# SQL Statements

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [cloud-data-platform-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform-full.txt)

---
title: SQL Statements
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.1.9
docname: sql/sql-statements/index
page-component-name: cloud-data-platform
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Cloud
page-relative-src-path: sql/sql-statements/index.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/cloud-docs/edit/main/modules/reference/pages/sql/sql-statements/index.adoc
description: SQL statements are the commands used to interact with Redpanda SQL.
page-topic-type: reference
page-git-created-date: "2026-05-26"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-05-26"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform/reference/sql/sql-statements.md -->

SQL statements are commands used to interact with Redpanda SQL. These statements let you query data, manage catalog connections, and export results.

> 📝 **NOTE**
>
> Redpanda SQL operates in read-only mode. Data mutation operations (`INSERT`, `UPDATE`, `DELETE`) and bulk import (`COPY FROM`) are not available. Data is ingested into Redpanda topics and made queryable through catalog mappings.

The following table summarizes the statements supported by Redpanda SQL:

| Statement | Description |
| --- | --- |
| ALTER REDPANDA CATALOG | Modifies connection properties of an existing Redpanda catalog. |
| ALTER STORAGE | Modifies credentials or configuration of an existing storage connection. |
| ALTER TABLE | Modifies options of a catalog table mapped to a Redpanda topic. |
| CREATE REDPANDA CATALOG | Creates a named connection to a Redpanda cluster. |
| CREATE STORAGE | Creates a connection to external object storage. |
| CREATE TABLE | Maps a Redpanda topic to a SQL table through a catalog. |
| DROP TABLE | Removes a catalog table mapping. Does not delete the underlying Redpanda topic. |
| DROP REDPANDA CATALOG | Removes a Redpanda catalog connection. |
| DROP STORAGE | Removes a named storage definition. |
| SELECT | Retrieves data from a table. |
| COPY TO | Exports query results or table data to CSV files. |
| SET/SHOW | Configures or displays session-level settings such as time zone and search path. |
| SHOW CATALOGS | Lists catalogs in the cluster. Variants list only Redpanda catalogs or only Iceberg catalogs. |
| SHOW EXECS | Displays currently running execution tasks across the cluster. |
| SHOW NODES | Displays the current state of nodes in a distributed cluster. |
| SHOW QUERIES | Displays currently running queries on the cluster. |
| SHOW TABLES | Lists tables mapped from Redpanda topics and Iceberg tables registered in the local catalog. |
| DESCRIBE | Shows detailed information about columns in a table, tables within a database, or catalog contents. |