Cloud

SQL Schemas

A SQL schema is a namespace in the Redpanda SQL database. A schema groups objects so that their names do not collide. Use schemas to organize views and to control which users can create views.

On this page, schema means a SQL namespace in the PostgreSQL sense. It is not the same as a topic’s serialization schema (Protobuf, Avro, or JSON) registered in Schema Registry. It is also not an Iceberg namespace, such as the namespace of a table in an Iceberg catalog.

What a schema holds

Each schema can hold:

  • Catalog connections, such as default_redpanda_catalog and default_iceberg_catalog.

  • SQL storage definitions that you create with CREATE STORAGE.

  • Views that you create with CREATE VIEW.

Tables are not in a schema. A table belongs to a catalog. You name a table through its catalog, such as default_redpanda_catalog=>orders. To map a topic to a table, see CREATE TABLE. For where tables and views are stored, see Where tables and views live.

Built-in schemas

Redpanda SQL provides these built-in schemas:

  • public: The default schema. Objects that you create without naming a schema go here, unless you change the search path. It holds the default catalog connections. You cannot drop it.

  • pg_catalog: Holds the PostgreSQL system catalogs, such as pg_class and pg_type.

  • information_schema: Holds the information schema views over database object metadata.

  • system: Holds the system virtual tables, such as system.iceberg_tables.

You can query the objects in pg_catalog, information_schema, and system without naming the schema. You cannot drop these schemas or create objects in them.

Create and manage schemas

Only a superuser can create a schema. In Redpanda Cloud, a user with the SQL: Manage permission is a superuser. A superuser can let other users create views in a schema. To do this, the superuser grants them the USAGE and CREATE privileges on the schema.

Task Statement

Create a schema

CREATE SCHEMA

Remove a schema

DROP SCHEMA

Change the owner of a schema

ALTER SCHEMA …​ OWNER TO

Let a role use a schema or create views in it

GRANT

Search path

When you refer to a view without a schema, Redpanda SQL looks for it in the schemas on the search path. To show or change the search path, see SET/SHOW.

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