--- title: "14: Schemafull and schemaless | SurrealDB University" description: "Schemafull and schemaless. A step in the guided Tour of SurrealDB, with examples you can run as you read." url: https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-14 --- ![Course content preview](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/town.D95IYf2V.avif) Course chapters [Back to courses](https://surrealdb.com/learn) [Welcome to the Tour of SurrealDB!](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour) [1: Connecting to a database](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-01) [2: Creating records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-02) [3: Using the ONLY keyword](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-03) [4: Non-ASCII record IDs](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-04) [5: Parentheses, indexing, and fields](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-05) [6: Deleting records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-06) [7: Field order in objects](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-07) [8: Tips when selecting records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-08) [9: Casting and aliases](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-09) [10: Affixes](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-10) [11: Updating records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-11) [12: Linking records](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-12) [13: Viewing the database as a whole](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-13) [14: Schemafull and schemaless](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-14) [15: Viewing the schema](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-15) [16: Literal types and assertions](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-16) [17: INSERT and using JSON](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-17) [18: FOR loops](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-18) [19: Basic graph relations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-19) [20: Creating graph edges](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-20) [21: Querying graph relations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-21) [22: Graph relations at greater depth](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-22) [23: Adding and improving data](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-23) [24: Defining events](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-24) [25: Defining indexes](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-25) [26: Improving the schema](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-26) [27: Visualising graph paths](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-27) [28: Recursive queries: setup](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-28) [29: Recursive queries](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-29) [30: More on recursive queries](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-30) [31: AI vector search](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-31) [Done the tour!](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-32) # 14: Schemafull and schemaless Our database now has two schemaless tables. ``` INFO FOR DB; ``` ![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query Output ```surql { accesses: {}, analyzers: {}, configs: {}, functions: {}, models: {}, params: {}, tables: { place: 'DEFINE TABLE place TYPE ANY SCHEMALESS PERMISSIONS NONE', town: 'DEFINE TABLE town TYPE ANY SCHEMALESS PERMISSIONS NONE' }, users: {} } ``` Schemaless means that the table is free to accept any sort of data that we give it. If the tables were `SCHEMAFULL`, they would have been much stricter. A schemafull table will ignore input for any field except `id` unless it is defined in advance. ``` DEFINE TABLE schemafull_town SCHEMAFULL;-- schemafull_town only has one defined fieldDEFINE FIELD population ON schemafull_town TYPE number;-- So the query succeeds, but 'name' data is ignoredCREATE schemafull_town SET name = "Riverdale", population = 75000;REMOVE TABLE schemafull_town; ``` ![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query CREATE query output ```surql [ { id: schemafull_town:q9olode057qz1vdzruuv, population: 75000 } ] ``` The `INFO FOR` command works for other items too, like tables. ``` INFO FOR TABLE place;INFO FOR TABLE town; ``` ![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query Output · Query 1 ```surql { events: {}, fields: {}, indexes: {}, lives: {}, tables: {} } ``` Output · Query 2 ```surql { events: {}, fields: {}, indexes: {}, lives: {}, tables: {} } ``` The empty output shows that `place` and `town` are schemaless, without any defined fields. That means that we could create a town whose `name` is a completely different type, like a number. ``` CREATE town SET name = 9999.999999; ``` ![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query Output ```surql [ { id: town:x1hy1y4d21x5dlhndprc, name: 9999.999999f } ] ``` We don't want people to create towns with names like 9999.999999, so we will create a schema on the next page to ensure that this won't happen. Let's first delete this unwanted town. ``` DELETE town WHERE name = 9999.999999 RETURN BEFORE; ``` ![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query Output ```surql [ { id: town:2ciozta7zj7b8yvqfkpm, name: 9999.999999f } ] ``` At a glance **You are on** Chapter 14 of 32 **Chapters** 32 **Format** Text, with queries you can run **Runs in** SurrealDB Studio, in the browser **Cost** Free **Then take** [SurrealDB Fundamentals](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals) [Next: 15: Viewing the schema](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-15) ## Continue ### [13: Viewing the database as a whole](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-13) Previous ### [15: Viewing the schema](https://surrealdb.com/learn/tour/page-15) Next lesson THE PLATFORM ## Everything an application and its agents know. Five surfaces, one engine. Database Document, graph, vector, time-series and relational in one engine. ![Five data models as dotted tiles: documents, graph, vector, time-series and relational](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/platform-database.DUdumYDz.avif) Read more [Database](https://surrealdb.com/surrealdb) Agent Memory What an agent learns, with its source and its time, in the same engine. ![A timeline of remembered facts, each with its source](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/platform-agent-memory.Cvv8D5Wl.avif) Read more [Agent Memory](https://surrealdb.com/agent-memory) Cloud Managed clusters in the regions you choose, scaled on demand. ![Clusters in three regions on a world map, each running or scaling](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/platform-cloud.--QZnaVi.avif) Read more [Cloud](https://surrealdb.com/cloud) Studio Query, explore and design the schema from the browser. ![A SurrealQL query in Studio and the schema graph under it](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/platform-studio.7ykBFNLq.avif) Read more [Studio](https://surrealdb.com/studio) MCP Every model that speaks MCP reaches the database and the memory directly. ![Three models connected through MCP to the database and Agent Memory](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/platform-mcp.D_oH0_wm.avif) Read more [MCP](https://surrealdb.com/mcp) IN PRODUCTION ## Trusted at scale. Samsung, Nvidia, Verizon, Tencent, and Walmart run on SurrealDB. 14,000+ Developers building on SurrealDB Cloud 4M+ Developers building on SurrealDB worldwide FROM THE TEAMS > SurrealDB gives us a foundation where we can unify semantic search, knowledge graphs, and AI-driven decision making without stitching together multiple systems. 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