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

# DROP SCHEMA

*Applies to VAST Cluster 5.5.*

Drops a schema.

## Syntax

```
DROP SCHEMA [IF EXISTS] "<bucket>/<schema>"
```

## Parameters and rules

| Part | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `&quot;&lt;bucket&gt;/&lt;schema&gt;&quot;` | The full schema name, including any parent schemas. |
| `IF EXISTS` | If the schema doesn't exist, do nothing. |

- Drop the schema's tables (and child schemas) first. What `DROP SCHEMA` does to a schema that still has tables isn't covered here, so don't rely on it.
- You can't drop a schema in a snapshot: snapshots are read-only.

## What happens on the cluster

`DROP SCHEMA` is a change to the database's catalog. Nothing is computed in the Query Engine.

## 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). This block connects, creates the schema `docs_sql_drop_schema` with a table, drops the table and then the schema, and lists what's left:

```
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_drop_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 TABLE IF NOT EXISTS {SCHEMA}.t (id BIGINT)")
run(f"DROP TABLE {SCHEMA}.t")
run(f"DROP SCHEMA {SCHEMA}")

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

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

`IF EXISTS` on a schema that doesn't exist does nothing. Then close the connection:

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

```
[]
```

## Errors

No `DROP SCHEMA` errors are listed here. If the schema may not exist, write `IF EXISTS`.

## Trino and Spark

Trino and Spark drop schemas with their own statements, through their own catalogs; 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: [CREATE SCHEMA](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-create-schema), [DROP TABLE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-drop-table).