ALTER_PUBLICATION(7pg18)

💖 ALTER PUBLICATION 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the ALTER PUBLICATION page from the PostgreSQL 18.6 Documentation ✨ this is the ALTER PUBLICATION(7) manual and we're about to change the definition of a publication. slay.

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✨ NAME ✨

ALTER PUBLICATION — change the definition of a publication 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

ALTER PUBLICATION name ADD publication_object [, ...]
ALTER PUBLICATION name SET publication_object [, ...]
ALTER PUBLICATION name DROP publication_drop_object [, ...]
ALTER PUBLICATION name SET ( publication_parameter [= value] [, ... ] )
ALTER PUBLICATION name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }
ALTER PUBLICATION name RENAME TO new_name

where publication_object is one of:

TABLE table_and_columns [, ... ]
TABLES IN SCHEMA { schema_name | CURRENT_SCHEMA } [, ... ]

and publication_drop_object is one of:

TABLE [ ONLY ] table_name [ * ] [, ... ]
TABLES IN SCHEMA { schema_name | CURRENT_SCHEMA } [, ... ]

and table_and_columns is:

[ ONLY ] table_name [ * ] [ ( column_name [, ... ] ) ] [ WHERE ( expression ) ]

like. the way that synopsis ate. no crumbs 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the command ALTER PUBLICATION can change the attributes of a publication. main character behaviour fr fr.

The first three variants change which tables/schemas are part of the publication. The SET clause will replace the list of tables/schemas in the publication with the specified list — meaning the existing tables/schemas that were present in the publication will be removed 😭. The ADD and DROP clauses will add and remove one or more tables/schemas from the publication. Note that adding tables/schemas to a publication that is already subscribed to will require an ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... REFRESH PUBLICATION action on the subscribing side in order to become effective — yes bestie you gotta refresh, it's giving "have you tried turning it off and on again" but make it replication. Note also that DROP TABLES IN SCHEMA will not drop any schema tables that were specified using FOR TABLE/ ADD TABLE. 💀 sneaky.

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 — untouched, unbothered, living their best life 🫶.

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. The ADD TABLES IN SCHEMA and SET TABLES IN SCHEMA to a publication requires the invoking user to be a superuser 👑. To alter the owner, you must be able to SET ROLE to the new owning role, and that role must have CREATE privilege on the database. Also, the new owner of a FOR ALL TABLES or FOR TABLES IN SCHEMA publication must be a superuser. However, a superuser can change the ownership of a publication regardless of these restrictions. rules for thee but not for the superuser, iykyk.

Adding/Setting any schema when the publication also publishes a table with a column list, and vice versa is not supported. periodt. don't try it.

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🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• name — The name of an existing publication whose definition is to be altered. gotta exist, bestie, we can't alter vibes that aren't there.
• 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 — the whole family tree gets pulled in 🌳. Optionally, * can be specified after the table name to explicitly indicate that descendant tables are included.

Optionally, a column list can be specified. See CREATE PUBLICATION (CREATE_PUBLICATION(7)) for details. Note that a subscription having several publications in which the same table has been published with different column lists is not supported. See Warning: Combining Column Lists from Multiple Publications for details of potential problems when altering column lists.

If the optional WHERE clause is specified, rows for which the expression evaluates to false or null will not be published. Note that parentheses are required around the expression — do not skip the parentheses, that's a whole error message situation 🙈. The expression is evaluated with the role used for the replication connection.

• schema_name — Name of an existing schema.
• SET ( publication_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) — This clause alters publication parameters originally set by CREATE PUBLICATION (CREATE_PUBLICATION(7)). See there for more information.

Caution ⚠️ Altering the publish_via_partition_root parameter can lead to data loss or duplication at the subscriber because it changes the identity and schema of the published tables. Note this happens only when a partition root table is specified as the replication target.

This problem can be avoided by refraining from modifying partition leaf tables after the ALTER PUBLICATION ... SET until the ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... REFRESH PUBLICATION is executed and by only refreshing using the copy_data = off option. okay noted, writing that down in my notes app 📝

• new_owner — The user name of the new owner of the publication.
• new_name — The new name for the publication.

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🔥 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 (user_id, firstname), departments;

Change the set of columns published for a table:

ALTER PUBLICATION mypublication SET TABLE users (user_id, firstname, lastname), TABLE departments;

Add schemas marketing and sales to the publication sales_publication:

ALTER PUBLICATION sales_publication ADD TABLES IN SCHEMA marketing, sales;

Add tables users, departments and schema production to the publication production_publication:

ALTER PUBLICATION production_publication ADD TABLE users, departments, TABLES IN SCHEMA production;

like these examples ATE and left no crumbs 🍓

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🌈 COMPATIBILITY 🌈

ALTER PUBLICATION is a PostgreSQL extension. it's not standard SQL, it's our SQL. iconic behaviour honestly.

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🧚 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 whole page bestie!! 💜 this was PostgreSQL 18.6, dated 2026, and yes it's still ALTER PUBLICATION(7) at the bottom — go forth and alter ur publications responsibly, mwah 💅✨🦋