Manage keyspaces

Astra DB Classic databases organize data into tables, and tables are grouped into keyspaces. Keyspaces are like schemas in relational databases. They help keep related tables of information in a single place within your database.

Keyspaces contain tables, materialized views and user-defined types, functions, and aggregates. Typically, a cluster has one keyspace per application.

Replication strategy and factor

A keyspace is the top-level database object that controls the replication for the object it contains at each datacenter in the cluster.

Because replication is controlled on a per-keyspace basis, you can store data with different replication requirements in the same region in different keyspaces. Keyspaces are not a significant map layer within the data model.

Astra DB uses the NetworkTopologyStrategy, which is controlled by Astra DB and cannot be modified.

In Astra DB, keyspaces hold the datacenter names associated with your database regions, and they define the replication factor for each datacenter, which is 3 for writes in LOCAL_QUORUM. A replication factor of three reduces the chance of data loss.

Create a keyspace

A keyspace is a container for tables, similar to a schema in a relational database. Keyspaces help you organize related tables. For example, you can have different data models for each keyspace or store unique data in unique keyspaces.

You can use multiple keyspaces in a single region to build applications on a per-keyspace data model.

You can create keyspaces in the Astra Portal or with the DevOps API.

Astra Portal
API/CLI

In the Astra Portal navigation menu, click Databases, and then click the name of your Astra DB Classic database.
Click Add Keyspace.
Enter a keyspace name.
Rules for keyspace names
- Must start with a letter or number
- Can contain letters, numbers, and underscores
- Cannot exceed 48 characters.
- Cannot be the reserved words dse or system
- Must be unique within the database
Click Save.

To programmatically create keyspaces in Classic databases, you can use the DevOps API or Astra CLI.

Astra DB doesn’t support the CQL CREATE KEYSPACE command.

For example, you can use the following curl command to create a keyspace:

curl -sS -L -X POST "https://api.astra.datastax.com/v2/databases/DB_ID/keyspaces/KEYSPACE_NAME" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer APPLICATION_TOKEN" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json"

The database enters Maintenance status while it creates the keyspace. When the database returns to Active status, you can use the new keyspace. For example, you can create a table and load data into the keyspace.

Get keyspace details

Use the CQL DESCRIBE KEYSPACE command to get the full details of a keyspace, including all database objects the keyspace contains.

You can use the output from a DESCRIBE command to recreate the keyspace and all its components in another database.

The output includes all settings for tables and other objects including the default settings. When recreating a keyspace in another environment, verify that the settings are compatible, such as the keyspace replication factor datacenter names.

Delete a keyspace

Deleting a keyspace permanently deletes all tables and data in the keyspace.

Astra Portal
API/CLI

In the Astra Portal navigation menu, click Databases, and then click the name of your database.
In the Keyspaces section, find the keyspace you want to delete, click More, and then click Delete.
In the Delete Keyspace dialog, enter the keyspace name, and then click Delete Keyspace.

To programmatically delete keyspaces in Classic databases, you can use the DevOps API or Astra CLI.

Astra DB doesn’t support the CQL DROP KEYSPACE command.

For example, you can use the following curl command to delete a keyspace:

curl -sS -L -X DELETE "https://api.astra.datastax.com/v2/databases/DB_ID/keyspaces/KEYSPACE_NAME" \
--header "Authorization: Bearer APPLICATION_TOKEN" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json"

The database enters Maintenance status while it deletes the keyspace, its tables, and any data within those tables.

Create a table

You can use CQL to create a table through the Astra Portal, a driver, or the standalone CQL shell client.

For information about the CQL shell and instructions for using the drivers or CQL shell client to create tables, see Cassandra Query Language (CQL) for Astra DB.

To use the CQL shell in the Astra Portal to create an empty table, do the following:

In the Astra Portal navigation menu, click Databases, and then click the name of your database.
In the Keyspaces section, note the name of the keyspace where you want to create the table.
Click CQL Console, and then wait for the token@cqlsh> prompt to appear.
Select the keyspace that you want to create the table in:
```
use KEYSPACE_NAME;
```

Create the table:

CREATE TABLE users (
    firstname text,
    lastname text,
    email text,
    "favorite color" text,
    PRIMARY KEY (firstname, lastname)
) WITH CLUSTERING ORDER BY (lastname ASC);

After you create a table, load data into the table.

Delete a table

You can use CQL to delete a table through the Astra Portal, a driver, or the standalone CQL shell client.

For information about the CQL shell and instructions for using the drivers or CQL shell client to delete tables, see Cassandra Query Language (CQL) for Astra DB.

Deleting a table permanently deletes all data in the table.

To use the CQL shell in the Astra Portal to delete a table, do the following:

In the Astra Portal navigation menu, click Databases, and then click the name of your database.
In the Keyspaces section, note the name of the keyspace that contains the table you want to delete.
Click CQL Console, and then wait for the token@cqlsh> prompt to appear.
Select the keyspace that contains the table you want to delete:
```
use KEYSPACE_NAME;
```
Get a list of all tables in the keyspace:
```
desc tables;
```
Delete the table and all of its data:
```
drop table TABLE_NAME;
```

The table and its data are deleted.