers information about the columns present in the RETURNING collection in a manner roughly similar to that of `Select.column_descriptions`:

    >>> pprint(stmt.returning_column_descriptions)
    [{'aliased': False,
      'entity': <class 'User'>,
      'expr': <sqlalchemy.orm.attributes.InstrumentedAttribute ...>,
      'name': 'id',
      'type': Integer()}]

Added in version 1.4.33: Added the `UpdateBase.entity_description` and `UpdateBase.returning_column_descriptions` attributes.

#### Additional ORM API Constructs

Object Name | Description
--- | ---
aliased(element[, alias, name, flat, ...]) | Produce an alias of the given element, usually an `AliasedClass` instance.
AliasedClass | Represents an “aliased” form of a mapped class for usage with Query.
AliasedInsp | Provide an inspection interface for an `AliasedClass` object.
Bundle | A grouping of SQL expressions that are returned by a `Query` under one namespace.
join(left, right[, onclause, isouter, ...]) | Produce an inner join between left and right clauses.
outerjoin(left, right[, onclause, full]) | Produce a left outer join between left and right clauses.
with_loader_criteria(entity_or_base, where_criteria[, loader_only, include_aliases, ...]) | Add additional WHERE criteria to the load for all occurrences of a particular entity.
with_parent(instance, prop[, from_entity]) | Create filtering criterion that relates this query’s primary entity to the given related instance, using established `relationship()` configuration.

function sqlalchemy.orm.aliased(element: _EntityType[_O] | FromClause, alias: FromClause | None = None, name: str | None = None, flat: bool = False, adapt_on_names: bool = False) → AliasedClass[_O] | FromClause | AliasedType[_O]

  Produce an alias of the given element, usually an `AliasedClass` instance.

  E.g.:

      my_alias = aliased(MyClass)

      stmt = select(MyClass, my_alias).filter(MyClass.id > my_alias.id)
      result = session.execute(stmt)

  The `aliased()` function is used to create an ad-hoc mapping of a mapped class to a new selectable. By default, a selectable is generated from the normally mapped selectable (typically a `Table` ) using the `FromClause.alias()` method. However, `aliased()` can also be used to link the class to a new `select()` statement. Also, the `with_polymorphic()` function is a variant of `aliased()` that is intended to specify a so-called “polymorphic selectable”, that corresponds to the union of several joined-inheritance subclasses at once.

  For convenience, the `aliased()` function also accepts plain `FromClause` constructs, such as a `Table` or `select()` construct. In those cases, the `FromClause.alias()` method is called on the object and the new `Alias` object returned. The returned `Alias` is not ORM-mapped in this case.

  See also

  ORM Entity Aliases - in the SQLAlchemy Unified Tutorial

  Selecting ORM Aliases - in the ORM Querying Guide

  Parameters:

    - element – element to be aliased. Is normally a mapped class, but for convenience can also be a `FromClause` element.

    - alias – Optional selectable unit to map the element to. This is usually used to link the object to a subquery, and should be an aliased select construct as one would produce from the `Query.subquery()` method or the `Select.subquery()` or `Select.alias()` methods of the `select()` construct.

    - name – optional string name to use for the alias, if not specified by the `alias` parameter. The name, among other things, forms the attribute name that will be accessible via tuples returned by a `Query` object. Not supported when creating aliases of `Join` objects.

    - flat –

      Boolean, will be passed through to the `FromClause.alias()` call so that aliases of `Join` objects will alias the individual tables inside the join, rather than creating a subquery. This is generally supported by all modern databases with regards to right-nested joins and generally produces more efficient queries.

      When `aliased.flat` is combined with `aliased.name`, the resulting joins will alias individual tables using a naming scheme similar to `<prefix>_<tablename>`. This naming scheme is for visibility / debugging purposes only and the specific scheme is subject to change without notice.

      Added in version 2.0.32: added support for combining `aliased.name` with `aliased.flat`. Previously, this would raise `NotImplementedError`.

