IMPORT_FOREIGN_SCHEMA(7)

💖 IMPORT_FOREIGN_SCHEMA 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let me tell you about IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA — it's a PostgreSQL thing, it lives in the PostgreSQL 18.6 docs, and honestly? it's giving ✨effortless✨. It imports table definitions from a foreign server. No cap. 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA remote_schema
    [ { LIMIT TO | EXCEPT } ( table_name [, ...] ) ]
    FROM SERVER server_name
    INTO local_schema
    [ OPTIONS ( option 'value' [, ... ] ) ]

look at her. gorgeous. 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA makes foreign tables that represent tables already chillin' on a foreign server. And the new foreign tables? They belong to whoever ran the command — the user issuing the command owns them — and they get created with the correct column definitions and options so they actually match up with the remote tables. like, they match. fr fr. 🫶

So by default, every single table and view that exists in that particular schema on the foreign server gets imported. That's a lot of tables, bestie. But if you want, you can limit the list to a specified subset, or you can exclude specific tables instead. your call, main character. 👑

All the new foreign tables get created in the target schema — and heads up, that schema has to already exist. IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA is not out here building schemas for you. 😭

And to even run IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA you need USAGE privilege on the foreign server, plus CREATE privilege on the target schema. both. not one. both. 🎀

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🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• remote_schema — the remote schema you're importing from. what a "remote schema" actually means depends on the foreign data wrapper in use, so iykyk. 🌈
• LIMIT TO ( table_name [, ...] ) — import only the foreign tables matching one of the table names you list. every other table in that foreign schema? ignored. not invited to the party. 🙈
• EXCEPT ( table_name [, ...] ) — the opposite vibe: exclude the foreign tables you name. everything in the foreign schema gets imported except the ones you listed here. 💀
• server_name — the foreign server you're importing from.
• local_schema — the schema where all the imported foreign tables are gonna be created.
• OPTIONS ( option 'value' [, ...] ) — options used during the import. which option names and values are allowed? that's specific to each foreign data wrapper, so check yours. ⭐

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💖 EXAMPLES 💖

Import table definitions from a remote schema foreign_films on server film_server, creating the foreign tables in local schema films:

IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA foreign_films
    FROM SERVER film_server INTO films;

Same as above, but import only the two tables actors and directors (if they exist):

IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA foreign_films LIMIT TO (actors, directors)
    FROM SERVER film_server INTO films;

obsessed with how clean that is. 🍓

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🦋 COMPATIBILITY 🦋

The IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA command conforms to the SQL standard — slay — except that the OPTIONS clause is a PostgreSQL extension. so that one part is our little homegrown thing. 🌸

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• CREATE FOREIGN TABLE (CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE(7))
• CREATE SERVER (CREATE_SERVER(7))

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okay that's the whole page, no notes, ate and left no crumbs. 👑

this was PostgreSQL 18.6, dated 2026, and it's the IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA(7) manual page — thanks for reading bestie, go import responsibly 💜🧚✨