---
title: Information schema
description: The SHOW TABLES, SHOW COLUMNS, and SHOW ALL commands return metadata related to your data schema.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/sql/information-schema/
estimated_tokens: 2152
publisher: InfluxData
canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/sql/information-schema/
date: '2025-04-03T12:43:17-06:00'
lastmod: '2025-04-03T12:43:17-06:00'
---

The underlying query engine for the InfluxDB SQL implementation,[DataFusion](https://arrow.apache.org/datafusion/index.html), provides commands
that return metadata related to your data schema.
To access this information, use the `SHOW TABLES`, `SHOW COLUMNS`, and`SHOW ALL` commands or query views in the [ISO](https://www.iso.org/) SQL`information_schema` schema.

In the context of InfluxDB, a [measurement](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/glossary/#measurement)is represented as a table. Time, [tags](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/glossary/#tag),
and [fields](/influxdb3/cloud-serverless/reference/glossary/#field) are each represented
by columns in a table.

* [SHOW TABLES](#show-tables)
  * [Example SHOW TABLES output](#example-show-tables-output)

* [SHOW COLUMNS](#show-columns)
  * [Example SHOW COLUMNS output](#example-show-columns-output)

* [SHOW ALL](#show-all)
  * [Example SHOW ALL output](#view-show-all-example-output)

## SHOW TABLES

Returns information about tables (measurements) in an InfluxDB bucket.

```sql
SHOW TABLES
```

You can also query the `information_schema.tables` view:

```sql
SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables
```

#### Example SHOW TABLES output

*Measurements are those that use the **`iox` table schema**.*

|table\_catalog|   table\_schema   |table\_name |table\_type|
|--------------|-------------------|------------|-----------|
|    public    |        iox        |    home    |BASE TABLE |
|    public    |      system       |  queries   |BASE TABLE |
|    public    |information\_schema|   tables   |   VIEW    |
|    public    |information\_schema|   views    |   VIEW    |
|    public    |information\_schema|  columns   |   VIEW    |
|    public    |information\_schema|df\_settings|   VIEW    |

## SHOW COLUMNS

Returns information about the schema of a table (measurement) in an InfluxDB bucket.

```sql
SHOW COLUMNS FROM example_table
```

You can also query the `information_schema.columns` view:

```sql
SELECT
  table_catalog,
  table_schema,
  table_name,
  column_name,
  data_type,
  is_nullable
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE table_name = 'example_table'
```

#### Example SHOW COLUMNS output

|table\_catalog|table\_schema|table\_name|column\_name|        data\_type         |is\_nullable|
|--------------|-------------|-----------|------------|---------------------------|------------|
|    public    |     iox     |   home    |     co     |           Int64           |    YES     |
|    public    |     iox     |   home    |    hum     |          Float64          |    YES     |
|    public    |     iox     |   home    |    room    |  Dictionary(Int32, Utf8)  |    YES     |
|    public    |     iox     |   home    |    temp    |          Float64          |    YES     |
|    public    |     iox     |   home    |    time    |Timestamp(Nanosecond, None)|     NO     |

## SHOW ALL

Returns the configuration options of the current session.

```sql
SHOW ALL
```

You can also query the `information_schema.df_settings` view:

```sql
SELECT * FROM information_schema.df_settings
```

[](#view-show-all-example-output)