    - adapt_on_names –

      if True, more liberal “matching” will be used when mapping the mapped columns of the ORM entity to those of the given selectable - a name-based match will be performed if the given selectable doesn’t otherwise have a column that corresponds to one on the entity. The use case for this is when associating an entity with some derived selectable such as one that uses aggregate functions:

          class UnitPrice(Base):
              __tablename__ = "unit_price"
              ...
              unit_id = Column(Integer)
              price = Column(Numeric)

          aggregated_unit_price = (
              Session.query(func.sum(UnitPrice.price).label("price"))
              .group_by(UnitPrice.unit_id)
              .subquery()
          )

          aggregated_unit_price = aliased(
              UnitPrice, alias=aggregated_unit_price, adapt_on_names=True
          )

      Above, functions on `aggregated_unit_price` which refer to `.price` will return the `func.sum(UnitPrice.price).label('price')` column, as it is matched on the name “price”. Ordinarily, the “price” function wouldn’t have any “column correspondence” to the actual `UnitPrice.price` column as it is not a proxy of the original.

class sqlalchemy.orm.util.AliasedClass

  inherits from `sqlalchemy.inspection.Inspectable`, `sqlalchemy.orm.ORMColumnsClauseRole`

  Represents an “aliased” form of a mapped class for usage with Query.

  The ORM equivalent of a `alias()` construct, this object mimics the mapped class using a `__getattr__` scheme and maintains a reference to a real `Alias` object.

  A primary purpose of `AliasedClass` is to serve as an alternate within a SQL statement generated by the ORM, such that an existing mapped entity can be used in multiple contexts. A simple example:

      # find all pairs of users with the same name
      user_alias = aliased(User)
      session.query(User, user_alias).join(
          (user_alias, User.id > user_alias.id)
      ).filter(User.name == user_alias.name)

  `AliasedClass` is also capable of mapping an existing mapped class to an entirely new selectable, provided this selectable is column- compatible with the existing mapped selectable, and it can also be configured in a mapping as the target of a `relationship()`. See the links below for examples.

  The `AliasedClass` object is constructed typically using the `aliased()` function. It also is produced with additional configuration when using the `with_polymorphic()` function.

  The resulting object is an instance of `AliasedClass`. This object implements an attribute scheme which produces the same attribute and method interface as the original mapped class, allowing `AliasedClass` to be compatible with any attribute technique which works on the original class, including hybrid attributes (see Hybrid Attributes).

  The `AliasedClass` can be inspected for its underlying `Mapper`, aliased selectable, and other information using `inspect()`:

      from sqlalchemy import inspect

      my_alias = aliased(MyClass)
      insp = inspect(my_alias)

  The resulting inspection object is an instance of `AliasedInsp`.

  See also

  `aliased()`

  `with_polymorphic()`

  Relationship to Aliased Class

  Row-Limited Relationships with Window Functions

class sqlalchemy.orm.util.AliasedInsp

  inherits from `sqlalchemy.orm.ORMEntityColumnsClauseRole`, `sqlalchemy.orm.ORMFromClauseRole`, `sqlalchemy.sql.cache_key.HasCacheKey`, `sqlalchemy.orm.base.InspectionAttr`, `sqlalchemy.util.langhelpers.MemoizedSlots`, `sqlalchemy.inspection.Inspectable`, `typing.Generic`

  Provide an inspection interface for an `AliasedClass` object.

  The `AliasedInsp` object is returned given an `AliasedClass` using the `inspect()` function:

      from sqlalchemy import inspect
      from sqlalchemy.orm import aliased

      my_alias = aliased(MyMappedClass)
      insp = inspect(my_alias)

  Attributes on `AliasedInsp` include:

  - `entity` - the `AliasedClass` represented.

  - `mapper` - the `Mapper` mapping the underlying class.

  - `selectable` - the `Alias` construct which ultimately represents an aliased `Table` or `Select` construct.

  - `name` - the name of the alias. Also is used as the attribute name when returned in a result tuple from `Query`.

  - `with_polymorphic_mappers` - collection of `Mapper` objects indicating all those mappers expressed in the select construct for the `AliasedClass`.

  - `polymorphic_on` - an alternate column or SQL expression which will be used as the “discriminator” for a polymorphic load.

  See also

  Runtime Inspection API

class sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle

  inherits from `sqlalchemy.orm.ORMColumnsClauseRole`, `sqlalchemy.sql.annotation.SupportsCloneAnnotations`, `sqlalchemy.sql.cache_key.MemoizedHasCacheKey`, `sqlalchemy.inspection.Inspectable`, `sqlalchemy.orm.base.InspectionAttr`

  A grouping of SQL expressions that are returned by a `Query` under one namespace.

  The `Bundle` essentially allows nesting of the tuple-based results returned by a column-oriented `Query` object. It also is extensible via simple subclassing, where the primary capability to override is that of how the set of expressions should be returned, allowing post-processing as well as custom return types, without involving ORM identity-mapped classes.

