ALTER_PUBLICATION(7pg13)

Okay bestie, welcome to the ALTER PUBLICATION(7) page from the PostgreSQL 13.23 docs — this is the one that changes a publication’s definition, and it’s giving very much “edit the group chat membership” energy 💅✨

✨ NAME ✨

ALTER_PUBLICATION — change the definition of a publication. That’s the whole vibe: you’ve got a publication, and you need to alter it. Iconic, lowkey essential. 🫶

🛠️ SYNOPSIS 🛠️

ALTER PUBLICATION name ADD TABLE [ ONLY ] table_name [ * ] [, ...]
ALTER PUBLICATION name SET TABLE [ ONLY ] table_name [ * ] [, ...]
ALTER PUBLICATION name DROP TABLE [ ONLY ] table_name [ * ] [, ...]
ALTER PUBLICATION name SET ( publication_parameter [= value] [, ... ] )
ALTER PUBLICATION name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }
ALTER PUBLICATION name RENAME TO new_name

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

The command ALTER PUBLICATION can change the attributes of a publication. Yes bestie, it’s literally in the name — it alters the publication. 🌸

The first three variants change which tables are part of the publication. The SET TABLE clause will replace the list of tables in the publication with the specified one. The ADD TABLE and DROP TABLE clauses will add and remove one or more tables from the publication. Note that adding tables to a publication that is already subscribed to will require a ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... REFRESH PUBLICATION action on the subscribing side in order to become effective. So yeah, the other side gotta refresh too — no cap. 🔄

The fourth variant of this command listed in the synopsis can change all of the publication properties specified in CREATE PUBLICATION (CREATE_PUBLICATION(7)). Properties not mentioned in the command retain their previous settings. So it’s very “if you don’t say anything, we’re not touching it” energy. 💅

The remaining variants change the owner and the name of the publication.

You must own the publication to use ALTER PUBLICATION. Adding a table to a publication additionally requires owning that table. To alter the owner, you must also be a direct or indirect member of the new owning role. The new owner must have CREATE privilege on the database. Also, the new owner of a FOR ALL TABLES publication must be a superuser. However, a superuser can change the ownership of a publication regardless of these restrictions. 👑

🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• name — the name of an existing publication whose definition is to be altered. Like, the publication you’re about to glow-up. 💖
• table_name — name of an existing table. If ONLY is specified before the table name, only that table is affected. If ONLY is not specified, the table and all its descendant tables (if any) are affected. Optionally, * can be specified after the table name to explicitly indicate that descendant tables are included. So ONLY is the “just this one, please” flag, and * is the “and the whole family too” flag. 🌈
• SET ( publication_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) — this clause alters publication parameters originally set by CREATE PUBLICATION (CREATE_PUBLICATION(7)). See there for more information. The details live over there, bestie — go peek. 👀
• new_owner — the user name of the new owner of the publication. New owner, new main character energy. 👑
• new_name — the new name for the publication. Rename slay. ✨

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

Change the publication to publish only deletes and updates:

ALTER PUBLICATION noinsert SET (publish = 'update, delete');

Add some tables to the publication:

ALTER PUBLICATION mypublication ADD TABLE users, departments;

🦋 COMPATIBILITY 🦋

ALTER PUBLICATION is a PostgreSQL extension. That’s the compatibility note, periodt. 💅

🔗 SEE ALSO 🔗

• CREATE PUBLICATION (CREATE_PUBLICATION(7))
• DROP PUBLICATION (DROP_PUBLICATION(7))
• CREATE SUBSCRIPTION (CREATE_SUBSCRIPTION(7))
• ALTER SUBSCRIPTION (ALTER_SUBSCRIPTION(7))

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And that’s the page, bestie 🫶 — signed off by PostgreSQL 13.23, dated 2025, with the manual name ALTER PUBLICATION(7) right there in the footer. mwah 💋✨