CREATEUSER(1)

✨ CREATEUSER(1) — PostgreSQL 14.24 Documentation ✨

okay so bestie, listen — this is createuser, and it's literally the glow-up command for making new PostgreSQL user accounts. 💅✨

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🎀 NAME 🎀

createuser — define a new PostgreSQL user account (yes, we're making a whole new role, slay 👑)

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

createuser [connection-option...] [option...] [username]

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So createuser creates a new PostgreSQL user (or, more precisely, a role). Main character energy ✨ Only superusers and users with CREATEROLE privilege can create new users, so whoever runs createuser must be able to connect as a superuser or as a user with CREATEROLE privilege. No sneaking in without the right vibes, periodt.

Now, if you're trying to create a role with the SUPERUSER, REPLICATION, or BYPASSRLS privilege, you must connect as a superuser — not just someone with CREATEROLE privilege. Being a superuser literally implies the ability to bypass all access permission checks within the database, so superuser access should not be granted lightly. 🚨 And CREATEROLE also conveys very extensive privileges, bestie. Like, very. 🫶

createuser is basically a wrapper around the SQL command CREATE ROLE. There is no effective difference between creating users via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server. Same energy, different font. 😌

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🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

createuser accepts the following command-line arguments:

• username — Specifies the name of the PostgreSQL user to be created. This name must be different from all existing roles in this PostgreSQL installation. No duplicates, bestie. 🚫💀
• -c number, --connection-limit=number — Set a maximum number of connections for the new user. The default is to set no limit. Live your life, connect as much as you want ✨
• -d, --createdb — The new user will be allowed to create databases. She's got the power 🏗️✨
• -D, --no-createdb — The new user will not be allowed to create databases. This is the default. 🚫
• -e, --echo — Echo the commands that createuser generates and sends to the server. Transparency, queen behavior 👑
• -E, --encrypted — This option is obsolete 😭 but still accepted for backward compatibility. An icon of the past 🎀
• -g role, --role=role — Indicates role to which this role will be added immediately as a new member. Multiple roles to which this role will be added as a member can be specified by writing multiple -g switches. Collect them all 💅
• -i, --inherit — The new role will automatically inherit privileges of roles it is a member of. This is the default. Inheritance is literally the moment ✨
• -I, --no-inherit — The new role will not automatically inherit privileges of roles it is a member of. Independent queen 💅
• --interactive — Prompt for the user name if none is specified on the command line, and also prompt for whichever of the options -d/-D, -r/-R, -s/-S is not specified on the command line. (This was the default behavior up to PostgreSQL 9.1.) It's giving old-school charm 🕰️✨
• -l, --login — The new user will be allowed to log in (that is, the user name can be used as the initial session user identifier). This is the default. Let her in 🚪✨
• -L, --no-login — The new user will not be allowed to log in. (A role without login privilege is still useful as a means of managing database permissions.) No entry for you, bestie 🚫
• -P, --pwprompt — If given, createuser will issue a prompt for the password of the new user. This is not necessary if you do not plan on using password authentication. Keep it secret, keep it safe 🔐
• -r, --createrole — The new user will be allowed to create, alter, drop, comment on, change the security label for, and grant or revoke membership in other roles; that is, this user will have CREATEROLE privilege. See role creation for more details about what capabilities are conferred by this privilege. She's managing the whole friend group 👯‍♀️
• -R, --no-createrole — The new user will not be allowed to create new roles. This is the default. 🚫
• -s, --superuser — The new user will be a superuser. All the power, use it wisely ⚡👑
• -S, --no-superuser — The new user will not be a superuser. This is the default. 🚫
• -V, --version — Print the createuser version and exit. Version check, slay 📋✨
• --replication — The new user will have the REPLICATION privilege, which is described more fully in the documentation for CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7)). Replication realness 🌀
• --no-replication — The new user will not have the REPLICATION privilege, which is described more fully in the documentation for CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7)). 🚫
• -?, --help — Show help about createuser command line arguments, and exit. Help is always there for you 🫶

createuser also accepts the following command-line arguments for connection parameters:

• -h host, --host=host — Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket. Where the magic happens 🏠✨
• -p port, --port=port — Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections. The door number 🚪
• -U username, --username=username — User name to connect as (not the user name to create). Don't get it twisted, bestie 💅
• -w, --no-password — Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a password is not available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a password. No interruptions, we're busy 🤖
• -W, --password — Force createuser to prompt for a password (for connecting to the server, not for the password of the new user). This option is never essential, since createuser will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. However, createuser will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt. Efficiency queen ⚡

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🦋 ENVIRONMENT 🦋

• PGHOST
• PGPORT
• PGUSER

Default connection parameters. Set the vibe before you start ✨

• PG_COLOR — Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values are always, auto and never. Aesthetic matters, even in error messages 💅🌈

This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 34.15). The whole ecosystem is connected, iykyk 🌐

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🧚 DIAGNOSTICS 🧚

In case of difficulty, see CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7)) and psql(1) for discussions of potential problems and error messages. The database server must be running at the targeted host. Also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq front-end library will apply. Don't panic, just check the basics first 🫶✨

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

To create a user joe on the default database server:

$ createuser joe

To create a user joe on the default database server with prompting for some additional attributes:

$ createuser --interactive joe
Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) n
Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) n
Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) n

To create the same user joe using the server on host eden, port 5000, with attributes explicitly specified, taking a look at the underlying command:

$ createuser -h eden -p 5000 -S -D -R -e joe
CREATE ROLE joe NOSUPERUSER NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;

To create the user joe as a superuser, and assign a password immediately:

$ createuser -P -s -e joe
Enter password for new role: xyzzy
Enter it again: xyzzy
CREATE ROLE joe PASSWORD 'SCRAM-SHA-256$4096:44560wPMLfjqiAzyPDZ/eQ==$4CA054rZlSFEq8Z3FEhToBTa2X6KnWFxFkPwIbKoDe0=:L/nbSZRCjp6RhOhKK56GoR1zibCCSePKshCJ9lnl3yw=' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;

In the above example, the new password isn't actually echoed when typed, but we show what was typed for clarity. As you see, the password is encrypted before it is sent to the client. Sneaky and secure 🔐✨

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🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

dropuser(1), CREATE ROLE (CREATE_ROLE(7))

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PostgreSQL 14.24, dated 2026, is the main character energy behind this whole page — and CREATEUSER(1) is the manual you just read, bestie. Now go make some users, slay, and remember: with great superuser power comes great responsibility 👑💖✨