CREATE_TEXT_SEARCH_PARSER(7pg16)

💅 CREATE_TEXT_SEARCH_PARSER

okay bestie, welcome to the CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER page — that's the Postgres 16.15 docs, and yes this is the glow-up version ✨

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🌸 NAME

CREATE_TEXT_SEARCH_PARSER — define a new text search parser 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS

CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER name (
    START = start_function ,
    GETTOKEN = gettoken_function ,
    END = end_function ,
    LEXTYPES = lextypes_function
    [, HEADLINE = headline_function ]
)

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🦋 DESCRIPTION

So CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER literally creates a brand-new text search parser. And what even is a parser? It's the thing that defines a method for splitting a text string into tokens and assigning types (categories) to those tokens. periodt 💅

But here's the tea: a parser is not particularly useful by itself. It has to be bound into a text search configuration alongside some text search dictionaries before it's actually usable for searching. iykyk.

If a schema name is given, then the text search parser gets created in that specified schema. Otherwise it's created in the current schema. simple as that 🫶

⚠️ You must be a superuser to use CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER. And no, that restriction isn't just for vibes — it's there because an erroneous text search parser definition could confuse or even crash the server. 💀 so like, respect the gatekeeping.

Refer to Chapter 12 for further information 📖

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🎀 PARAMETERS

• name — the name of the text search parser you're creating. It can be schema-qualified, no cap.
• start_function — the name of the start function for the parser.
• gettoken_function — the name of the get-next-token function for the parser.
• end_function — the name of the end function for the parser.
• lextypes_function — the name of the lextypes function for the parser (it's the function that returns info about the set of token types it produces).
• headline_function — the name of the headline function for the parser (a function that summarizes a set of tokens).

The function names can be schema-qualified if necessary. Argument types are not given, since the argument list for each type of function is predetermined — iconic, honestly ✨

All except the headline function are required. 👑

And plot twist: the arguments can appear in any order, not only the one shown above. main character energy for real.

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🌈 COMPATIBILITY

There is no CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER statement in the SQL standard. 🙈 Postgres is just doing its own thing here, and we love that for it.

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💜 SEE ALSO

• ALTER TEXT SEARCH PARSER (ALTER_TEXT_SEARCH_PARSER(7))
• DROP TEXT SEARCH PARSER (DROP_TEXT_SEARCH_PARSER(7))

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 🍓💖

⭐ PostgreSQL 16.15 · 2026 ⭐ — that's the source and date, mwah, go forth and parse 🌸👑