DESCRIBE TABLE

Shows a list of all tables in a keyspace, or executable CQL information for a single table.

Shows this output depending on the options selected:

List of all tables in a keyspace.
Executable CQL information for a single table, including materialized views that are based on the table.

CAUTION: Verify all settings before executing the full CQL output for recreating a table returned by this command. Some table options might be cluster-specific.

Synopsis

DESCRIBE TABLES | TABLE [keyspace_name.]table_name

Table 1. Legend
Syntax conventions	Description
UPPERCASE	Literal keyword.
Lowercase	Not literal.
`Italics`	Variable value. Replace with a user-defined value.
`[]`	Optional. Square brackets ( `[]` ) surround optional command arguments. Do not type the square brackets.
`( )`	Group. Parentheses ( `( )` ) identify a group to choose from. Do not type the parentheses.
`\|`	Or. A vertical bar ( `\|` ) separates alternative elements. Type any one of the elements. Do not type the vertical bar.
`...`	Repeatable. An ellipsis ( `...` ) indicates that you can repeat the syntax element as often as required.
`'Literal string'`	Single quotation ( `'` ) marks must surround literal strings in CQL statements. Use single quotation marks to preserve upper case.
`{ key : value }`	Map collection. Braces ( `{ }` ) enclose map collections or key value pairs. A colon separates the key and the value.
`<datatype1,datatype2>`	Set, list, map, or tuple. Angle brackets ( `< >` ) enclose data types in a set, list, map, or tuple. Separate the data types with a comma.
`cql_statement;`	End CQL statement. A semicolon ( `;` ) terminates all CQL statements.
`[--]`	Separate the command line options from the command arguments with two hyphens ( `--` ). This syntax is useful when arguments might be mistaken for command line options.
`' <schema> ... </schema> '`	Search CQL only: Single quotation marks ( `'` ) surround an entire XML schema declaration.
`@xml_entity='xml_entity_type'`	Search CQL only: Identify the entity and literal value to overwrite the XML element in the schema and solrConfig files.

TABLES: All tables.
TABLE: One table.
keyspace_name: Name of the keyspace.
table_name: Name of the table.

Examples

Show a list of tables in the system keyspace:

USE system; DESC TABLES

A list of all the tables in the keyspace is returned:

repairs              view_builds_in_progress  paxos           transferred_ranges
available_ranges     peers                    size_estimates
batches              compaction_history       built_views
prepared_statements  sstable_activity         range_xfers
"IndexInfo"          peer_events              local

Show the CQL for the cycling calendar table:

DESC cycling.calendar

A complete CQL table description is returned, which can be used to recreate the table:

CREATE TABLE cycling.calendar (
  race_id int,
  race_start_date timestamp,
  race_end_date timestamp,
  race_name text,
  PRIMARY KEY (race_id, race_start_date, race_end_date)
) WITH CLUSTERING ORDER BY (race_start_date ASC, race_end_date ASC)
  AND bloom_filter_fp_chance = 0.01
  AND caching = {'keys': 'ALL', 'rows_per_partition': 'NONE'}
  AND comment = ''
  AND compaction = {'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.db.compaction.SizeTieredCompactionStrategy',
    'max_threshold': '32', 'min_threshold': '4'}
  AND compression = {'chunk_length_in_kb': '64', 'class': 'org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor'}
  AND crc_check_chance = 1.0
  AND default_time_to_live = 0
  AND gc_grace_seconds = 864000
  AND max_index_interval = 2048
  AND memtable_flush_period_in_ms = 0
  AND min_index_interval = 128
  AND speculative_retry = '99PERCENTILE';