---
title: "View"
sidebarTitle: "View"
description: "Create, describe, list, and drop saved queries with SQL."
icon: eye
keywords: ["create view", "drop view", "sql", "catalog"]
availability:
  embedded: unavailable
  enterprise: available
---

A view stores a **query**, not rows. Reading it runs the query against current
data, so a view is never stale, and never faster than the query it wraps. It
is the counterpart to a [materialized view](/sql/ddl/materialized-view), which
stores rows and is brought up to date by a refresh; both are
[catalog objects](/basics/catalog) defined by a query, differing only in when
that query runs.

The SDK methods `create_view`, `describe_view`, `list_views`, and `drop_view`
submit SQL through the connection's Flight endpoint. `drop_view_async` returns
a job of type `query` whose single `id` is the SQL query UUID. Waiting confirms
catalog removal; physical cleanup can continue afterward.

## CREATE VIEW {#create}

<CodeGroup>
```sql SQL icon="database"
CREATE VIEW "recent_matches" AS
SELECT t1.floats
FROM "documents" AS t1
INNER JOIN "categories" AS t2 ON t1.ints = t2.ints
```
</CodeGroup>

The statement returns one row with UTF-8 `name`, `query`, and `schema` columns.
`query` contains the stored query, including any declared column aliases, and
`schema` contains its Arrow schema as JSON. The schema metadata keys
`lancedb::view::default_db` and `lancedb::view::default_namespace` identify the
defining database and namespace. The root namespace is `public`; nested
namespace components are separated by `$`.

`DESCRIBE VIEW "recent_matches"` returns the same metadata shape. Anything the
[dialect](/sql/dql/functions) supports can define one: joins, predicates,
aggregates, window functions.

## Reading one {#reading}

A view is queried like a table:

<CodeGroup>
```sql SQL icon="database"
SELECT * FROM "recent_matches" WHERE floats > 0.5
```
</CodeGroup>

Predicates applied to the view compose with the query inside it rather than
filtering its output afterwards, so a selective filter does not pay for rows
the view would have produced and then discarded.

## DROP VIEW {#drop}

<CodeGroup>
```sql SQL icon="database"
DROP VIEW "recent_matches"
```
</CodeGroup>

Removes the saved query. Unlike dropping a table, no data is removed: there
was none to begin with.

## Listing {#listing}

```sql
SHOW VIEWS
SHOW VIEWS IN "analytics" WHERE name > 'previous_view' LIMIT 100
```

`SHOW VIEWS` returns ascending `name` values. The `name` cursor is scoped to
the selected namespace.

Object commands retain their small results in shared storage even when general
query-result copying is disabled, so asynchronous polling can use any query node.

Views and tables share a namespace, and both are things you can query. The
catalog distinguishes them:

| | |
| --- | --- |
| view names | the views in the database |
| table names | the tables |
| relation names | everything queryable (both) |

Use the relation listing when the question is "what can I select from," and the
separate listings when the distinction matters: before dropping, for
instance, since dropping a view removes only the saved query while dropping a
table removes data.

## Choosing between a view and a materialized view {#choosing}

| | View | Materialized view |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stores | the query | the rows |
| Freshness | always current | as of the last refresh |
| Read cost | the full query, every read | a table scan |
| Write cost | none | a refresh |

Reach for a **view** when the query is cheap, or when reading stale rows would
be wrong. Reach for a **materialized view** when the query is expensive and the
data changes less often than it is read.

The privileges are separate too: `CREATE_VIEW` and `CREATE_MATERIALIZED_VIEW`
are distinct grants on a namespace, so the ability to create one does not imply
the other. See [Authorization](/governance/authorization).

## What to read next {#next}

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Materialized View" icon="table" href="/sql/ddl/materialized-view">
    The stored-rows counterpart.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Management" icon="folder-tree" href="/management">
    Where views fit among the other catalog objects.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>