Datasette publishes new 1.0a34 release for data exploration
Simon Willison's Datasette project released 1.0a34 on June 16, 2026, the latest alpha in the open-source data exploration and publishing tool's journey toward a stable 1.0. The headline addition is a write interface: users can now insert, edit, and delete rows directly from Datasette's browser-based table and row pages without external tools. The edit UI respects custom column type definitions, so plugins can supply JavaScript to customize how their column types render in edit mode. The release also adds datasette.allowed_many() for batch permission checks and introduces per-request permission caching, reducing overhead on table pages where multiple plugins each trigger permission lookups to populate the actions menu. Datasette targets data journalists, researchers, and analysts who publish SQLite databases as queryable web applications.
What is new in 1.0a34
The headline addition in this release is a write interface built directly into Datasette's table and row pages. Users can now insert new rows, edit existing rows, and delete rows from inside the browser without writing separate scripts or connecting to the database externally. Per the official changelog, the edit interface respects custom column type definitions, so plugins that define their own column types can supply JavaScript to customize how those types render in edit mode - giving the plugin ecosystem a clean hook into the new write UI.
Plugin and API changes
The release adds datasette.allowed_many(), a new internals method for resolving multiple permission checks in a single call. This is useful for plugins that need to batch-evaluate whether a user can perform several actions at once, avoiding repeated permission lookups. Separately, permission checks are now cached on a per-request basis, which speeds up table pages where several plugins each trigger permission checks to populate the table actions menu. A warning related to gen.throw(*sys.exc_info()) is also resolved in this release.
Context
Datasette is maintained by Simon Willison and targets data journalists, researchers, and analysts who need a fast way to publish SQLite databases as browsable, queryable web applications. The 1.0 alpha series, now at 1.0a34, has been steadily formalizing plugin and API contracts ahead of a stable release. Significant earlier additions include stored queries (1.0a31), a Write SQL UI (1.0a31), ?_extra= support for row and query pages (1.0a33), and an official datasette-agent plugin (released 0.3a0 on June 15) for AI-assisted querying. The row-level write UI in 1.0a34 meaningfully extends what practitioners can do without leaving the browser interface.
Scoring Rationale
Datasette 1.0a34 adds meaningful write capabilities - insert, edit, and delete - to a widely used open-source data exploration tool, making it more useful for practitioners managing SQLite datasets. A solid alpha milestone for data journalists and analysts, but limited to Datasette users and still pre-1.0.
Practice interview problems based on real data
1,500+ SQL & Python problems across 15 industry datasets — the exact type of data you work with.
Try 250 free problems
