fix(local): honor nested json-path keys in delete_payload by winklemad · Pull Request #1407 · qdrant/qdrant-client

winklemad · 2026-09-05T15:28:38Z

Problem

In local mode, delete_payload only removed top-level dict keys:

for key in keys:
    if key in self.payload[idx]:
        self.payload[idx].pop(key)

A key given as a json path — a.b, location[0].name, location[].name — never matches a top-level key, so the delete is a silent no-op. The server deletes nested keys via dot notation and preserves the rest of the payload, so local mode diverged from it.

client = QdrantClient(":memory:")
# ... upsert id=1 with payload {"a": {"b": 1, "c": 2}, "top": 9}
client.delete_payload("t", keys=["a.b"], points=[1])
client.retrieve("t", ids=[1], with_payload=True)[0].payload
# local:  {"a": {"b": 1, "c": 2}, "top": 9}   <- a.b not removed
# server: {"a": {"c": 2}, "top": 9}

Change

set_payload and filters already resolve these paths through parse_json_path; delete_payload was the one payload operation ignoring them. This adds a delete_value_by_key helper next to set_value_by_key that walks the same JsonPathItem path and removes the leaf — a path that does not resolve is a no-op, and sibling values are preserved — then calls it from delete_payload. Top-level deletes behave exactly as before.

Tests

tests/local/test_delete_value_by_key.py — unit coverage for the helper: top-level, nested dict path, deep path, array index, array wildcard, non-existent path no-op, and traversal through a non-dict. Fails on the current code (the helper does not exist).
tests/congruence_tests/test_payload.py::test_delete_payload_with_nested_key — asserts local and remote agree for a nested dict key, a non-existent nested path, an array-wildcard field, and mixed top-level + nested keys.

Checklist

Branch created from dev and targets dev
Followed the contributing conventions (sole-author, conventional-commit title, pre-commit ran clean)
Checked for duplicate open PRs

In local mode delete_payload only removed top-level dict keys, so a key given as a json path (`a.b`, `location[0].name`, `location[].name`) never matched and the delete was a silent no-op. The server deletes nested keys via dot notation and preserves the rest of the payload, so local mode diverged from it. set_payload and filters already resolve these paths through parse_json_path; delete_payload was the one payload operation ignoring them. Add a delete_value_by_key helper next to set_value_by_key that walks the same JsonPathItem path and removes the leaf (a missing path is a no-op, siblings are preserved), and use it from delete_payload.

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coderabbitai · 2026-09-05T15:35:02Z

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qdrant_client/local/tests/test_payload_utils.py

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The change validates JSON-path array indices against ASCII decimal and unsigned 64-bit rules. It adds recursive payload deletion for nested keys, arrays, and wildcards. Local collection deletion parses each path once and applies it to selected points. Unit and congruence tests cover valid, invalid, nested, wildcard, and unresolved paths.

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 5f88b

This change enables nested JSON-path payload deletion in local mode while preserving siblings and matching server behavior for indexed and wildcard cases. The supplied coverage shows no merge-blocking risk.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 11.11% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 18 functions across 6 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description check	✅ Passed	The description clearly explains the local `delete_payload` fix, the new JSON-path deletion helper, server-behavior alignment, and the related tests.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title is concise and accurately identifies the main change: local `delete_payload` now honors nested JSON-path keys.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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Inline comments:
In `@qdrant_client/local/payload_value_setter.py`:
- Around line 57-60: Update delete_value_by_key so terminal INDEX components are
not deleted, and require nested index traversal to satisfy 0 <=
current_key.index. Update parse_json_path to reject negative indexes instead of
allowing Python-style negative indexing, and add local/congruence coverage for
loc[0] and loc[-1].x.

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qdrant_client/local/local_collection.py
qdrant_client/local/payload_value_setter.py
tests/congruence_tests/test_payload.py
tests/local/test_delete_value_by_key.py

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delete_value_by_key deleted terminal array elements by index and honored Python-style negative indices, but the server does neither: it treats a terminal array-index delete as a no-op (not idempotent) and addresses elements with an unsigned index, so a negative index cannot be represented. Both cases diverged from the server this path exists to mirror. Make a terminal array index a no-op and require a non-negative, in-range index for nested traversal. Add local and congruence coverage for terminal and negative indices.

winklemad · 2026-09-06T19:20:28Z

Good catch on the indexed-deletion semantics — I traced it through the server source and fixed both divergences:

Terminal array index is now a no-op. In lib/segment/src/json_path/mod.rs, value_remove leaves the leaf (Index, Array) case empty ("Deleting array indices is not idempotent, so we don't support it"). Local mode was doing del data[i] there, so it now matches the server and does nothing.
Negative indices no longer traverse or delete. The server parses indices as usize and addresses elements with a non-negative index, so loc[-1]/loc[-1].x can't be represented server-side. Local mode was falling through to Python's negative indexing; nested traversal now requires 0 <= index < len, so those paths no-op too.

Added local cases for loc[0], loc[-1], loc[-1].x and a terminal-wildcard clear, plus a loc[0] congruence case (both sides no-op). I kept parse_json_path untouched so set_payload and filter behavior are unchanged — this stays scoped to the delete path.

…by key, add tests

* fix(local): honor nested json-path keys in delete_payload In local mode delete_payload only removed top-level dict keys, so a key given as a json path (`a.b`, `location[0].name`, `location[].name`) never matched and the delete was a silent no-op. The server deletes nested keys via dot notation and preserves the rest of the payload, so local mode diverged from it. set_payload and filters already resolve these paths through parse_json_path; delete_payload was the one payload operation ignoring them. Add a delete_value_by_key helper next to set_value_by_key that walks the same JsonPathItem path and removes the leaf (a missing path is a no-op, siblings are preserved), and use it from delete_payload. * fix(local): match server semantics for indexed payload deletion delete_value_by_key deleted terminal array elements by index and honored Python-style negative indices, but the server does neither: it treats a terminal array-index delete as a no-op (not idempotent) and addresses elements with an unsigned index, so a negative index cannot be represented. Both cases diverged from the server this path exists to mirror. Make a terminal array index a no-op and require a non-negative, in-range index for nested traversal. Add local and congruence coverage for terminal and negative indices. * fix: update json path parser, do not apply partial updates in delete by key, add tests * fix: remove new redundant top level directory --------- Co-authored-by: George Panchuk <[email protected]>

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Sep 5, 2026

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Comment thread qdrant_client/local/payload_value_setter.py Resolved

joein added 2 commits September 10, 2026 15:11

fix: update json path parser, do not apply partial updates in delete …

eef19a3

…by key, add tests

fix: remove new redundant top level directory

5f88b2b

joein self-requested a review September 10, 2026 08:34

joein approved these changes Sep 10, 2026

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joein merged commit bee2509 into qdrant:dev Sep 10, 2026
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joein mentioned this pull request Sep 11, 2026

fix(local): reject negative array indices in json path #1340

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fix(local): honor nested json-path keys in delete_payload - #1407

fix(local): honor nested json-path keys in delete_payload#1407
joein merged 4 commits into
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winklemad:fix/local-delete-payload-nested-keys

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winklemad commented Sep 5, 2026

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