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Airflow & DAGs · Architecture & Scalability

What is a Pool?

Mediumairflow-16
poolsconcurrency

Question

What is an Airflow Pool, and how does it differ from max_active_runs?

Solution

A Pool limits how many tasks can use a shared resource at once.

Example: only 5 API connections allowed → api_pool with 5 slots; tasks assigned to that pool share those slots.

Pool vs max_active_runs

  • max_active_runs → how many DAG runs can be active
  • Pool → how many tasks can consume a specific resource

Interview tip: Use pools for rate-limited APIs, warehouses, and shared credentials.

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