UC managed tables are where openness meets performance. These advanced tables use Predictive Optimization and Liquid Clustering to automatically tune data layouts, run compaction and vacuuming, and keep statistics fresh — delivering up to 20× faster queries and 50% lower storage costs, while staying fully accessible through open APIs.

Now in Beta, external engines, such as Apache Spark, Apache Flink, and DuckDB, can create and write to UC managed Delta tables with centralized governance and automatic optimizations.

Because every operation flows through UC managed tables built on catalog commits, you get serialized commits that prevent log corruption and complete auditability of every read and write. Predictive Optimization continues to run seamlessly, even on tables accessed by external engines. Catalog commits also lay the groundwork for features like multi-statement, multi-table transactions that require a centralized commit coordinator.

The thriving UC ecosystem is continuing to grow as engines expand support for external access to managed tables. Delta Kernel — the open source Java and Rust library for reading, writing, and committing to Delta tables — abstracts the low-level protocol details so connector developers can focus on UC integration, not Delta implementation. The Delta connectors for Apache Spark, Apache Flink, and DuckDB have all leveraged Delta Kernel to support external writes to UC managed tables and integrate with catalog-managed commits, and the ecosystem continues to grow. By handling the low-level protocol complexity, Delta Kernel makes it straightforward for any engine to integrate with Unity Catalog which contributes to a growing ecosystem of connectors.