Identifiers

In Materialize, identifiers are used to refer to columns and database objects like sources, views, and indexes.

Naming restrictions

Materialize has the following naming restrictions for identifiers:

Position	Allowed Characters
First character	ASCII letters (a-z, A-Z), underscore (_), or any non-ASCII character
Remaining	ASCII letters (a-z, A-Z), digits (0-9), underscores (_), dollar sign ($), or any non-ASCII character

To override these restrictions, you can enclose the identifier in double quotes; e.g., "123_source" or "fun_source_@". Inside double quotes, characters are interpreted literally, except for the double-quote character itself. To include a double quote within a double-quoted identifier, escape it by writing two adjacent double quotes, as in “includes"“quote”.

Case sensitivity

Materialize performs case folding (the caseless comparison of text) for identifiers, which means that identifiers are effectively case-insensitive (foo is the same as FOO is the same as fOo). This can cause issues when column names come from data sources which do support case-sensitive names, such as Avro-formatted sources.

To avoid conflicts, double-quote all field names ("field_name") when working with case-sensitive sources.

Renaming restrictions

You cannot rename an item if any of the following are true:

• It is not uniquely qualified across all dependent references.

  For example, suppose you have:

  • Two views named v1 in different databases (d1 and d2) under the same schema name (s1), and
  • Both v1 views are referenced by another view.

  You may rename either v1 only if every dependent query that mentions both views fully qualifies all such references, e.g.:

  CREATE VIEW v2 AS
  SELECT *
  FROM d1.s1.v1
  JOIN d2.s1.v1
  ON d1.s1.v1.a = d2.s1.v1.a;
  

  If the two views were instead in schemas with distinct names, qualifying by schema alone would be sufficient (you would not need to include the database name).

• Renaming would cause any identifier collision with a dependent query.

  • An existing collision: a dependent query already uses the item’s current identifier for some database, schema, object, or column, so changing the item’s name would change how that identifier resolves.

    In the examples below, v1 cannot be renamed because dependent queries already use the identifier v1:

    • Any dependent query references a database, schema, or column that uses the same identifier.

      In the following examples, v1 could not be renamed:

      CREATE VIEW v3 AS
      SELECT *
      FROM v1
      JOIN v2
      ON v1.a = v2.v1
      

      CREATE VIEW v4 AS
      SELECT *
      FROM v1
      JOIN v1.v2
      ON v1.a = v2.a
      

  • A proposed-name collision: the new name matches any identifier referenced in a dependent query, whether that identifier is referenced explicitly or implicitly.

    Consider this example:

    CREATE VIEW v5 AS
    SELECT *
    FROM d1.s1.v2
    JOIN v1
    ON v1.a = v2.b
    

    You could not rename v1 to:

    • a
    • b
    • v2
    • s1
    • d1
    • materialize or public (implicitly referenced by materialize.public.v1 using the default database and schema)

Keyword collision

Materialize is very permissive with accepting SQL keywords as identifiers (e.g. offset, user). If Materialize cannot use a keyword as an identifier in a particular location, it throws a syntax error. You can wrap the identifier in double quotes to force Materialize to interpret the word as an identifier instead of a keyword.

For example, SELECT offset is invalid, because it looks like a mistyping of SELECT OFFSET <n>. You can wrap the identifier in double quotes, as in SELECT "offset", to resolve the error.

We recommend that you avoid using keywords as identifiers whenever possible, as the syntax errors that result are not always obvious.

The current keywords are listed below.