  See also

  Grouping Selected Attributes with Bundles

  Member Name | Description
  --- | ---
  __init__() | Construct a new `Bundle`.
  c | An alias for `Bundle.columns`.
  columns | A namespace of SQL expressions referred to by this `Bundle`.
  create_row_processor() | Produce the “row processing” function for this `Bundle`.
  is_aliased_class | True if this object is an instance of `AliasedClass`.
  is_bundle | True if this object is an instance of `Bundle`.
  is_clause_element | True if this object is an instance of `ClauseElement`.
  is_mapper | True if this object is an instance of `Mapper`.
  label() | Provide a copy of this `Bundle` passing a new label.
  single_entity | If True, queries for a single Bundle will be returned as a single entity, rather than an element within a keyed tuple.

  method `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`__init__(name: str, *exprs: _ColumnExpressionArgument[Any], **kw: Any)

    Construct a new `Bundle`.

    e.g.:

        bn = Bundle("mybundle", MyClass.x, MyClass.y)

        for row in session.query(bn).filter(bn.c.x == 5).filter(bn.c.y == 4):
            print(row.mybundle.x, row.mybundle.y)

    Parameters:

      - name – name of the bundle.

      - *exprs – columns or SQL expressions comprising the bundle.

      - single_entity=False – if True, rows for this `Bundle` can be returned as a “single entity” outside of any enclosing tuple in the same manner as a mapped entity.

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`c: ReadOnlyColumnCollection[str, KeyedColumnElement[Any]]

    An alias for `Bundle.columns`.

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`columns: ReadOnlyColumnCollection[str, KeyedColumnElement[Any]]

    A namespace of SQL expressions referred to by this `Bundle`.

    > e.g.:

    >     bn = Bundle("mybundle", MyClass.x, MyClass.y)

    >     q = sess.query(bn).filter(bn.c.x == 5)

    > Nesting of bundles is also supported:

    >     b1 = Bundle(
    >         "b1",
    >         Bundle("b2", MyClass.a, MyClass.b),
    >         Bundle("b3", MyClass.x, MyClass.y),
    >     )

    >     q = sess.query(b1).filter(b1.c.b2.c.a == 5).filter(b1.c.b3.c.y == 9)

    See also

    `Bundle.c`

  method `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`create_row_processor(query: Select[Any], procs: Sequence[Callable[[Row[Any]], Any]], labels: Sequence[str]) → Callable[[Row[Any]], Any]

    Produce the “row processing” function for this `Bundle`.

    May be overridden by subclasses to provide custom behaviors when results are fetched. The method is passed the statement object and a set of “row processor” functions at query execution time; these processor functions when given a result row will return the individual attribute value, which can then be adapted into any kind of return data structure.

    The example below illustrates replacing the usual `Row` return structure with a straight Python dictionary:

        from sqlalchemy.orm import Bundle

        class DictBundle(Bundle):
            def create_row_processor(self, query, procs, labels):
                "Override create_row_processor to return values as dictionaries"

                def proc(row):
                    return dict(zip(labels, (proc(row) for proc in procs)))

                return proc

    A result from the above `Bundle` will return dictionary values:

        bn = DictBundle("mybundle", MyClass.data1, MyClass.data2)
        for row in session.execute(select(bn)).where(bn.c.data1 == "d1"):
            print(row.mybundle["data1"], row.mybundle["data2"])

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`is_aliased_class = False

    True if this object is an instance of `AliasedClass`.

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`is_bundle = True

    True if this object is an instance of `Bundle`.

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`is_clause_element = False

    True if this object is an instance of `ClauseElement`.

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`is_mapper = False

    True if this object is an instance of `Mapper`.

  method `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`label(name)

    Provide a copy of this `Bundle` passing a new label.

  attribute `sqlalchemy.orm.Bundle.`single_entity = False

    If True, queries for a single Bundle will be returned as a single entity, rather than an element within a keyed tuple.

function sqlalchemy.orm.with_loader_criteria(entity_or_base: _EntityType[Any], where_criteria: _ColumnExpressionArgument[bool] | Callable[[Any], _ColumnExpressionArgument[bool]], loader_only: bool = False, include_aliases: bool = False, propagate_to_loaders: bool = True, track_closure_variables: bool = True) → LoaderCriteriaOption

  Add additional WHERE criteria to the load for all occurrences of a particular entity.

  Added in version 1.4.

