r/vignettes/developers/binary_features.Rmd - arrow - Git at Google

 ---
 title: "Libarrow binary features"
 description: >
   Understanding which C++ features are enabled in Arrow R package builds
 output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
 ---

 This document explains which C++ features are enabled in different Arrow R
 package build configurations, and documents the decisions behind our default
 feature set. This is intended as internal developer documentation for understanding
 which features are enabled in which builds. It is not intended to be a guide for
 installing the Arrow R package; for that, see the
 [installation guide](../../install.html).

 ## Overview

 When the Arrow R package is installed, it needs a copy of the Arrow C++ library
 (libarrow). This can come from:

 1. **Prebuilt binaries** we host (for releases and nightlies)
 2. **Source builds** when binaries aren't available or users opt out

 The features available in libarrow depend on how it was built. This document
 covers the feature configuration for both scenarios.

 ## Prebuilt libarrow binary configuration

 We produce prebuilt libarrow binaries for macOS, Windows, and Linux. These
 binaries include **more features** than the default source build to provide
 users with a fully-featured experience out of the box.

 ### Current binary feature set

 | Platform | S3 | GCS | Azure | Configured in |
 |----------|----|----|---------------|
 | macOS (ARM64, x86_64) | ON | ON | ON | `dev/tasks/r/github.packages.yml` |
 | Windows | ON | ON | OFF | `ci/scripts/PKGBUILD` |
 | Linux (x86_64) | ON | ON | ON | `compose.yaml` (`ubuntu-cpp-static`) |

 ### Exceptions to our build defaults

 Even though GCS defaults to OFF for source builds, we explicitly enable it in
 our prebuilt binaries because:

 1. **Binary users expect features to "just work"** - they shouldn't need to
    rebuild from source to access cloud storage
 2. **Build time is not a concern** - we build binaries once in CI, not on
    user machines
 3. **Parity across platforms** - users get the same features regardless of OS

 Azure is always set to OFF for Windows because of a low-level incompatibility
 with MinGW. The `azure-identity-cpp` SDK for Azure relies on the Windows
 Implementation Library (WIL), and this lacks stable support for MinGW.

 ## Feature configuration in source builds of libarrow

 Source builds are controlled by `r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh`. The key
 environment variable is `LIBARROW_MINIMAL`:

 - `LIBARROW_MINIMAL` unset: Default feature set (Parquet, Dataset, JSON, common compression ON; S3/GCS/jemalloc OFF)
 - `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`: Full feature set (adds S3, jemalloc, additional compression)
 - `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=true`: Truly minimal (disables Parquet, Dataset, JSON, most compression, SIMD)

 ### Features always enabled

 These features are always built regardless of `LIBARROW_MINIMAL`:

 | Feature | CMake Flag | Notes |
 |---------|------------|-------|
 | Compute | `ARROW_COMPUTE=ON` | Core compute functions |
 | CSV | `ARROW_CSV=ON` | CSV reading/writing |
 | Filesystem | `ARROW_FILESYSTEM=ON` | Local filesystem support |
 | JSON | `ARROW_JSON=ON` | JSON reading |
 | Parquet | `ARROW_PARQUET=ON` | Parquet file format |
 | Dataset | `ARROW_DATASET=ON` | Multi-file datasets |
 | Acero | `ARROW_ACERO=ON` | Query execution engine |
 | Mimalloc | `ARROW_MIMALLOC=ON` | Memory allocator |
 | LZ4 | `ARROW_WITH_LZ4=ON` | LZ4 compression |
 | Snappy | `ARROW_WITH_SNAPPY=ON` | Snappy compression |
 | RE2 | `ARROW_WITH_RE2=ON` | Regular expressions |
 | UTF8Proc | `ARROW_WITH_UTF8PROC=ON` | Unicode support |

 ### Features controlled by LIBARROW_MINIMAL

 When `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`, the following additional features are enabled
 (via `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM=ON`):

 | Feature | CMake Flag | Default |
 |---------|------------|---------|
 | S3 | `ARROW_S3` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |
 | Azure | `ARROW_AZURE` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |
 | Jemalloc | `ARROW_JEMALLOC` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |
 | Brotli | `ARROW_WITH_BROTLI` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |
 | BZ2 | `ARROW_WITH_BZ2` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |
 | Zlib | `ARROW_WITH_ZLIB` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |
 | Zstd | `ARROW_WITH_ZSTD` | `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` |

 Note that `ARROW_AZURE` is always OFF on Windows.

