GRANT(7)

💅 GRANT(7) — define access privileges 💅

okay bestie, this is the PostgreSQL 16.15 Documentation page for GRANT(7), and it’s literally the glow-up guide for giving out access privileges. no cap, it’s a long one, so strap in. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

GRANT — define access privileges. that’s the whole vibe. 💖

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

GRANT { { SELECT | INSERT | UPDATE | DELETE | TRUNCATE | REFERENCES | TRIGGER }
    [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON { [ TABLE ] table_name [, ...]
         | ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA schema_name [, ...] }
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { { SELECT | INSERT | UPDATE | REFERENCES } ( column_name [, ...] )
    [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] ( column_name [, ...] ) }
    ON [ TABLE ] table_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { { USAGE | SELECT | UPDATE }
    [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON { SEQUENCE sequence_name [, ...]
         | ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA schema_name [, ...] }
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { { CREATE | CONNECT | TEMPORARY | TEMP } [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON DATABASE database_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON DOMAIN domain_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER fdw_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON FOREIGN SERVER server_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { EXECUTE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON { { FUNCTION | PROCEDURE | ROUTINE } routine_name [ ( [ [ argmode ] [ arg_name ] arg_type [, ...] ] ) ] [, ...]
         | ALL { FUNCTIONS | PROCEDURES | ROUTINES } IN SCHEMA schema_name [, ...] }
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON LANGUAGE lang_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { { SELECT | UPDATE } [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON LARGE OBJECT loid [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { { SET | ALTER SYSTEM } [, ... ] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON PARAMETER configuration_parameter [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { { CREATE | USAGE } [, ...] | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON SCHEMA schema_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { CREATE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON TABLESPACE tablespace_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT { USAGE | ALL [ PRIVILEGES ] }
    ON TYPE type_name [, ...]
    TO role_specification [, ...] [ WITH GRANT OPTION ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

GRANT role_name [, ...] TO role_specification [, ...]
    [ WITH { ADMIN | INHERIT | SET } { OPTION | TRUE | FALSE } ]
    [ GRANTED BY role_specification ]

where role_specification can be:

    [ GROUP ] role_name
  | PUBLIC
  | CURRENT_ROLE
  | CURRENT_USER
  | SESSION_USER

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so GRANT has two basic variants, and they’re giving sibling energy: one grants privileges on a database object, and one grants membership in a role. 💫

The database-object variant covers a table, column, view, foreign table, sequence, database, foreign-data wrapper, foreign server, function, procedure, procedural language, large object, configuration parameter, schema, tablespace, or type. The role-membership variant is the “you’re one of us now” one. They’re similar in many ways, but they’re different enough to be described separately. periodt.

🐚 GRANT on Database Objects 🐚

This variant of GRANT gives specific privileges on a database object to one or more roles. These privileges are added to those already granted, if any. ✨

The key word PUBLIC means the privileges are granted to all roles, including those that might be created later. PUBLIC can be thought of as an implicitly defined group that always includes all roles. Any particular role will have the sum of privileges granted directly to it, privileges granted to any role it is presently a member of, and privileges granted to PUBLIC. 💖

If WITH GRANT OPTION is specified, the recipient of the privilege can in turn grant it to others. Without a grant option, the recipient cannot do that. Grant options cannot be granted to PUBLIC. 🚫

If GRANTED BY is specified, the specified grantor must be the current user. This clause is currently present in this form only for SQL compatibility. iykyk.

There is no need to grant privileges to the owner of an object (usually the user that created it), as the owner has all privileges by default. The owner could, however, choose to revoke some of their own privileges for safety. 🛟

The right to drop an object, or to alter its definition in any way, is not treated as a grantable privilege; it is inherent in the owner, and cannot be granted or revoked. However, a similar effect can be obtained by granting or revoking membership in the role that owns the object; see below. The owner implicitly has all grant options for the object, too. 👑

The possible privileges are:

• SELECT
• INSERT
• UPDATE
• DELETE
• TRUNCATE
• REFERENCES
• TRIGGER
• CREATE
• CONNECT
• TEMPORARY
• EXECUTE
• USAGE
• SET
• ALTER SYSTEM

Those are specific types of privileges, as defined in Section 5.7. 🫶

• TEMP — alternative spelling for TEMPORARY. same energy, shorter name. 💅
• ALL PRIVILEGES — grant all of the privileges available for the object’s type. The PRIVILEGES key word is optional in PostgreSQL, though it is required by strict SQL. slay.