View `SHOW ALL` example output

|                            name                             |setting |
|-------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
|  datafusion.catalog.create\_default\_catalog\_and\_schema   |  true  |
|             datafusion.catalog.default\_catalog             | public |
|             datafusion.catalog.default\_schema              |  iox   |
|                  datafusion.catalog.format                  |        |
|               datafusion.catalog.has\_header                | false  |
|           datafusion.catalog.information\_schema            |  true  |
|                 datafusion.catalog.location                 |        |
|              datafusion.execution.batch\_size               |  8192  |
|           datafusion.execution.coalesce\_batches            |  true  |
|          datafusion.execution.collect\_statistics           | false  |
|      datafusion.execution.parquet.enable\_page\_index       | false  |
|      datafusion.execution.parquet.metadata\_size\_hint      |        |
|            datafusion.execution.parquet.pruning             |  true  |
|       datafusion.execution.parquet.pushdown\_filters        |  true  |
|        datafusion.execution.parquet.reorder\_filters        |  true  |
|         datafusion.execution.parquet.skip\_metadata         |  true  |
|           datafusion.execution.target\_partitions           |   4    |
|               datafusion.execution.time\_zone               |\+00:00 |
|           datafusion.explain.logical\_plan\_only            | false  |
|           datafusion.explain.physical\_plan\_only           | false  |
|   datafusion.optimizer.enable\_round\_robin\_repartition    |  true  |
|        datafusion.optimizer.filter\_null\_join\_keys        | false  |
|datafusion.optimizer.hash\_join\_single\_partition\_threshold|1048576 |
|              datafusion.optimizer.max\_passes               |   3    |
|           datafusion.optimizer.prefer\_hash\_join           |  true  |
|       datafusion.optimizer.repartition\_aggregations        |  true  |
|      datafusion.optimizer.repartition\_file\_min\_size      |10485760|
|        datafusion.optimizer.repartition\_file\_scans        |  true  |
|           datafusion.optimizer.repartition\_joins           |  true  |
|           datafusion.optimizer.repartition\_sorts           | false  |
|          datafusion.optimizer.repartition\_windows          |  true  |
|          datafusion.optimizer.skip\_failed\_rules           |  true  |
|    datafusion.optimizer.top\_down\_join\_key\_reordering    |  true  |
|     datafusion.sql\_parser.enable\_ident\_normalization     |  true  |
|      datafusion.sql\_parser.parse\_float\_as\_decimal       | false  |
| table_catalog | table_schema | table_name | table_type |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| table_catalog | table_schema | table_name | table_type |
| public | iox | home | BASE TABLE |
| public | system | queries | BASE TABLE |
| public | information_schema | tables | VIEW |
| public | information_schema | views | VIEW |
| public | information_schema | columns | VIEW |
| public | information_schema | df_settings | VIEW |

| table_catalog | table_schema | table_name | column_name | data_type | is_nullable |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| table_catalog | table_schema | table_name | column_name | data_type | is_nullable |
| public | iox | home | co | Int64 | YES |
| public | iox | home | hum | Float64 | YES |
| public | iox | home | room | Dictionary(Int32, Utf8) | YES |
| public | iox | home | temp | Float64 | YES |
| public | iox | home | time | Timestamp(Nanosecond, None) | NO |

| name | setting |
| --- | --- |
| name | setting |
| datafusion.catalog.create_default_catalog_and_schema | true |
| datafusion.catalog.default_catalog | public |
| datafusion.catalog.default_schema | iox |
| datafusion.catalog.format |  |
| datafusion.catalog.has_header | false |
| datafusion.catalog.information_schema | true |
| datafusion.catalog.location |  |
| datafusion.execution.batch_size | 8192 |
| datafusion.execution.coalesce_batches | true |
| datafusion.execution.collect_statistics | false |
| datafusion.execution.parquet.enable_page_index | false |
| datafusion.execution.parquet.metadata_size_hint |  |
| datafusion.execution.parquet.pruning | true |
| datafusion.execution.parquet.pushdown_filters | true |
| datafusion.execution.parquet.reorder_filters | true |
| datafusion.execution.parquet.skip_metadata | true |
| datafusion.execution.target_partitions | 4 |
| datafusion.execution.time_zone | +00:00 |
| datafusion.explain.logical_plan_only | false |
| datafusion.explain.physical_plan_only | false |
| datafusion.optimizer.enable_round_robin_repartition | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.filter_null_join_keys | false |
| datafusion.optimizer.hash_join_single_partition_threshold | 1048576 |
| datafusion.optimizer.max_passes | 3 |
| datafusion.optimizer.prefer_hash_join | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.repartition_aggregations | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.repartition_file_min_size | 10485760 |
| datafusion.optimizer.repartition_file_scans | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.repartition_joins | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.repartition_sorts | false |
| datafusion.optimizer.repartition_windows | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.skip_failed_rules | true |
| datafusion.optimizer.top_down_join_key_reordering | true |
| datafusion.sql_parser.enable_ident_normalization | true |
| datafusion.sql_parser.parse_float_as_decimal | false |