 ### Features that require explicit opt-in

 GCS (Google Cloud Storage) is **always off by default**, even when
 `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`:

 | Feature | CMake Flag | Default | Reason |
 |---------|------------|---------|--------|
 | GCS | `ARROW_GCS` | `OFF` | Build complexity, dependency size |

 To enable GCS in a source build, you must explicitly set `ARROW_GCS=ON`.

 **Why is GCS off by default?**

 GCS was turned off by default in [#48343](https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/48343)
 (December 2025) because:

 1. Building google-cloud-cpp is fragile and adds significant build time
 2. The dependency on abseil (ABSL) has caused compatibility issues
 3. Users who need GCS can still enable it explicitly

 ## Configuration file locations

 ### libarrow source build configuration

 The main build script that controls source builds:

 **`r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh`** - CMake flags and defaults
 ([view source](https://github.com/apache/arrow/blob/main/r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh))
 the environment variables to look for are `LIBARROW_MINIMAL`, `ARROW_*`, and, `ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM`

 ### libarrow binary build configuration

 Each platform has its own configuration file:

 | Platform | Config file | Key settings |
 |----------|-------------|--------------|
 | macOS | `dev/tasks/r/github.packages.yml` | `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`, `ARROW_GCS=ON` |
 | Windows | `ci/scripts/PKGBUILD` | `ARROW_GCS=ON`, `ARROW_S3=ON` |
 | Linux | `compose.yaml` (`ubuntu-cpp-static`) | `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`, `ARROW_GCS=ON` |

 ## R-universe builds

 [R-universe](https://apache.r-universe.dev/arrow) builds the Arrow R package
 for users who want newer versions than CRAN. R-universe behavior varies by
 platform and architecture:

 | Platform | Architecture | Build method | Features |
 |----------|--------------|--------------|----------|
 | macOS | ARM64 | Downloads prebuilt binary | Full (S3 + GCS) |
 | macOS | x86_64 | Downloads prebuilt binary | Full (S3 + GCS) |
 | Windows | x86_64 | Downloads prebuilt binary | Full (S3 + GCS) |
 | Windows | ARM64 | Not supported | NA |
 | Linux | x86_64 | Downloads prebuilt binary | Full (S3 + GCS) |
 | Linux | ARM64 | Builds from source | S3 only (no GCS) |

 ### Why Linux ARM64 builds from source

 We only publish prebuilt Linux binaries for x86_64 architecture. The binary
 selection logic in `r/tools/nixlibs.R` (line 263) explicitly checks for this:

 ```r
 if (identical(os, "darwin") || (identical(os, "linux") && identical(arch, "x86_64"))) {
 ```
 When R-universe builds on Linux ARM64 runners, no binary is available, so it
 falls back to building from source using `build_arrow_static.sh`. Since GCS
 defaults to OFF in that script, Linux ARM64 users don't get GCS support.

 ### Enabling GCS for Linux ARM64

 To provide full feature parity for Linux ARM64, we would need to:

 1. Add an ARM64 Linux build job to `dev/tasks/r/github.packages.yml`
 2. Update `select_binary()` in `nixlibs.R` to recognize `linux-aarch64`
 3. Add the artifact pattern to `dev/tasks/tasks.yml`
 4. Update the nightly upload workflow

 See [GH-36193](https://github.com/apache/arrow/issues/36193) for tracking this work.

 Alternatively, changing the GCS default in `build_arrow_static.sh` from `OFF`
 to `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` would enable GCS for all source builds, including
 Linux ARM64 on R-universe.

 ## Checking installed features

 Users can check which features are enabled in their installation:

 ```r
 # Show all capabilities
 arrow::arrow_info()

 # Check specific features
 arrow::arrow_with_s3()
 arrow::arrow_with_gcs()
 ```

 ## Related documentation

 - [Installation guide](../install.html) - User-facing installation docs
 - [Installation details](./install_details.html) - How the build system works
 - [Developer setup](./setup.html) - Building Arrow for development
	---
	title: "Libarrow binary features"
	description: >
	Understanding which C++ features are enabled in Arrow R package builds
	output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
	---

	This document explains which C++ features are enabled in different Arrow R
	package build configurations, and documents the decisions behind our default
	feature set. This is intended as internal developer documentation for understanding
	which features are enabled in which builds. It is not intended to be a guide for
	installing the Arrow R package; for that, see the
	[installation guide](../../install.html).

