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CockroachDB supports the following standard SQL features and common extensions.
  • Component lists the components that are commonly considered part of SQL.
  • Supported shows CockroachDB’s level of support for the component.
  • Type indicates whether the component is part of the SQL Standard or is an Extension created by Cockroach Labs or others.
  • Details provides greater context about the component.

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Features

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Row values

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
ARRAY✓Standard
AUTO INCREMENT
(Automatic key generation)		AlternativeCommon Extension
BIT✓Standard
BOOLEAN✓Standard
BYTES✓CockroachDB Extension
COLLATE✓Standard
DATE✓Standard
DECIMAL, NUMERIC✓Standard
ENUM✓PostgreSQL Extension
FLOAT, REAL✓Standard
INET✓PostgreSQL Extension
INT✓Standard
INTERVAL✓Standard
JSON/JSONB✓Common Extension
NULL✓Standard
OID✓PostgreSQL Extension
SERIAL✓PostgreSQL Extension
SET✗MySQLOnly allow rows to contain values from a defined set of terms.
STRING, CHARACTER✓Standard
TIME✓Standard
TIMESTAMP/TIMESTAMPTZ✓Standard
TSQUERY✓Standard
TSVECTOR✓Standard
UNSIGNED INT✗Common ExtensionUNSIGNED INT causes numerous casting issues, so we do not plan to support it.
UUID✓PostgreSQL Extension
Identifiers✓Standard. See also .
Key-value pairsAlternativeExtension
XML✗StandardXML data can be stored as BYTES, but we do not offer XML parsing.

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Constraints

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Not Null✓Standard
Unique✓Standard
Primary Key✓Standard
Check✓Standard
Foreign Key✓Standard
Default Value✓Standard

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Transactions

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Transactions (ACID semantics)✓Standard
BEGIN✓Standard
COMMIT✓Standard
ROLLBACK✓Standard
SAVEPOINT✓Standard with CockroachDB extensionsCockroachDB supports nested transactions using

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Indexes

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Indexes✓Common Extension
Multi-column indexes✓Common ExtensionWe do not limit on the number of columns indexes can include
Covering indexes✓Common Extension
GIN indexes✓Common Extension
Trigram indexes✓PostgreSQL Extension
Partial indexes✓Common Extension
Spatial indexes✓Common Extension
Multiple indexes per queryPartialCommon Extension
Full-text indexes✓Common Extension
Expression indexes✓Common Extension
Prefix indexes✗Common ExtensionImplement using
Hash indexes✗Common ExtensionImproves performance of queries looking for single, exact values
Hash-sharded indexes✓CockroachDB Extension

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Schema changes

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
ALTER TABLE✓Standard
Database renames✓Standard
Table renames✓Standard
Column renames✓Standard
Altering a column’s data type✓Standard
Adding columns✓Standard
Removing columns✓Standard
Adding constraints✓Standard
Removing constraints✓Standard
Index renames✓Standard
Adding indexes✓Standard
Removing indexes✓Standard
Altering a primary key✓Standard
Adding user-defined schemas✓Standard
Removing user-defined schemas✓Standard
Altering user-defined schemas✓Standard

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Statements

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Common statements✓Standard, PostgreSQL/CockroachDB Extension
UPSERT✓PostgreSQL, MSSQL Extension
EXPLAIN✓Common Extension
SELECT ... INTO✓Common Extension.
SELECT FOR UPDATE✓Common Extension

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Clauses

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Common clauses✓Standard
LIMIT✓Common ExtensionLimit the number of rows a statement returns. For more information, see .
LIMIT with OFFSET✓Common ExtensionSkip a number of rows, and then limit the size of the return set. For more information, see .
RETURNING✓Common ExtensionRetrieve a table of rows statements affect. For examples, see the and documentation.

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Table expressions

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Table and View references✓Standard
AS in table expressions✓Standard
JOIN (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL, CROSS)✓Standard
Sub-queries as table expressionsPartialStandardNon-correlated subqueries are , as are most .
Table generator functionsPartialPostgreSQL Extension
WITH ORDINALITY✓CockroachDB Extension

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Scalar expressions and Boolean formulas

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Common functions✓Standard
Common operators✓Standard
IF/CASE/NULLIF✓Standard
COALESCE/IFNULL✓Standard
AND/OR✓Standard
LIKE/ILIKE✓Standard
SIMILAR TO✓Standard
Matching using POSIX regular expressions✓Common Extension
EXISTSPartialStandardNon-correlated subqueries are , as are most . Works only with small data sets.
Scalar subqueriesPartialStandardNon-correlated subqueries are , as are most . Works only with small data sets.
Bitwise arithmetic✓Common Extension
Array constructors and subscriptingPartialPostgreSQL ExtensionArray expression documentation: and
COLLATE✓Standard
Column ordinal references✓CockroachDB Extension
Type annotations✓CockroachDB Extension

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Permissions

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Users✓Standard
Roles✓Standard
Object ownership✓Common Extension
Privileges✓Standard
Default privileges✓PostgreSQL Extension

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Miscellaneous

ComponentSupportedTypeDetails
Column families✓CockroachDB Extension
Computed columns (stored and virtual)✓Common Extension
ON UPDATE expressions✓MySQL Extension
Multi-region capabilities✓CockroachDB Extension
System catalog schemas✓Standard, PostgreSQL/CockroachDB Extension (CockroachDB Extension)
(Standard)
(PostgreSQL Extension)
(PostgreSQL Extension)
Sequences✓Common Extension
Identity columns✓Common Extension
Views✓Standard
Materialized views✓Common Extension
Window functions✓Standard
Common table expressionsPartialCommon Extension
Stored proceduresPartialCommon Extension
CursorsPartialStandard
TriggersPartialStandard
Row-level TTL✓Common ExtensionAutomatically delete expired rows. For more information, see .
User-defined functionsPartialStandard
New in v26.2: CREATE EXTENSION "fuzzystrmatch"✓Common ExtensionProvides PostgreSQL-compatible fuzzy string matching functions including soundex(), difference(), levenshtein(), metaphone(), , , and . These functions are available without running CREATE EXTENSION "fuzzystrmatch". CockroachDB does not have full support for CREATE EXTENSION.
CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp"✓Common ExtensionProvides access to several additional . Note that these UUID functions are available without typing CREATE EXTENSION "uuid-ossp". CockroachDB does not have full support for CREATE EXTENSION.