Re: Add LIMIT option to COPY FROM

On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 3:49 PM Shinya Kato <shinya11(dot)kato(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:

> Hi hackers,
>
> I'd like to propose adding a LIMIT option to COPY FROM, which limits
> the number of rows to load.
>
> With COPY TO, we can use the LIMIT clause in the query to restrict
> output rows, but COPY FROM has no equivalent way to limit the number
> of rows to load (except using the PROGRAM option with external tools
> like head). This patch resolves that asymmetry.
>
> Syntax example:
> - COPY t FROM STDIN (LIMIT 100);
>

I work with such scenarios a lot and I can't see why COPY should worry
itself about such filtering.
IRL most of what goes into COPY'S STDIN has already been filtered
extensively,
like ... | head -n 100 | COPY t FROM STDIN