	## Overview

	When the Arrow R package is installed, it needs a copy of the Arrow C++ library
	(libarrow). This can come from:

	1. Prebuilt binaries we host (for releases and nightlies)
	2. Source builds when binaries aren't available or users opt out

	The features available in libarrow depend on how it was built. This document
	covers the feature configuration for both scenarios.

	## Prebuilt libarrow binary configuration

	We produce prebuilt libarrow binaries for macOS, Windows, and Linux. These
	binaries include more features than the default source build to provide
	users with a fully-featured experience out of the box.

	### Current binary feature set

	\| Platform \| S3 \| GCS \| Azure \| Configured in \|
	\|----------\|----\|----\|---------------\|
	\| macOS (ARM64, x86_64) \| ON \| ON \| ON \| `dev/tasks/r/github.packages.yml` \|
	\| Windows \| ON \| ON \| OFF \| `ci/scripts/PKGBUILD` \|
	\| Linux (x86_64) \| ON \| ON \| ON \| `compose.yaml` (`ubuntu-cpp-static`) \|

	### Exceptions to our build defaults

	Even though GCS defaults to OFF for source builds, we explicitly enable it in
	our prebuilt binaries because:

	1. Binary users expect features to "just work" - they shouldn't need to
	rebuild from source to access cloud storage
	2. Build time is not a concern - we build binaries once in CI, not on
	user machines
	3. Parity across platforms - users get the same features regardless of OS

	Azure is always set to OFF for Windows because of a low-level incompatibility
	with MinGW. The `azure-identity-cpp` SDK for Azure relies on the Windows
	Implementation Library (WIL), and this lacks stable support for MinGW.

	## Feature configuration in source builds of libarrow

	Source builds are controlled by `r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh`. The key
	environment variable is `LIBARROW_MINIMAL`:

	- `LIBARROW_MINIMAL` unset: Default feature set (Parquet, Dataset, JSON, common compression ON; S3/GCS/jemalloc OFF)
	- `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`: Full feature set (adds S3, jemalloc, additional compression)
	- `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=true`: Truly minimal (disables Parquet, Dataset, JSON, most compression, SIMD)

	### Features always enabled

	These features are always built regardless of `LIBARROW_MINIMAL`:

	\| Feature \| CMake Flag \| Notes \|
	\|---------\|------------\|-------\|
	\| Compute \| `ARROW_COMPUTE=ON` \| Core compute functions \|
	\| CSV \| `ARROW_CSV=ON` \| CSV reading/writing \|
	\| Filesystem \| `ARROW_FILESYSTEM=ON` \| Local filesystem support \|
	\| JSON \| `ARROW_JSON=ON` \| JSON reading \|
	\| Parquet \| `ARROW_PARQUET=ON` \| Parquet file format \|
	\| Dataset \| `ARROW_DATASET=ON` \| Multi-file datasets \|
	\| Acero \| `ARROW_ACERO=ON` \| Query execution engine \|
	\| Mimalloc \| `ARROW_MIMALLOC=ON` \| Memory allocator \|
	\| LZ4 \| `ARROW_WITH_LZ4=ON` \| LZ4 compression \|
	\| Snappy \| `ARROW_WITH_SNAPPY=ON` \| Snappy compression \|
	\| RE2 \| `ARROW_WITH_RE2=ON` \| Regular expressions \|
	\| UTF8Proc \| `ARROW_WITH_UTF8PROC=ON` \| Unicode support \|

	### Features controlled by LIBARROW_MINIMAL

	When `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`, the following additional features are enabled
	(via `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM=ON`):

	\| Feature \| CMake Flag \| Default \|
	\|---------\|------------\|---------\|
	\| S3 \| `ARROW_S3` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|
	\| Azure \| `ARROW_AZURE` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|
	\| Jemalloc \| `ARROW_JEMALLOC` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|
	\| Brotli \| `ARROW_WITH_BROTLI` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|
	\| BZ2 \| `ARROW_WITH_BZ2` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|
	\| Zlib \| `ARROW_WITH_ZLIB` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|
	\| Zstd \| `ARROW_WITH_ZSTD` \| `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` \|

	Note that `ARROW_AZURE` is always OFF on Windows.

