ClickHouse Table Naming Conventions

The following document is heavily inspired by the Unkey ClickHouse naming conventions.

This document outlines the naming conventions for tables and materialized views in our ClickHouse setup. Adhering to these conventions ensures consistency, clarity, and ease of management across our data infrastructure.

General Rules

1. Use lowercase letters and separate words with underscores.
2. Avoid ClickHouse reserved words and special characters in names.
3. Be descriptive but concise.

Table Naming Convention

Format: [prefix]_[domain]_[description]_[version]

Prefixes

• raw_: Input data tables
• tmp_{yourname}_: Temporary tables for experiments, add your name, so it's easy to identify ownership.

Versioning

• Version numbers: _v1, _v2, etc.

Aggregation Suffixes

For aggregated or summary tables, use suffixes like:

• _per_day
• _per_month
• _summary

Materialized View Naming Convention

Format: [description]_[aggregation]_mv_[version]

• Always suffix with mv_[version]
• Include a description of the view's purpose
• Add aggregation level if applicable

Examples

1. Raw Data Table: raw_sales_transactions_v1

2. Materialized View: active_users_per_day_mv_v2

3. Temporary Table: tmp_eric_user_analysis_v1

4. Aggregated Table: sales_summary_per_hour_mv_v1

Consistency Across Related Objects

Maintain consistent naming across related tables, views, and other objects:

• raw_user_activity_v1
• user_activity_per_day_v1
• user_activity_per_day_mv_v1

By following these conventions, we ensure a clear, consistent, and scalable naming structure for our ClickHouse setup.