The FUNCTION syntax works for plain functions, aggregate functions, and window functions, but not for procedures; use PROCEDURE for those. Alternatively, use ROUTINE to refer to a function, aggregate function, window function, or procedure regardless of its precise type. 🧚

There is also an option to grant privileges on all objects of the same type within one or more schemas. This functionality is currently supported only for tables, sequences, functions, and procedures. ALL TABLES also affects views and foreign tables, just like the specific-object GRANT command. ALL FUNCTIONS also affects aggregate and window functions, but not procedures, again just like the specific-object GRANT command. Use ALL ROUTINES to include procedures. 🔥

🌈 GRANT on Roles 🌈

This variant of GRANT grants membership in a role to one or more other roles, and the modification of membership options SET, INHERIT, and ADMIN; see Section 22.3 for details. Membership in a role is significant because it potentially allows access to the privileges granted to a role to each of its members, and potentially also the ability to make changes to the role itself. However, the actual permissions conferred depend on the options associated with the grant. To modify the options of an existing membership, simply specify the membership with updated option values. 💫

Each of the options described below can be set to either TRUE or FALSE. The keyword OPTION is accepted as a synonym for TRUE, so that WITH ADMIN OPTION is a synonym for WITH ADMIN TRUE. When altering an existing membership the omission of an option results in the current value being retained. 🎀

The ADMIN option allows the member to in turn grant membership in the role to others, and revoke membership in the role as well. Without the admin option, ordinary users cannot do that. A role is not considered to hold WITH ADMIN OPTION on itself. Database superusers can grant or revoke membership in any role to anyone. This option defaults to FALSE. 👑

The INHERIT option controls the inheritance status of the new membership; see Section 22.3 for details on inheritance. If it is set to TRUE, it causes the new member to inherit from the granted role. If set to FALSE, the new member does not inherit. If unspecified when creating a new role membership, this defaults to the inheritance attribute of the new member. 🌱

The SET option, if it is set to TRUE, allows the member to change to the granted role using the SET ROLE command. If a role is an indirect member of another role, it can use SET ROLE to change to that role only if there is a chain of grants each of which has SET TRUE. This option defaults to TRUE. 🦋

To create an object owned by another role or give ownership of an existing object to another role, you must have the ability to SET ROLE to that role; otherwise, commands such as ALTER ... OWNER TO or CREATE DATABASE ... OWNER will fail. However, a user who inherits the privileges of a role but does not have the ability to SET ROLE to that role may be able to obtain full access to the role by manipulating existing objects owned by that role (e.g. they could redefine an existing function to act as a Trojan horse). Therefore, if a role’s privileges are to be inherited but should not be accessible via SET ROLE, it should not own any SQL objects.

⚠️ bestie, that Trojan-horse bit is not a drill. inherit privileges ≠ safe to SET ROLE, and owning SQL objects can get messy. keep the vibes secure. 💀

If GRANTED BY is specified, the grant is recorded as having been done by the specified role. A user can only attribute a grant to another role if they possess the privileges of that role. The role recorded as the grantor must have ADMIN OPTION on the target role, unless it is the bootstrap superuser. When a grant is recorded as having a grantor other than the bootstrap superuser, it depends on the grantor continuing to possess ADMIN OPTION on the role; so, if ADMIN OPTION is revoked, dependent grants must be revoked as well. 👑

Unlike the case with privileges, membership in a role cannot be granted to PUBLIC. Note also that this form of the command does not allow the noise word GROUP in role_specification. 🙈

📝 NOTES

Okay bestie, gather round, because this is the part where the manpage gets real.

First things first: the REVOKE command is what you use to revoke access privileges. That's its whole job. 💅

So back in the day (read: before PostgreSQL 8.1), users and groups were two separate things. Now? They've been unified into one single kind of entity called a role. So you literally no longer need to use the keyword GROUP to tell whether a grantee is a user or a group — it's not a thing anymore. GROUP is still allowed in the command, but it's a noise word. It's just vibes. It does nothing. 🦋

Now here's a sneaky one that trips people up: a user can perform SELECT, INSERT, etc. on a column if they hold that privilege for either the specific column or its whole table. So if you're thinking "I'll grant at the table level and then revoke it for one column, that'll work" — nope, sorry babe. That will not do what you might wish. The table-level grant is unaffected by a column-level operation. They're on different floors of the building, they don't talk. 😭

Next up, what happens when a non-owner of an object tries to GRANT privileges on it:

• If the user has no privileges whatsoever on the object, the command fails outright. Zero, zilch, not happening.
• As long as some privilege is available, the command will proceed — but it will grant only those privileges for which the user has grant options.
• The GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES forms will issue a warning message if no grant options are held, while the other forms will issue a warning if grant options for any of the privileges specifically named in the command are not held.

