supabase/apps/docs/content/guides/database/views.mdx

---
id: 'views'
title: 'Views'
description: 'Creating and using views in Postgres.'
---

Learn what views are and when to use them.

Views sit on top of the tables you create in [Tables and data](/docs/guides/database/tables).

A view is a convenient shortcut to a query. Creating a view doesn't involve new tables or data. When you run a view, Postgres executes the underlying query and returns its results.

Say you have the following tables from a university database:

**`students`**

| id  | name             | type          |
| --- | ---------------- | ------------- |
| 1   | Princess Leia    | undergraduate |
| 2   | Yoda             | graduate      |
| 3   | Anakin Skywalker | graduate      |

**`courses`**

| id  | title                    | code    |
| --- | ------------------------ | ------- |
| 1   | Introduction to Postgres | PG101   |
| 2   | Authentication Theories  | AUTH205 |
| 3   | Fundamentals of Supabase | SUP412  |

**`grades`**

| id  | student_id | course_id | result |
| --- | ---------- | --------- | ------ |
| 1   | 1          | 1         | B+     |
| 2   | 1          | 3         | A+     |
| 3   | 2          | 2         | A      |
| 4   | 3          | 1         | A-     |
| 5   | 3          | 2         | A      |
| 6   | 3          | 3         | B-     |

Creating a view that consists of all three tables looks like this:

```sql
create view transcripts as
    select
        students.name,
        students.type,
        courses.title,
        courses.code,
        grades.result
    from grades
    left join students on grades.student_id = students.id
    left join courses on grades.course_id = courses.id;

grant all on table transcripts to authenticated;
```

Then you can access the underlying query with:

```sql
select * from transcripts;
```

## View security

By default, Postgres checks permissions on a view's underlying tables against the view's owner rather than the role running the query. If a privileged role creates a view, everyone reading it does so through that role's permissions. Define the view with the `security_invoker` modifier to check the querying role's permissions instead, which is also what makes the underlying tables' row level security policies apply.

```sql
-- switch an existing view to the querying role's permissions
alter view <view name>
set (security_invoker = true);

-- create a view with the security_invoker modifier
create view <view name> with(security_invoker=true) as (
  select * from <some table>
);
```

## When to use views

Views provide several benefits.

### Simplicity

As a query becomes more complex, calling it repeatedly gets tedious, especially when you run it regularly. In the example above, instead of repeatedly running:

```sql
select
  students.name,
  students.type,
  courses.title,
  courses.code,
  grades.result
from
  grades
  left join students on grades.student_id = students.id
  left join courses on grades.course_id = courses.id;
```

You can run this instead:

```sql
select * from transcripts;
```

A view also behaves like a typical table. You can safely use it in table joins or create new views from existing views.

### Consistency

Views reduce the likelihood of mistakes when you execute a query repeatedly. In the example above, you might decide to exclude the course _Introduction to Postgres_. The query becomes:

```sql
select
  students.name,
  students.type,
  courses.title,
  courses.code,
  grades.result
from
  grades
  left join students on grades.student_id = students.id
  left join courses on grades.course_id = courses.id
where courses.code != 'PG101';
```

Without a view, you need to add the new rule to every dependent query. That increases the likelihood of errors and inconsistencies, and it takes considerable effort. With views, you alter the underlying query in the `transcripts` view, and the change applies to every application using it.

### Logical organization

With views, you can give your query a name. This is useful for teams working with the same database. Instead of guessing what a query does, a well-named view explains it. For example, the name of the `transcripts` view suggests that the underlying query involves the `students`, `courses`, and `grades` tables.

### Security

Views can restrict the amount and type of data presented to a user. Instead of giving a user direct access to a set of tables, you give them a view. You can prevent them from reading sensitive columns by excluding those columns from the underlying query.

## Materialized views

A [materialized view](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/rules-materializedviews.html) is a form of view that also stores its results to disk. Subsequent reads of a materialized view return results much faster than a conventional view, because the data is already available. A conventional view executes the underlying query each time you call it.

Using the example above, you can create a materialized view like this:

```sql
create materialized view transcripts as
  select
    students.name,
    students.type,
    courses.title,
    courses.code,
    grades.result
  from
    grades
    left join students on grades.student_id = students.id
    left join courses on grades.course_id = courses.id;
```

Reading from the materialized view is the same as a conventional view:

```sql
select * from transcripts;
```

## Refreshing materialized views

There's a trade-off: data in a materialized view isn't always up to date. Refresh it regularly to prevent the data from becoming too stale.

```sql
refresh materialized view transcripts;
```

How often you refresh a materialized view is up to you, and it probably differs for each view depending on its use case.

## Materialized views vs conventional views

Materialized views are useful when execution times for queries or views are too slow. This happens in views or queries that involve multiple tables and billions of rows. Use a materialized view only when you can tolerate outdated data. Internal dashboards and analytics are common use cases.

Creating a materialized view isn't a solution to inefficient queries. Always optimize a slow-running query, even when you implement a materialized view.

## Resources

- [Official Docs: Create view](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/sql-createview.html)
- [Postgres Tutorial: Views](https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-views/)