ACCESS	ACTION	ADD
ADDED	ADDRESS	ADDRESSES	AFTER
AGGREGATE	AGGREGATION	ALIGNED	ALL
ALTER	ANALYSE	ANALYSIS	ANALYZE
AND	ANY	APPLY	ARITY
ARN	ARRANGED	ARRANGEMENT	ARRAY
AS	ASC	ASSERT	ASSUME
AT	AUCTION	AUTHORITY	AVAILABILITY
AVRO	AWS	BATCH	BEGIN
BETWEEN	BIGINT	BILLED	BODY
BOOLEAN	BOTH	BPCHAR	BROKEN
BROKER	BROKERS	BY	BYTES
CAPTURE	CARDINALITY	CASCADE	CASE
CAST	CATALOG	CERTIFICATE	CHAIN
CHAINS	CHAR	CHARACTER	CHARACTERISTICS
CHECK	CLASS	CLIENT	CLOCK
CLOSE	CLUSTER	CLUSTERS	COALESCE
COLLATE	COLUMN	COLUMNS	COMMENT
COMMIT	COMMITTED	COMPACTION	COMPATIBILITY
COMPRESSION	COMPUTE	COMPUTECTL	CONFIG
CONFLUENT	CONNECTION	CONNECTIONS	CONSTRAINT
CONTINUAL	COPY	COUNT	COUNTER
CPU	CREATE	CREATECLUSTER	CREATEDB
CREATENETWORKPOLICY	CREATEROLE	CREATION	CREDENTIAL
CROSS	CSE	CSV	CURRENT
CURSOR	DATABASE	DATABASES	DATUMS
DAY	DAYS	DEALLOCATE	DEBEZIUM
DEBUG	DEBUGGING	DEC	DECIMAL
DECLARE	DECODING	DECORRELATED	DEFAULT
DEFAULTS	DELETE	DELIMITED	DELIMITER
DELTA	DESC	DETAILS	DIRECTION
DISCARD	DISK	DISTINCT	DOC
DOT	DOUBLE	DROP	EAGER
ELEMENT	ELSE	ENABLE	END
ENDPOINT	ENFORCED	ENVELOPE	EQUIVALENCES
ERROR	ERRORS	ESCAPE	ESTIMATE
EVERY	EXCEPT	EXCLUDE	EXECUTE
EXISTS	EXPECTED	EXPLAIN	EXPOSE
EXPRESSIONS	EXTERNAL	EXTRACT	FACTOR
FALSE	FAST	FEATURES	FETCH
FIELDS	FILE	FILES	FILTER
FIRST	FIXPOINT	FLOAT	FOLLOWING
FOR	FOREIGN	FORMAT	FORWARD
FROM	FULL	FULLNAME	FUNCTION
FUSION	GENERATOR	GRANT	GREATEST
GROUP	GROUPS	HAVING	HEADER
HEADERS	HINTS	HISTORY	HOLD
HOST	HOUR	HOURS	HUMANIZED
HYDRATION	ICEBERG	ID	IDENTIFIERS
IDS	IF	IGNORE	ILIKE
IMPLEMENTATIONS	IMPORTED	IN	INCLUDE
INDEX	INDEXES	INFO	INHERIT
INLINE	INNER	INPUT	INSERT
INSIGHTS	INSPECT	INSTANCE	INT
INTEGER	INTERNAL	INTERSECT	INTERVAL
INTO	INTROSPECTION	IS	ISNULL
ISOLATION	JOIN	JOINS	JSON
KAFKA	KEY	KEYS	LAST
LATERAL	LATEST	LEADING	LEAST
LEFT	LEGACY	LETREC	LEVEL
LIKE	LIMIT	LINEAR	LIST
LOAD	LOCAL	LOCALLY	LOG
LOGICAL	LOGIN	LOWERING	MANAGED
MANUAL	MAP	MARKETING	MATERIALIZE
MATERIALIZED	MAX	MECHANISMS	MEMBERSHIP
MEMORY	MESSAGE	METADATA	MINUTE
MINUTES	MODE	MONTH	MONTHS
MUTUALLY	MYSQL	NAME	NAMES
NAMESPACE	NATURAL	NEGATIVE	NETWORK
NEW	NEXT	NFC	NFD
NFKC	NFKD	NO	NOCREATECLUSTER
NOCREATEDB	NOCREATEROLE	NODE	NOINHERIT
NOLOGIN	NON	NONE	NORMALIZE
NOSUPERUSER	NOT	NOTICE	NOTICES
NULL	NULLIF	NULLS	OBJECTS
OF	OFFSET	ON	ONLY
OPERATOR	OPTIMIZED	OPTIMIZER	OPTIONS
OR	ORDER	ORDINALITY	OUTER
OVER	OWNED	OWNER	PARTITION
PARTITIONS	PASSWORD	PATH	PATTERN
PHYSICAL	PLAN	PLANS	POLICIES
POLICY	PORT	POSITION	POSTGRES
PRECEDING	PRECISION	PREFIX	PREPARE
PRIMARY	PRIORITIZE	PRIVATELINK	PRIVILEGES
PROGRESS	PROJECTION	PROTOBUF	PROTOCOL
PUBLIC	PUBLICATION	PUSHDOWN	QUALIFY
QUERY	QUOTE	RAISE	RANGE
RATE	RAW	READ	READY
REAL	REASSIGN	RECURSION	RECURSIVE
REDACTED	REDUCE	REFERENCE	REFERENCES
REFRESH	REGEX	REGION	REGISTRY
RELATION	RENAME	REOPTIMIZE	REPEATABLE
REPLACE	REPLACEMENT	REPLACING	REPLAN
REPLICA	REPLICAS	REPLICATION	RESET
RESPECT	RESTRICT	RETAIN	RETURN
RETURNING	REVOKE	RIGHT	ROLE
ROLES	ROLLBACK	ROTATE	ROUNDS
ROW	ROWS	RULES	SASL
SCALE	SCHEDULE	SCHEMA	SCHEMAS
SCOPE	SECOND	SECONDS	SECRET
SECRETS	SECURITY	SEED	SELECT
SEQUENCES	SERIALIZABLE	SERVER	SERVICE
SESSION	SET	SHARD	SHOW
SINK	SINKS	SIZE	SKEW
SMALLINT	SNAPSHOT	SOME	SOURCE
SOURCES	SQL	SSH	SSL
START	STDIN	STDOUT	STORAGE
STORAGECTL	STRATEGY	STRICT	STRING
STRONG	SUBSCRIBE	SUBSOURCE	SUBSOURCES
SUBSTRING	SUBTREE	SUPERUSER	SWAP
SYNTAX	SYSTEM	TABLE	TABLES
TAIL	TASK	TASKS	TEMP
TEMPORARY	TEXT	THEN	TICK
TIES	TIME	TIMEOUT	TIMESTAMP
TIMESTAMPTZ	TIMING	TO	TOKEN
TOPIC	TPCH	TRACE	TRAILING
TRANSACTION	TRANSACTIONAL	TRANSFORM	TRIM
TRUE	TUNNEL	TYPE	TYPES
UNBOUNDED	UNCOMMITTED	UNION	UNIQUE
UNKNOWN	UNNEST	UNTIL	UP
UPDATE	UPSERT	URL	USAGE
USER	USERNAME	USERS	USING
VALIDATE	VALUE	VALUES	VARCHAR
VARIADIC	VARYING	VERBOSE	VERSION
VIEW	VIEWS	WAIT	WAREHOUSE
WARNING	WEBHOOK	WHEN	WHERE
WHILE	WINDOW	WIRE	WITH
WITHIN	WITHOUT	WORK	WORKERS
WORKLOAD	WRITE	YEAR	YEARS
ZONE	ZONES