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HCL Schema

Atlas schemas can be defined in SQL, external ORMs and programs, or by using the Atlas HCL language. The HCL-based language allows developers to describe database schemas in a declarative manner, and it supports all SQL features supported by Atlas. The main advantages of using HCL are that it enables developers to manage their database schemas like regular code, facilitates sharing and reusing files between projects, allows variable injection, and provides the ability to attach annotations to objects, such as PII or sensitive data.

Schema

The schema object describes a database schema. A DATABASE in MySQL and SQLite, or a SCHEMA in PostgreSQL. An HCL file can contain 1 or more schema objects.

In MySQL and MariaDB, the schema resource can contain the charset and collate attributes. Read more about them in MySQL or MariaDB websites.

# Schema with attributes.
schema "market" {
charset = "utf8mb4"
collate = "utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci"
comment = "A schema comment"
}

# Schema without attributes.
schema "orders" {}

Table

A table describes a table in a SQL database. A table hold its columns, indexes, constraints, and additional attributes that are supported by the different drivers.

table "users" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
type = int
}
column "name" {
type = varchar(255)
}
column "manager_id" {
type = int
}
primary_key {
columns = [
column.id
]
}
index "idx_name" {
columns = [
column.name
]
unique = true
}
foreign_key "manager_fk" {
columns = [column.manager_id]
ref_columns = [column.id]
on_delete = CASCADE
on_update = NO_ACTION
}
}

Check

A check is a child resource of a table that describes a CHECK constraint.

table "products" {
column "price" {
type = float
}
check "positive price" {
expr = "price > 0"
}
}

Partitions

Table partitioning refers to splitting logical large tables into smaller physical ones.

note

Atlas currently only supports PostgreSQL. Support for the remaining dialects will be added in future versions.

table "logs" {
schema = schema.public
column "date" {
type = date
}
column "text" {
type = integer
}
partition {
type = RANGE
columns = [column.date]
}
}

table "metrics" {
schema = schema.public
column "x" {
type = integer
}
column "y" {
type = integer
}
partition {
type = RANGE
by {
column = column.x
}
by {
expr = "floor(y)"
}
}
}

Storage Engine

The engine attribute allows for overriding the default storage engine of the table. Supported by MySQL and MariaDB.

table "users" {
schema = schema.public
engine = MyISAM
}

table "posts" {
schema = schema.public
engine = InnoDB
}

table "orders" {
schema = schema.public
engine = "MyRocks"
}

Table Qualification

In some cases, an Atlas DDL document may contain multiple tables of the same name. This usually happens when the same table name appears in two different schemas. In these cases, the table names must be disambiguated by using resource qualifiers. The following document describes a database that contains two schemas named a and b, and both of them contain a table named users.

schema "a" {}
schema "b" {}

table "a" "users" {
schema = schema.a
// .. columns
}
table "b" "users" {
schema = schema.b
// .. columns
}

View

A view is a virtual table in the database, defined by a statement that queries rows from one or more existing tables or views.

view "clean_users" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
type = int
}
column "name" {
type = text
}
as = <<-SQL
SELECT u.id, u.name
FROM ${table.users.name} AS u
JOIN ${view.active_users.name} AS au USING (id)
SQL
depends_on = [table.users, view.t1]
comment = "A view to active users without sensitive data"
}

view "comedies" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
type = int
}
column "name" {
type = text
}
as = "SELECT id, name FROM films WHERE kind = 'Comedy'"
depends_on = [table.films]
check_option = CASCADED
}

Column

A column is a child resource of a table.

column "name" {
type = text
null = false
}

column "age" {
type = integer
default = 42
}

column "active" {
type = tinyint(1)
default = true
}

Properties

NameKindTypeDescription
nullattributeboolDefines whether the column is nullable.
typeattribute*schemahcl.TypeDefines the type of data that can be stored in the column.
defaultattribute*schemahcl.LiteralValueDefines the default value of the column.

Generated Columns

Generated columns are columns whose their values are computed using other columns or by deterministic expressions.

table "users" {
schema = schema.test
column "a" {
type = int
}
column "b" {
type = int
# In MySQL, generated columns are VIRTUAL by default.
as = "a * 2"
}
column "c" {
type = int
as {
expr = "a * b"
type = STORED
}
}
}
info

Note, it is recommended to use the --dev-url option when generated columns are used.

Column Types

The SQL dialects supported by Atlas (Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, and SQLite) vary in the types they support. At this point, the Atlas DDL does not attempt to abstract away the differences between various databases. This means that the schema documents are tied to a specific database engine and version. This may change in a future version of Atlas as we plan to add "Virtual Types" support. This section lists the various types that are supported in each database.

For a full list of supported column types, click here.

Primary Key

A primary_key is a child resource of a table, and it defines the table's primary key.

