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COMPILE VIEW

documentation/query/sql/compile-view.md

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Manually triggers recompilation of a view to validate its definition against the current database state.

This command is optional. Views are automatically compiled when queried, so you don't need to run COMPILE VIEW for normal operation. Use it when you want to validate a view without executing it, or to check if schema changes have broken a view.

For more information on views, see the Views documentation.

Syntax

questdb-sql
COMPILE VIEW view_name

Parameters

ParameterDescription
view_nameName of the view to compile

Examples

Validate a view

questdb-sql
COMPILE VIEW my_view

Check and fix invalid view

questdb-sql
-- Check view status
SELECT view_name, view_status, invalidation_reason
FROM views()
WHERE view_name = 'my_view';

-- If invalid, fix the underlying issue, then compile
COMPILE VIEW my_view;

-- Verify it's now valid
SELECT view_status FROM views() WHERE view_name = 'my_view';

Bulk view repair

When multiple views are broken due to schema changes:

questdb-sql
-- Find all invalid views
SELECT view_name, invalidation_reason
FROM views()
WHERE view_status = 'invalid';

-- Compile each view after fixing underlying issues
COMPILE VIEW view1;
COMPILE VIEW view2;
COMPILE VIEW view3;

Behavior

  • If the view compiles successfully, its status becomes valid
  • If the view fails to compile, its status becomes invalid and the reason is stored in invalidation_reason
  • Compiling an already valid view re-validates it against current schema
  • Dependent views (views that reference the compiled view) are also recompiled recursively

Automatic compilation

Views are automatically compiled in these situations:

  • On query: When you SELECT from a view, it is compiled if needed
  • On schema fix: When a dropped table is recreated or a renamed column is renamed back
  • Background job: A background job periodically recompiles invalid views

Because of automatic compilation, COMPILE VIEW is rarely needed for normal operation.

When to use COMPILE VIEW

Use COMPILE VIEW when you want to:

  1. Validate without executing: Check if a view is valid without running the actual query
  2. Pre-validate after schema changes: Verify views work before users hit errors
  3. Update metadata: Force view metadata refresh after column type changes
  4. Diagnose issues: Check why a view is invalid by triggering compilation errors

Errors

ErrorCause
view does not exist [view=name]View with specified name doesn't exist
table does not exist [table=name]View references a table that doesn't exist
Invalid columnView references a column that doesn't exist
Access denied [COMPILE VIEW on view_name]User lacks permission (Enterprise)

Permissions (Enterprise)

Compiling a view requires the COMPILE VIEW permission on that view:

questdb-sql
-- Grant COMPILE VIEW permission
GRANT COMPILE VIEW ON my_view TO username;

-- Grant on multiple views
GRANT COMPILE VIEW ON view1, view2 TO username;

Note: COMPILE VIEW does not require SELECT permission on the underlying tables. The compilation validates the view definition using system privileges, not user privileges.

See also