CREATE_TABLE_AS(7pg15)

✨ CREATE_TABLE_AS ✨

okay bestie, we're in the PostgreSQL 15.19 Documentation zone, section 7 (that's the SQL commands girlies 💅), and today's main character is CREATE_TABLE_AS — the glow-up where a query becomes an actual real-life table. let's go 🫶

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

CREATE_TABLE_AS — literally define a brand-new table straight out of the results of a query. it's giving "manifest your destiny" ✨

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

CREATE [ [ GLOBAL | LOCAL ] { TEMPORARY | TEMP } | UNLOGGED ] TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] table_name
    [ (column_name [, ...] ) ]
    [ USING method ]
    [ WITH ( storage_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) | WITHOUT OIDS ]
    [ ON COMMIT { PRESERVE ROWS | DELETE ROWS | DROP } ]
    [ TABLESPACE tablespace_name ]
    AS query
    [ WITH [ NO ] DATA ]

no cap, that's a lot of optional brackets, and every single one of them is iconic in its own way 💖

---

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so CREATE TABLE AS makes a table and then fills it with data computed by a SELECT command. the table's columns inherit the names and data types of the output columns of that SELECT — except!! you can override the column names by handing over an explicit list of new column names. main character behavior honestly 👑

now here's where it gets interesting: CREATE TABLE AS looks kinda like creating a view, but it's actually SO different. CREATE TABLE AS creates a new table and evaluates the query just once to fill the new table initially. that's it, that's the whole commitment. the new table will not track subsequent changes to the source tables of the query. meanwhile a view re-evaluates its defining SELECT statement every single time it's queried — needy behavior tbh 😭

also important: CREATE TABLE AS requires CREATE privilege on the schema used for the table. no privilege, no table, periodt 🚫

---

🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• GLOBAL or LOCAL — ignored for compatibility. use of these keywords is deprecated, so maybe don't? refer to CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for the deets.
• TEMPORARY or TEMP — if specified, the table is created as a temporary table. refer to CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for details ✨
• UNLOGGED — if specified, the table is created as an unlogged table. refer to CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for details. (yes it's an unlogged table, yes that's a whole thing, go read that page 💀)
• IF NOT EXISTS — do not throw an error if a relation with the same name already exists; simply issue a notice and leave the table unmodified. so chill, so unbothered 🙈
• table_name — the name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created. pick something cute 🎀
• column_name — the name of a column in the new table. if column names are not provided, they're taken from the output column names of the query. lazy girl summer, legally sanctioned 🌸
• USING method — this optional clause specifies the table access method to use to store the contents for the new table; the method needs be an access method of type TABLE. see Chapter 63 for more information. if this option is not specified, the default table access method is chosen for the new table. see default_table_access_method for more information ⭐
• WITH ( storage_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) — this clause specifies optional storage parameters for the new table; see Storage Parameters in the CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) documentation for more information. for backward-compatibility the WITH clause for a table can also include OIDS=FALSE to specify that rows of the new table should contain no OIDs (object identifiers) — but heads up, OIDS=TRUE is not supported anymore. like, at all. respectfully retired 💀
• WITHOUT OIDS — this is backward-compatible syntax for declaring a table WITHOUT OIDS; creating a table WITH OIDS is not supported anymore. same energy as above, just a different outfit 💅
• ON COMMIT — the behavior of temporary tables at the end of a transaction block can be controlled using ON COMMIT. the three options are:
  • PRESERVE ROWS — no special action is taken at the ends of transactions. this is the default behavior. lowkey the calm one 🧘
  • DELETE ROWS — all rows in the temporary table will be deleted at the end of each transaction block. essentially, an automatic TRUNCATE is done at each commit. brutal but efficient 🔥
  • DROP — the temporary table will be dropped at the end of the current transaction block. gone, reduced to atoms 💀
• TABLESPACE tablespace_name — the tablespace_name is the name of the tablespace in which the new table is to be created. if not specified, default_tablespace is consulted, or temp_tablespaces if the table is temporary 🦋
• query — a SELECT, TABLE, or VALUES command, or an EXECUTE command that runs a prepared SELECT, TABLE, or VALUES query 👑
• WITH [ NO ] DATA — this clause specifies whether or not the data produced by the query should be copied into the new table. if not, only the table structure is copied. the default is to copy the data. structure-only is the ~minimalist~ option ✨

---

😭 NOTES 😭

this command is functionally similar to SELECT INTO (SELECT_INTO(7)), but it is preferred since it's less likely to be confused with other uses of the SELECT INTO syntax. furthermore, CREATE TABLE AS offers a superset of the functionality offered by SELECT INTO. so like... why would you not, bestie 💁‍♀️

---

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

create a new table films_recent consisting of only recent entries from the table films:

CREATE TABLE films_recent AS
  SELECT * FROM films WHERE date_prod >= '2002-01-01';

to copy a table completely, the short form using the TABLE command can also be used:

CREATE TABLE films2 AS
  TABLE films;

create a new temporary table films_recent, consisting of only recent entries from the table films, using a prepared statement. the new table will be dropped at commit:

PREPARE recentfilms(date) AS
  SELECT * FROM films WHERE date_prod > $1;
CREATE TEMP TABLE films_recent ON COMMIT DROP AS
  EXECUTE recentfilms('2002-01-01');

three examples, three slays, no notes 🫶

---

💅 COMPATIBILITY 💅

CREATE TABLE AS conforms to the SQL standard. but the following are nonstandard extensions, bestie:

• the standard requires parentheses around the subquery clause; in PostgreSQL, these parentheses are optional. freedom ✨
• in the standard, the WITH [ NO ] DATA clause is required; in PostgreSQL it's optional. we're lenient like that 💖
• PostgreSQL handles temporary tables in a way rather different from the standard; see CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for details.
• the WITH clause is a PostgreSQL extension; storage parameters are not in the standard.
• the PostgreSQL concept of tablespaces is not part of the standard. hence, the clause TABLESPACE is an extension.

fr fr, if you're porting SQL around, all five of those bullets are the ones that'll vibe-check you 💀

---

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW (CREATE_MATERIALIZED_VIEW(7)), CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)), EXECUTE(7), SELECT(7), SELECT INTO (SELECT_INTO(7)), VALUES(7) — go read all of them, iykyk 📚

---

that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖 no cap, you now know CREATE TABLE AS better than half the internet.

mwah 💋 — signed, your girl, from the PostgreSQL 15.19 docs, dated 2026, on the CREATE TABLE AS(7) page. 🎀🌸🦋