---
title: "CREATE SCHEMA"
slug: "dev-database-reference-sql-create-schema"
updated: 2026-10-30T18:19:11Z
published: 2026-10-30T18:19:11Z
canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/dev-database-reference-sql-create-schema"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vastdata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CREATE SCHEMA

*Applies to VAST Cluster 5.5.*

Creates a schema in a database (bucket), or inside another schema.

## Syntax

```
CREATE SCHEMA [IF NOT EXISTS] "<bucket>/<schema>"
CREATE SCHEMA [IF NOT EXISTS] "<bucket>/<schema>/<child>"
```

## Parameters and rules

| Part | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `&quot;&lt;bucket&gt;/&lt;schema&gt;&quot;` | The full schema name: the bucket (database) and the path of schemas, in double quotes. The bucket must exist and be a database; your platform team creates it. |
| `IF NOT EXISTS` | If the schema already exists, do nothing. |

- The full name includes every nested schema, so a schema inside another one is `&quot;&lt;bucket&gt;/&lt;parent&gt;/&lt;child&gt;&quot;`.
- Schemas in a snapshot (`&quot;&lt;bucket&gt;/.snapshot/...&quot;`) are read-only.

## What happens on the cluster

`CREATE SCHEMA` is a change to the database's catalog on the cluster. No table data is read, and nothing is computed in the Query Engine. On a connection with `autocommit=True` the new schema is committed when the statement returns.

## Example

The examples use the `run()` helper and the environment variables described in the [SQL reference](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-index#example-connect-and-use-a-transaction). Run the blocks in order, in one Python session. This block connects and creates the schema `docs_sql_create_schema`, then creates it again with `IF NOT EXISTS`, which does nothing:

```
import os
import re

import adbc_driver_manager
import adbc_driver_manager.dbapi as dbapi
import adbc_driver_vastdb

BUCKET = os.environ["VASTDB_BUCKET"]
SCHEMA = f'"{BUCKET}/docs_sql_create_schema"'

def connect(autocommit=True):
    return dbapi.connect(
        driver=adbc_driver_vastdb.get_driver_path(),
        db_kwargs={
            "vast.db.endpoint": os.environ["QE_ENDPOINT"],
            "vast.db.access_key": os.environ["AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"],
            "vast.db.secret_key": os.environ["AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY"],
        },
        autocommit=autocommit,
    )

def server_message(e):
    """The server's message in a driver error, without the request ID or the echoed statement."""
    text = re.sub(r"\[req=0x[0-9a-f]+\]: ", "", str(e))
    found = (re.search(r'message: "(.*?)", request_id', text, re.S)
             or re.search(r"description: (.*)\)", text, re.S))
    message = found.group(1) if found else text.strip().splitlines()[-1]
    message = re.sub(r"^Plan query: '.*?' failed with: ", "", message, flags=re.S)
    message = re.split(r"\\n|\n", message)[0].replace('\\"', '"')
    return message.replace(BUCKET, "<bucket>")

def run(sql):
    """Run one statement. Print the rows it returns, or the error."""
    try:
        with conn.cursor() as cur:
            cur.execute(sql)
            rows = cur.fetchall() if cur.description else []
    except (adbc_driver_manager.Error, OSError) as e:
        print(f"{type(e).__name__}: {server_message(e)}")
    else:
        print(rows)

conn = connect()
run(f"CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS {SCHEMA}")
run(f"CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS {SCHEMA}")

with conn.cursor() as cur:
    cur.execute(f'SHOW SCHEMAS "{BUCKET}"')
    print([name for (name,) in cur.fetchall() if name.startswith("docs_sql_create_schema")])
```

```
[]
[]
['docs_sql_create_schema']
```

Create a schema inside it, and use a table in it:

```
CHILD = f'"{BUCKET}/docs_sql_create_schema/nested"'
run(f"CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS {CHILD}")
run(f"CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS {CHILD}.t (id BIGINT)")
run(f"INSERT INTO {CHILD}.t VALUES (1)")
run(f"SELECT id FROM {CHILD}.t")
```

```
[]
[]
[(1,)]
[(1,)]
```

Clean up:

```
run(f"DROP TABLE IF EXISTS {CHILD}.t")
run(f"DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS {CHILD}")
run(f"DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS {SCHEMA}")
conn.close()
```

```
[]
[]
[]
```

## Errors

No `CREATE SCHEMA` errors are listed here. If the schema may already exist, write `IF NOT EXISTS`.

## Trino and Spark

Trino and Spark create schemas with their own statements, and name them through their own catalogs (`vast` in Trino, `ndb` in Spark); see [Trino](/develop/docs/dev-database-integrations-trino#names-databases-schemas-and-tables) and [Spark](/develop/docs/dev-database-integrations-spark#names-databases-schemas-and-tables).

See also: [DROP SCHEMA](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-drop-schema), [SHOW SCHEMAS](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-show).