  The `with_loader_criteria()` option is intended to add limiting criteria to a particular kind of entity in a query, globally, meaning it will apply to the entity as it appears in the SELECT query as well as within any subqueries, join conditions, and relationship loads, including both eager and lazy loaders, without the need for it to be specified in any particular part of the query. The rendering logic uses the same system used by single table inheritance to ensure a certain discriminator is applied to a table.

  E.g., using 2.0-style queries, we can limit the way the `User.addresses` collection is loaded, regardless of the kind of loading used:

      from sqlalchemy.orm import with_loader_criteria

      stmt = select(User).options(
          selectinload(User.addresses),
          with_loader_criteria(Address, Address.email_address != "foo"),
      )

  Above, the “selectinload” for `User.addresses` will apply the given filtering criteria to the WHERE clause.

  Another example, where the filtering will be applied to the ON clause of the join, in this example using 1.x style queries:

      q = (
          session.query(User)
          .outerjoin(User.addresses)
          .options(with_loader_criteria(Address, Address.email_address != "foo"))
      )

  The primary purpose of `with_loader_criteria()` is to use it in the `SessionEvents.do_orm_execute()` event handler to ensure that all occurrences of a particular entity are filtered in a certain way, such as filtering for access control roles. It also can be used to apply criteria to relationship loads. In the example below, we can apply a certain set of rules to all queries emitted by a particular `Session`:

      session = Session(bind=engine)

      @event.listens_for("do_orm_execute", session)
      def _add_filtering_criteria(execute_state):

          if (
              execute_state.is_select
              and not execute_state.is_column_load
              and not execute_state.is_relationship_load
          ):
              execute_state.statement = execute_state.statement.options(
                  with_loader_criteria(
                      SecurityRole,
                      lambda cls: cls.role.in_(["some_role"]),
                      include_aliases=True,
                  )
              )

  In the above example, the `SessionEvents.do_orm_execute()` event will intercept all queries emitted using the `Session`. For those queries which are SELECT statements and are not attribute or relationship loads a custom `with_loader_criteria()` option is added to the query. The `with_loader_criteria()` option will be used in the given statement and will also be automatically propagated to all relationship loads that descend from this query.

  The criteria argument given is a `lambda` that accepts a `cls` argument. The given class will expand to include all mapped subclass and need not itself be a mapped class.

  Tip

  When using `with_loader_criteria()` option in conjunction with the `contains_eager()` loader option, it’s important to note that `with_loader_criteria()` only affects the part of the query that determines what SQL is rendered in terms of the WHERE and FROM clauses. The `contains_eager()` option does not affect the rendering of the SELECT statement outside of the columns clause, so does not have any interaction with the `with_loader_criteria()` option. However, the way things “work” is that `contains_eager()` is meant to be used with a query that is already selecting from the additional entities in some way, where `with_loader_criteria()` can apply it’s additional criteria.

  In the example below, assuming a mapping relationship as `A -> A.bs -> B`, the given `with_loader_criteria()` option will affect the way in which the JOIN is rendered:

      stmt = (
          select(A)
          .join(A.bs)
          .options(contains_eager(A.bs), with_loader_criteria(B, B.flag == 1))
      )

  Above, the given `with_loader_criteria()` option will affect the ON clause of the JOIN that is specified by `.join(A.bs)`, so is applied as expected. The `contains_eager()` option has the effect that columns from `B` are added to the columns clause:

      SELECT
          b.id, b.a_id, b.data, b.flag,
          a.id AS id_1,
          a.data AS data_1
      FROM a JOIN b ON a.id = b.a_id AND b.flag = :flag_1

  The use of the `contains_eager()` option within the above statement has no effect on the behavior of the `with_loader_criteria()` option. If the `contains_eager()` option were omitted, the SQL would be the same as regards the FROM and WHERE clauses, where `with_loader_criteria()` continues to add its criteria to the ON clause of the JOIN. The addition of `contains_eager()` only affects the columns clause, in that additional columns against `b` are added which are then consumed by the ORM to produce `B` instances.

  Warning

  The use of a lambda inside of the call to `with_loader_criteria()` is only invoked once per unique class. Custom functions should not be invoked within this lambda. See Using Lambdas to add significant speed gains to statement production for an overview of the “lambda SQL” feature, which is for advanced use only.

  Parameters:

    - entity_or_base – a mapped class, or a class that is a super class of a particular set of mapped classes, to which the rule will apply.

