---
title: "SQL reference"
slug: "dev-database-reference-sql"
updated: 2026-11-05T22:32:55Z
published: 2026-11-05T22:32:55Z
canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/dev-database-reference-sql"
---

> ## 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.

# SQL reference

The SQL the VAST Query Engine accepts in VAST Cluster 5.5, one page per statement. Start with Overview for how statements reach the engine, then SELECT; check What the VAST Query Engine doesn't support before you write joins or GROUP BY.

- **[Overview](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-index)**: The SQL the VAST Query Engine accepts over ADBC: object names, how statements run, what errors look like, and each statement.
- **[CREATE SCHEMA](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-create-schema)**: Create a schema in a database bucket, or inside another schema, with the VAST Query Engine, with rules, errors and an example.
- **[DROP SCHEMA](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-drop-schema)**: Drop a schema in the VAST Query Engine: syntax, rules, what happens on the cluster, errors and the Trino and Spark equivalents.
- **[SHOW SCHEMAS and SHOW TABLES](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-show)**: List a database's schemas or a schema's tables with SHOW in the VAST Query Engine, or a table's columns as DESCRIBE does.
- **[CREATE TABLE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-create-table)**: Create a regular, sorted or vector-indexed table in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
- **[ALTER TABLE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-alter-table)**: Rename a table, add, rename and drop columns, and add a sort key with ALTER TABLE in the VAST Query Engine.
- **[DROP TABLE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-drop-table)**: Drop a table and its data in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, cluster effects, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
- **[DESCRIBE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-describe)**: Show a table's columns and their types in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, errors and the Trino and Spark equivalents.
- **[SELECT](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-select)**: Query one table, a snapshot or an Event Broker topic, with rules for where filters run, IN lists, aggregates and rowid.
- **[INSERT](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-insert)**: Insert rows as values or from a SELECT in the VAST Query Engine, with syntax, rules, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
- **[Import Parquet files with INSERT](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-import-parquet)**: Import Parquet files already in a cluster bucket into a table with INSERT, so the data never passes through your client.
- **[UPDATE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-update)**: Change column values in rows matching a condition with UPDATE in the Query Engine, with rules, errors and Trino and Spark equivalents.
- **[DELETE and TRUNCATE](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-delete)**: Delete rows matching a condition with DELETE, or every row while keeping the table with TRUNCATE, in the VAST Query Engine.
- **[EXPLAIN](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-explain)**: Show the Query Engine's plan without running a statement, to see which conditions VAST DataBase evaluates and which step fails.
- **[Data types in SQL](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-data-types)**: SQL type names for VAST Query Engine statements, the VAST DataBase type each creates, and the types the Query Engine can't read.
- **[Vector search SQL](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-vector-search)**: A short index of vector search SQL and distance functions, whose full reference lives in the VAST Vector Search section.
- **[What the VAST Query Engine doesn't support](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-not-supported)**: SQL the VAST Query Engine refuses, such as joins, GROUP BY, subqueries and upserts, with each error and what to do instead.
- **[Query Engine, Trino, Spark and the SDK compared](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-engine-comparison)**: Compare what the VAST Query Engine, Trino, Spark and the Python SDK can each do on the same VAST DataBase tables.
- **[Functions](/develop/docs/dev-database-reference-sql-functions)**: The functions and operators the VAST Query Engine evaluates, by group. Read Overview first to see why a function on a column runs after the scan, then Operators and predicates; the other pages list each group's functions and what isn't available.