	### Features that require explicit opt-in

	GCS (Google Cloud Storage) is always off by default, even when
	`LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`:

	\| Feature \| CMake Flag \| Default \| Reason \|
	\|---------\|------------\|---------\|--------\|
	\| GCS \| `ARROW_GCS` \| `OFF` \| Build complexity, dependency size \|

	To enable GCS in a source build, you must explicitly set `ARROW_GCS=ON`.

	Why is GCS off by default?

	GCS was turned off by default in [#48343](https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/48343)
	(December 2025) because:

	1. Building google-cloud-cpp is fragile and adds significant build time
	2. The dependency on abseil (ABSL) has caused compatibility issues
	3. Users who need GCS can still enable it explicitly

	## Configuration file locations

	### libarrow source build configuration

	The main build script that controls source builds:

	`r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh` - CMake flags and defaults
	([view source](https://github.com/apache/arrow/blob/main/r/inst/build_arrow_static.sh))
	the environment variables to look for are `LIBARROW_MINIMAL`, `ARROW_*`, and, `ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM`

	### libarrow binary build configuration

	Each platform has its own configuration file:

	\| Platform \| Config file \| Key settings \|
	\|----------\|-------------\|--------------\|
	\| macOS \| `dev/tasks/r/github.packages.yml` \| `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`, `ARROW_GCS=ON` \|
	\| Windows \| `ci/scripts/PKGBUILD` \| `ARROW_GCS=ON`, `ARROW_S3=ON` \|
	\| Linux \| `compose.yaml` (`ubuntu-cpp-static`) \| `LIBARROW_MINIMAL=false`, `ARROW_GCS=ON` \|

	## R-universe builds

	[R-universe](https://apache.r-universe.dev/arrow) builds the Arrow R package
	for users who want newer versions than CRAN. R-universe behavior varies by
	platform and architecture:

	\| Platform \| Architecture \| Build method \| Features \|
	\|----------\|--------------\|--------------\|----------\|
	\| macOS \| ARM64 \| Downloads prebuilt binary \| Full (S3 + GCS) \|
	\| macOS \| x86_64 \| Downloads prebuilt binary \| Full (S3 + GCS) \|
	\| Windows \| x86_64 \| Downloads prebuilt binary \| Full (S3 + GCS) \|
	\| Windows \| ARM64 \| Not supported \| NA \|
	\| Linux \| x86_64 \| Downloads prebuilt binary \| Full (S3 + GCS) \|
	\| Linux \| ARM64 \| Builds from source \| S3 only (no GCS) \|

	### Why Linux ARM64 builds from source

	We only publish prebuilt Linux binaries for x86_64 architecture. The binary
	selection logic in `r/tools/nixlibs.R` (line 263) explicitly checks for this:

	```r
	if (identical(os, "darwin") \|\| (identical(os, "linux") && identical(arch, "x86_64"))) {
	```
	When R-universe builds on Linux ARM64 runners, no binary is available, so it
	falls back to building from source using `build_arrow_static.sh`. Since GCS
	defaults to OFF in that script, Linux ARM64 users don't get GCS support.

	### Enabling GCS for Linux ARM64

	To provide full feature parity for Linux ARM64, we would need to:

	1. Add an ARM64 Linux build job to `dev/tasks/r/github.packages.yml`
	2. Update `select_binary()` in `nixlibs.R` to recognize `linux-aarch64`
	3. Add the artifact pattern to `dev/tasks/tasks.yml`
	4. Update the nightly upload workflow

	See [GH-36193](https://github.com/apache/arrow/issues/36193) for tracking this work.

	Alternatively, changing the GCS default in `build_arrow_static.sh` from `OFF`
	to `$ARROW_DEFAULT_PARAM` would enable GCS for all source builds, including
	Linux ARM64 on R-universe.

	## Checking installed features

	Users can check which features are enabled in their installation:

	```r
	# Show all capabilities
	arrow::arrow_info()

	# Check specific features
	arrow::arrow_with_s3()
	arrow::arrow_with_gcs()
	```

	## Related documentation

	- [Installation guide](../install.html) - User-facing installation docs
	- [Installation details](./install_details.html) - How the build system works
	- [Developer setup](./setup.html) - Building Arrow for development