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Making CockroachDB easy to use is a top priority for us, so we chose to implement SQL. However, even though SQL has a standard, no database implements all of it, nor do any of them have standard implementations of all features. To understand which standard SQL features we support (as well as common extensions to the standard), use the table below.
  • 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 ourselves 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 INTOAlternativeCommon ExtensionYou can replicate similar functionality using and then INSERT INTO ... SELECT ....
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 procedures✗Common ExtensionExecute a procedure explicitly.
CursorsPartialStandard
Triggers✗StandardExecute a set of commands whenever a specified event occurs.
Row-level TTL✓Common ExtensionAutomatically delete expired rows. For more information, see .
User-defined functionsPartialStandard
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.