(In principle these statements apply to the object owner as well, but since the owner is always treated as holding all grant options, the cases can never occur. Iconic of the owner tbh. 👑)

Speaking of people with too much power: database superusers can access all objects regardless of object privilege settings. It's comparable to the rights of root in a Unix system. And just like with root, it's unwise to operate as a superuser except when absolutely necessary. Like, main character energy is great, but don't be logging in as superuser for funsies. 🙈

And if a superuser does choose to issue a GRANT or REVOKE command, the command is performed as though it were issued by the owner of the affected object. So privileges granted via such a command will appear to have been granted by the object owner. (For role membership specifically, the membership appears to have been granted by the bootstrap superuser.) The receipts always point back to the owner, no cap. 🧾

Here's the part where it gets deliciously indirect. GRANT and REVOKE can also be done by a role that is not the owner of the affected object, but is:

• a member of the role that owns the object, or
• a member of a role that holds privileges WITH GRANT OPTION on the object.

In this case the privileges will be recorded as having been granted by the role that actually owns the object or holds the privileges WITH GRANT OPTION. Example time, because this one needs it: if table t1 is owned by role g1, of which role u1 is a member, then u1 can grant privileges on t1 to u2 — but those privileges will appear to have been granted directly by g1. And any other member of role g1 could revoke them later. So your grant has a whole family attached to it. 🫶

Now, if the role executing GRANT holds the required privileges indirectly via more than one role membership path, it is unspecified which containing role will be recorded as having done the grant. Unspecified! The manpage literally will not tell you! In such cases it is best practice to use SET ROLE to become the specific role you want to do the GRANT as. Do that. Be specific. Slay with precision. ✨

One more gotcha: granting permission on a table does not automatically extend permissions to any sequences used by the table, including sequences tied to SERIAL columns. Permissions on sequences must be set separately. Yes, separate. Yes, even then. Pockets checked individually, bestie. 💀

And if you want the full lore on specific privilege types, plus how to inspect objects' privileges, see Section 5.7. Go read it, it's good for you. 📚

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💡 EXAMPLES

Grant insert privilege to all users on table films:

GRANT INSERT ON films TO PUBLIC;

Grant all available privileges to user manuel on view kinds:

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON kinds TO manuel;

⚠️ Okay so important note, and I'm gonna say it loudly: while the above will indeed grant all privileges if executed by a superuser or the owner of kinds, when executed by someone else it will only grant those permissions for which the someone else has grant options. Context matters, bestie. Read the room (and the role). 👀

Grant membership in role admins to user joe:

GRANT admins TO joe;

Three lines, three iconic moments. That's the whole demo. 🎀

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🌍 COMPATIBILITY

Time for the "how does this compare to the SQL standard" segment, aka the part where PostgreSQL does its own thing and we love it for that. 💜

According to the SQL standard, the PRIVILEGES key word in ALL PRIVILEGES is required. And the SQL standard does not support setting the privileges on more than one object per command. Postgres said "no ❤️" and moved on.

PostgreSQL allows an object owner to revoke their own ordinary privileges. Like, a table owner can make the table read-only to themselves by revoking their own INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and TRUNCATE privileges. This is not possible according to the SQL standard. The reason? PostgreSQL treats the owner's privileges as having been granted by the owner to themselves — so therefore they can revoke them too. In the SQL standard, the owner's privileges are granted by an assumed entity “_SYSTEM”. And since the owner isn't “_SYSTEM”, the owner cannot revoke these rights. Different lore entirely. 🌈

According to the SQL standard, grant options can be granted to PUBLIC; PostgreSQL only supports granting grant options to roles.

The SQL standard allows the GRANTED BY option to specify only CURRENT_USER or CURRENT_ROLE. The other variants are PostgreSQL extensions. Surprise! 🎁

The SQL standard provides for a USAGE privilege on other kinds of objects: character sets, collations, translations.

In the SQL standard, sequences only have a USAGE privilege, which controls the use of the NEXT VALUE FOR expression — which is equivalent to the function nextval in PostgreSQL. The sequence privileges SELECT and UPDATE are PostgreSQL extensions. The application of the sequence USAGE privilege to the currval function is also a PostgreSQL extension (as is the function itself). It's extensions all the way down, babe. 🌀

Privileges on databases, tablespaces, schemas, languages, and configuration parameters are PostgreSQL extensions. Periodt.

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👀 SEE ALSO

• REVOKE(7)
• ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES (ALTER_DEFAULT_PRIVILEGES(7))

Go read those too, they're the besties of this manpage fr fr. 🫶

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And that's the page, bestie! This was GRANT(7) from PostgreSQL 16.15, dated 2026 — go grant some privileges, responsibly, and remember: with great GRANT OPTION comes great responsibility. 💖✨🎀