> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cockroachlabs.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# CITEXT
export const InternalLink = ({version, path = "", children, ...props}) => {
let detectedVersion = version || "stable";
if (typeof window !== 'undefined' && !version) {
const match = window.location.pathname.match(/\/docs\/([^/]+)/);
if (match) {
detectedVersion = match[1];
}
}
const normalizedPath = path.startsWith("/") ? path.slice(1) : path;
return
{children}
;
};
The `CITEXT` data type represents a case-insensitive string. Like `STRING` values, `CITEXT` values preserve their casing when stored and retrieved. Unlike `STRING` values, comparisons between `CITEXT` values are case-insensitive for all [Unicode characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unicode_characters) that have a defined uppercase/lowercase mapping (e.g., `'É' = 'é'`).
Equality operators (`=`, `!=`, `<>`) and ordering operators (`<`, `>`, etc.) treat `CITEXT` values as case-insensitive by default. Refer to the [example](#example).
`CITEXT` compares values as a `STRING` column with the `und-u-ks-level2` collation, meaning it is case-insensitive but accent-sensitive.
## Syntax
To declare a `CITEXT` column, use the type name directly in your `CREATE TABLE` statement:
```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
CREATE TABLE logins (
name CITEXT PRIMARY KEY,
email TEXT NOT NULL
);
```
## Size
As with `STRING`, `CITEXT` values should be kept below 64 KB for best performance. Because `CITEXT` values resort to a collation engine on every comparison, `CITEXT` columns and indexes consume marginally more CPU and memory than their `STRING` equivalents.
## Example
Create and populate a table:
```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
CREATE TABLE logins (
username CITEXT,
email STRING
);
```
```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
INSERT INTO logins VALUES
('Roach', 'Roach@example.com'),
('lincoln', 'lincoln@example.com');
```
Because `CITEXT` comparisons are case-insensitive, an equality predicate matches regardless of letter case:
```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
SELECT * FROM logins WHERE username = 'roach';
```
```
username | email
-----------+--------------------
Roach | Roach@example.com
(1 row)
```
An ordering comparison is also case-insensitive with `CITEXT`:
```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
SELECT username FROM logins WHERE username < 'Xavi';
```
```
username
------------
Roach
lincoln
(2 rows)
```
For case-sensitive comparisons on `CITEXT` values, cast to `STRING` explicitly. In the default Unicode ordering, an uppercase value is considered less than the lowercase value in the table:
```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-mocha","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
SELECT username FROM logins WHERE username::STRING < 'Xavi';
```
```
username
------------
Roach
(1 row)
```
## Known limitations
* `CITEXT` types are not currently compatible with the `LIKE` and `ILIKE` operators.
## See also
* Data Types
* `STRING`
* `COLLATE`