SHOW SCHEMAS

Enterprise command reference.

Command Snapshot

Field	Value
Category	DDL and Administration
Mutates Data	No
Scope	Statement
Privilege Model	Requires DDL/administrative privilege according to target object scope.

Purpose

Executes the SHOW SCHEMAS SQL command with MonkDB distributed runtime semantics.

Syntax

SHOW SCHEMAS [LIKE 'pattern' | WHERE expression];

Operational Notes

• Use schema-qualified identifiers in automation and automation pipelines.
• Validate behavior in staging for cluster-impacting or governance-impacting changes.
• Confirm runtime effects through system tables and metrics before and after execution.

When to Use

• Use during planned schema and runtime administration changes.
• Use in automation pipelines with environment-specific validation and rollback strategy.

When Not to Use

• Avoid during incident windows unless the command is part of approved mitigation.
• Avoid schema changes in peak traffic windows without staged rollout.

Common Errors and Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause	Action
Permission denied / unauthorized	Missing privilege on object or cluster scope	Re-run with required grants or elevated admin role.
Analysis/parse error	Syntax variant or object shape mismatch	Compare with canonical syntax and object definition.
Runtime failure under load	Resource limits, breaker pressure, or node state transitions	Check sys.jobs, sys.operations, sys.checks, and retry after mitigation.

Cross-References

• SQL Command Catalog
• SQL Commands Index
• SQL Reference Overview

Detailed Reference

The SHOW SCHEMAS command in MonkDB is used to list all the schemas (namespaces) defined within the current MonkDB cluster.

In MonkDB, schemas help organize tables, views, and other database objects logically. This is particularly useful in multi-tenant applications or for structuring large databases.

SQL Statement

SHOW SCHEMAS [LIKE 'pattern' | WHERE expression];

Description

• Returns a list of schema names, sorted alphabetically.
• Includes default schemas like monkdb, information_schema, pg_catalog, etc.
• You can filter results using LIKE or WHERE.

Examples

Example 1. Show all schemas

SHOW SCHEMAS;

Typical output

monkdb
information_schema
pg_catalog
sys

Example 2. Filter schemas using LIKE

SHOW SCHEMAS LIKE 'monk%';

This matches all schema names starting with monk (case-insensitive).

Example 3. Use WHERE for complex conditions

SHOW SCHEMAS WHERE schema_name != 'pg_catalog';

Default Schemas in MonkDB

This uses a boolean condition to filter results. You can use any SQL-compatible expression.

Schema Name	Purpose
monkdb	Default schema for user-created tables
information_schema	Metadata about tables, columns, schemas, etc. (read-only)
pg_catalog	PostgreSQL compatibility layer (for clients/tools that expect PG)
sys	MonkDB-specific system information (cluster, nodes, tables, etc.)

Use Cases

• Multi-tenancy: You might create separate schemas per tenant or application domain.
• Metadata introspection: Combine with other metadata queries to build a full database map.
• DevOps/Automation: Use in tooling/scripts to dynamically fetch and work with schemas.

🆚 vs SHOW TABLES

• SHOW SCHEMAS → Lists namespaces (organizational level)
• SHOW TABLES → Lists tables within a specific schema (typically monkdb)

---

See Also

• Show Tables