Example

primary_key {
columns = [column.id]
}

Properties

NameKindTypeDescription
columnsresourcereference (list)A list of references to columns that comprise the primary key.

Foreign Key

Foreign keys are child resources of a table, and it defines some columns in the table as references to columns in other tables.

Example

schema.hcl
table "users" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
type = integer
}
primary_key {
columns = [column.id]
}
}

table "orders" {
schema = schema.market
// ...
column "owner_id" {
type = integer
}
foreign_key "owner_id" {
columns = [column.owner_id]
ref_columns = [table.users.column.id]
on_update = NO_ACTION
on_delete = NO_ACTION
}
}

Referencing Qualified Tables

If a foreign key references a column in a qualified table, it is referenced using table.<qualifier>.<table_name>.column.<column_name>:

schema.hcl
table "public" "users" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
type = integer
}
primary_key {
columns = [column.id]
}
}

table "admin" "users" {
schema = schema.admin
// ...
column "external_id" {
type = integer
}
foreign_key "external_id" {
columns = [column.external_id]
ref_columns = [table.admin.users.column.id]
on_update = NO_ACTION
on_delete = NO_ACTION
}
}

Properties

NameKindTypeDescription
columnsattributereference (list)The columns that reference other columns.
ref_columnsattributereference (list)The referenced columns.
on_updateattributeschema.ReferenceOptionDefines what to do on update.
on_deleteattributeschema.ReferenceOptionDefines what to do on delete.

Index

Indexes are child resources of a table, and it defines an index on the table.

Example

index "idx_name" {
columns = [
column.name
]
unique = true
}

index "idx_name" {
on {
column = column.rank
}
on {
column = column.score
desc = true
}
unique = true
}

index "idx_name" {
type = GIN
columns = [column.data]
}

index "idx_range" {
type = BRIN
columns = [column.range]
page_per_range = 128
}

index "idx_include" {
columns = [column.range]
include = [column.version]
}

index "idx_operator_class" {
type = GIN
on {
column = column.j
ops = jsonb_path_ops
}
}

index "index_parser" {
type = FULLTEXT
columns = [column.text]
parser = ngram
}

index "index_nulls_not_distinct" {
unique = true
columns = [column.text]
nulls_distinct = false
}

Properties

NameKindTypeDescription
uniqueattributebooleanDefines whether a uniqueness constraint is set on the index.
typeattributeIndexType (enum)Defines the index type. e.g. HASH, GIN, FULLTEXT.
columnsattributereference (list)The columns that comprise the index.
onresourceschema.IndexPart (list)The index parts that comprise the index.
optionsattributeschema.AttrAdditional driver specific attributes. e.g. page_per_range

Index Expressions

Index expressions allow setting indexes over functions or computed expressions. Supported by PostgreSQL, SQLite and MySQL8.

table "t" {
schema = schema.test
column "c1" {
type = int
}
column "c2" {
type = int
}
index "i" {
on {
expr = "c1 - c2"
}
on {
expr = "c2 - c1"
}
}
}
info

Note, it is recommended to use the --dev-url option when index expressions are used.

Partial Indexes

Partial indexes allow setting indexes over subset of the table. Supported by PostgreSQL and SQLite.

table "t" {
schema = schema.public
column "b" {
type = bool
}
column "c" {
type = int
}
index "i" {
columns = [column.c]
where = "b AND c > 0"
}
}
info

Note, it is recommended to use the --dev-url option when partial indexes are used.

Index Prefixes

Index prefixes allow setting an index on the first N characters of string columns. Supported by MySQL and MariaDB.

table "users" {
schema = schema.test
column "name" {
type = varchar(255)
}
index "user_name" {
on {
column = column.name
prefix = 128
}
}
}

Comment

The comment attribute is an attribute of schema, table, column, and index.

schema "public" {
comment = "A schema comment"
}

table "users" {
schema = schema.public
column "name" {
type = text
comment = "A column comment"
}
index "name_idx" {
columns = [column.name]
}
comment = "A table comment"
}

Charset and Collation

The charset and collate are attributes of schema, table and column and supported by MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL. Read more about them in MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL websites.

schema "public" {
charset = "utf8mb4"
collate = "utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci"
}

table "products" {
column "name" {
type = text
collate = "binary"
}
collate = "utf8_general_ci"
}

Auto Increment

AUTO_INCREMENT and IDENTITY columns are attributes of the column and table resource, and can be used to generate a unique identity for new rows.

In MySQL/MariaDB the auto_increment attribute can be set on columns and tables.

table "users" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
null = false
type = bigint
auto_increment = true
}
primary_key {
columns = [column.id]
}
}

The auto_increment column can be set on the table to configure a start value other than 1.

table "users" {
schema = schema.public
column "id" {
null = false
type = bigint
auto_increment = true
}
primary_key {
columns = [column.id]
}
auto_increment = 100
}