    - where_criteria –

      a Core SQL expression that applies limiting criteria. This may also be a “lambda:” or Python function that accepts a target class as an argument, when the given class is a base with many different mapped subclasses.

      Note

      To support pickling, use a module-level Python function to produce the SQL expression instead of a lambda or a fixed SQL expression, which tend to not be picklable.

    - include_aliases – if True, apply the rule to `aliased()` constructs as well.

    - propagate_to_loaders –

      defaults to True, apply to relationship loaders such as lazy loaders. This indicates that the option object itself including SQL expression is carried along with each loaded instance. Set to `False` to prevent the object from being assigned to individual instances.

      See also

      ORM Query Events - includes examples of using `with_loader_criteria()`.

      Adding global WHERE / ON criteria - basic example on how to combine `with_loader_criteria()` with the `SessionEvents.do_orm_execute()` event.

    - track_closure_variables –

      when False, closure variables inside of a lambda expression will not be used as part of any cache key. This allows more complex expressions to be used inside of a lambda expression but requires that the lambda ensures it returns the identical SQL every time given a particular class.

      Added in version 1.4.0b2.

function sqlalchemy.orm.join(left: _FromClauseArgument, right: _FromClauseArgument, onclause: _OnClauseArgument | None = None, isouter: bool = False, full: bool = False) → _ORMJoin

  Produce an inner join between left and right clauses.

  `join()` is an extension to the core join interface provided by `join()`, where the left and right selectable may be not only core selectable objects such as `Table`, but also mapped classes or `AliasedClass` instances. The “on” clause can be a SQL expression or an ORM mapped attribute referencing a configured `relationship()`.

  `join()` is not commonly needed in modern usage, as its functionality is encapsulated within that of the `Select.join()` and `Query.join()` methods. which feature a significant amount of automation beyond `join()` by itself. Explicit use of `join()` with ORM-enabled SELECT statements involves use of the `Select.select_from()` method, as in:

      from sqlalchemy.orm import join

      stmt = (
          select(User)
          .select_from(join(User, Address, User.addresses))
          .filter(Address.email_address == "foo@bar.com")
      )

  In modern SQLAlchemy the above join can be written more succinctly as:

      stmt = (
          select(User)
          .join(User.addresses)
          .filter(Address.email_address == "foo@bar.com")
      )

  Warning

  using `join()` directly may not work properly with modern ORM options such as `with_loader_criteria()`. It is strongly recommended to use the idiomatic join patterns provided by methods such as `Select.join()` and `Select.join_from()` when creating ORM joins.

  See also

  Joins - in the ORM Querying Guide for background on idiomatic ORM join patterns

function sqlalchemy.orm.outerjoin(left: _FromClauseArgument, right: _FromClauseArgument, onclause: _OnClauseArgument | None = None, full: bool = False) → _ORMJoin

  Produce a left outer join between left and right clauses.

  This is the “outer join” version of the `join()` function, featuring the same behavior except that an OUTER JOIN is generated. See that function’s documentation for other usage details.

function sqlalchemy.orm.with_parent(instance: object, prop: attributes.QueryableAttribute[Any], from_entity: _EntityType[Any] | None = None) → ColumnElement[bool]

  Create filtering criterion that relates this query’s primary entity to the given related instance, using established `relationship()` configuration.

  E.g.:

      stmt = select(Address).where(with_parent(some_user, User.addresses))

  The SQL rendered is the same as that rendered when a lazy loader would fire off from the given parent on that attribute, meaning that the appropriate state is taken from the parent object in Python without the need to render joins to the parent table in the rendered statement.

  The given property may also make use of `PropComparator.of_type()` to indicate the left side of the criteria:

      a1 = aliased(Address)
      a2 = aliased(Address)
      stmt = select(a1, a2).where(with_parent(u1, User.addresses.of_type(a2)))

  The above use is equivalent to using the `from_entity()` argument:

      a1 = aliased(Address)
      a2 = aliased(Address)
      stmt = select(a1, a2).where(
          with_parent(u1, User.addresses, from_entity=a2)
      )

  Parameters:

    - instance – An instance which has some `relationship()`.

    - property – Class-bound attribute, which indicates what relationship from the instance should be used to reconcile the parent/child relationship.

    - from_entity –

      Entity in which to consider as the left side. This defaults to the “zero” entity of the `Query` itself.

      Added in version 1.2.

ORM Querying Guide

Next Query Guide Section: Legacy Query API