SNOW-2338542: Add session parameter pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled (#3789)

Author: sfc-gh-helmeleegy

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@
 #### New Features
 
 #### Improvements
+
 - Hybrid execution mode is now enabled by default. Certain operations on smaller data will now automatically execute in native pandas in-memory. Use `from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend; AutoSwitchBackend.disable()` to turn this off and force all execution to occur in Snowflake.
+- Added a session parameter `pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled` to enable/disable hybrid execution as an alternative to using `AutoSwitchBackend`.
 - Removed an unnecessary `SHOW OBJECTS` query issued from `read_snowflake` under certain conditions.
 
 ## 1.39.0 (2025-09-17)

src/snowflake/snowpark/session.py

@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@
 _SNOWPARK_PANDAS_DUMMY_ROW_POS_OPTIMIZATION_ENABLED = (
     "SNOWPARK_PANDAS_DUMMY_ROW_POS_OPTIMIZATION_ENABLED"
 )
+_SNOWPARK_PANDAS_HYBRID_EXECUTION_ENABLED = "SNOWPARK_PANDAS_HYBRID_EXECUTION_ENABLED"
 
 # AST encoding.
 _PYTHON_SNOWPARK_USE_AST = "PYTHON_SNOWPARK_USE_AST"
@@ -754,6 +755,21 @@ def __init__(
             )
         )
 
+        if importlib.util.find_spec("modin"):
+            try:
+                from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend
+
+                pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled: bool = (
+                    self._conn._get_client_side_session_parameter(
+                        _SNOWPARK_PANDAS_HYBRID_EXECUTION_ENABLED,
+                        AutoSwitchBackend().get(),
+                    )
+                )
+                AutoSwitchBackend.put(pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled)
+            except Exception:
+                # Continue session initialization even if Modin configuration fails
+                pass
+
         self._thread_store = create_thread_local(
             self._conn._thread_safe_session_enabled
         )
@@ -1025,6 +1041,21 @@ def dummy_row_pos_optimization_enabled(self) -> bool:
         """
         return self._dummy_row_pos_optimization_enabled
 
+    @property
+    def pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled(self) -> bool:
+        """Set to ``True`` to enable hybrid execution mode (has the same default as AutoSwitchBackend).
+        When enabled, certain operations on smaller data will automatically execute in native pandas in-memory.
+        This can significantly improve performance for operations that are more efficient in pandas than in Snowflake.
+        """
+        if not importlib.util.find_spec("modin"):
+            raise ImportError(
+                "The 'modin' package is required to enable this feature. Please install it first."
+            )
+
+        from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend
+
+        return AutoSwitchBackend().get()
+
     @property
     def custom_package_usage_config(self) -> Dict:
         """Get or set configuration parameters related to usage of custom Python packages in Snowflake.
@@ -1200,6 +1231,23 @@ def dummy_row_pos_optimization_enabled(self, value: bool) -> None:
                 "value for dummy_row_pos_optimization_enabled must be True or False!"
             )
 
+    @pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled.setter
+    def pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled(self, value: bool) -> None:
+        """Set the value for pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled"""
+        if not importlib.util.find_spec("modin"):
+            raise ImportError(
+                "The 'modin' package is required to enable this feature. Please install it first."
+            )
+
+        from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend
+
+        if value in [True, False]:
+            AutoSwitchBackend.put(value)
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "value for pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled must be True or False!"
+            )
+
     @custom_package_usage_config.setter
     @experimental_parameter(version="1.6.0")
     def custom_package_usage_config(self, config: Dict) -> None:

tests/integ/modin/hybrid/test_switch_operations.py

@@ -395,8 +395,9 @@ def test_tqdm_usage_during_snowflake_to_pandas_switch():
         ("Series", "transform", (lambda x: x * 2,)),  # declared in series_overrides
     ],
 )
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("use_session_param", [True, False])
 @sql_count_checker(query_count=1)
-def test_unimplemented_autoswitches(class_name, method_name, f_args):
+def test_unimplemented_autoswitches(class_name, method_name, f_args, use_session_param):
     # Unimplemented methods declared via register_*_not_implemented should automatically
     # default to local pandas execution.
     # This test needs to be modified if any of the APIs in question are ever natively implemented
@@ -405,6 +406,13 @@ def test_unimplemented_autoswitches(class_name, method_name, f_args):
     method = getattr(getattr(pd, class_name)(data).move_to("Snowflake"), method_name)
     # Attempting to call the method without switching should raise.
     with config_context(AutoSwitchBackend=False):
+        if use_session_param:
+            from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend
+
+            AutoSwitchBackend.enable()
+            pd.session.pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled = False
+            assert pd.session.pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled is False
+            assert AutoSwitchBackend.get() is False
         with pytest.raises(
             NotImplementedError, match="Snowpark pandas does not yet support the method"
         ):
@@ -433,14 +441,15 @@ def test_to_datetime():
     assert isinstance(result, DatetimeIndex)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("use_session_param", [True, False])
 @sql_count_checker(
     query_count=11,
     join_count=6,
     udtf_count=2,
     high_count_expected=True,
     high_count_reason="tests queries across different execution modes",
 )
-def test_query_count_no_switch(init_transaction_tables):
+def test_query_count_no_switch(init_transaction_tables, use_session_param):
     """
     Tests that when there is no switching behavior the query count is the
     same under hybrid mode and non-hybrid mode.
@@ -458,11 +467,25 @@ def inner_test(df_in):
     hybrid_len = None
     with pd.session.query_history() as query_history_orig:
         with config_context(AutoSwitchBackend=False, NativePandasMaxRows=10):
+            if use_session_param:
+                from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend
+
+                AutoSwitchBackend.enable()
+                pd.session.pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled = False
+                assert pd.session.pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled is False
+                assert AutoSwitchBackend.get() is False
             df_result = inner_test(df_transactions)
             orig_len = len(df_result)
 
     with pd.session.query_history() as query_history_hybrid:
         with config_context(AutoSwitchBackend=True, NativePandasMaxRows=10):
+            if use_session_param:
+                from modin.config import AutoSwitchBackend
+
+                AutoSwitchBackend.disable()
+                pd.session.pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled = True
+                assert pd.session.pandas_hybrid_execution_enabled is True
+                assert AutoSwitchBackend.get() is True
             df_result = inner_test(df_transactions)
             hybrid_len = len(df_result)