renameSchema

Last updated: January 27, 2026

Renames an existing schema in Snowflake, with support for cross-database moves.

Note: Automatic rollback renames the schema back to original name.

Known limitation: This change type does not support database inspection features (snapshot, diff, diff-changelog, and generate-changelog commands).

Available attributes

Attribute	Type	Description	Required
`oldCatalogName`	String	Name of the database containing the schema to rename	No
`oldSchemaName`	String	Current name of the schema	Yes
`newCatalogName`	String	Target database name (for cross-database rename)	No
`newSchemaName`	String	New name for the schema	Yes
`ifExists`	Boolean	Don't error if the schema doesn't exist	No

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<databaseChangeLog
        xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
        xmlns:pro-snowflake="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog/dbchangelog-latest.xsd
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake/liquibase-pro-snowflake-latest.xsd">

    <!-- Simple rename -->
    <changeSet id="rename-schema" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameSchema
                oldSchemaName="OLD_SCHEMA"
                newSchemaName="NEW_SCHEMA"/>
    </changeSet>

    <!-- Rename with IF EXISTS -->
    <changeSet id="rename-schema-if-exists" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameSchema
                oldSchemaName="TEMP_SCHEMA"
                newSchemaName="ARCHIVE_SCHEMA"
                ifExists="true"/>
    </changeSet>

    <!-- Cross-database rename -->
    <changeSet id="rename-schema-cross-db" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameSchema
                oldCatalogName="DEV_DB"
                oldSchemaName="ANALYTICS"
                newCatalogName="PROD_DB"
                newSchemaName="ANALYTICS"/>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

{
  "databaseChangeLog": [
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-schema",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameSchema": {
              "oldSchemaName": "OLD_SCHEMA",
              "newSchemaName": "NEW_SCHEMA"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-schema-if-exists",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameSchema": {
              "oldSchemaName": "TEMP_SCHEMA",
              "newSchemaName": "ARCHIVE_SCHEMA",
              "ifExists": true
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-schema-cross-db",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameSchema": {
              "oldCatalogName": "DEV_DB",
              "oldSchemaName": "ANALYTICS",
              "newCatalogName": "PROD_DB",
              "newSchemaName": "ANALYTICS"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

databaseChangeLog:
  # Simple rename
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-schema
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameSchema:
            oldSchemaName: OLD_SCHEMA
            newSchemaName: NEW_SCHEMA

  # Rename with IF EXISTS
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-schema-if-exists
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameSchema:
            oldSchemaName: TEMP_SCHEMA
            newSchemaName: ARCHIVE_SCHEMA
            ifExists: true

  # Cross-database rename
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-schema-cross-db
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameSchema:
            oldCatalogName: DEV_DB
            oldSchemaName: ANALYTICS
            newCatalogName: PROD_DB
            newSchemaName: ANALYTICS

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset examples:simple-rename
-- Simple rename
ALTER SCHEMA OLD_SCHEMA RENAME TO NEW_SCHEMA;

--changeset examples:rename-with-if-exists
-- Rename with IF EXISTS
ALTER SCHEMA IF EXISTS TEMP_SCHEMA RENAME TO ARCHIVE_SCHEMA;

--changeset examples:cross-database-rename
-- Cross-database rename
ALTER SCHEMA DEV_DB.ANALYTICS RENAME TO PROD_DB.ANALYTICS;

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<databaseChangeLog
        xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
        xmlns:pro-snowflake="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog/dbchangelog-latest.xsd
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake/liquibase-pro-snowflake-latest.xsd">

    <!-- Simple rename -->
    <changeSet id="rename-schema" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameSchema
                oldSchemaName="OLD_SCHEMA"
                newSchemaName="NEW_SCHEMA"/>
    </changeSet>

    <!-- Rename with IF EXISTS -->
    <changeSet id="rename-schema-if-exists" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameSchema
                oldSchemaName="TEMP_SCHEMA"
                newSchemaName="ARCHIVE_SCHEMA"
                ifExists="true"/>
    </changeSet>

    <!-- Cross-database rename -->
    <changeSet id="rename-schema-cross-db" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameSchema
                oldCatalogName="DEV_DB"
                oldSchemaName="ANALYTICS"
                newCatalogName="PROD_DB"
                newSchemaName="ANALYTICS"/>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

{
  "databaseChangeLog": [
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-schema",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameSchema": {
              "oldSchemaName": "OLD_SCHEMA",
              "newSchemaName": "NEW_SCHEMA"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-schema-if-exists",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameSchema": {
              "oldSchemaName": "TEMP_SCHEMA",
              "newSchemaName": "ARCHIVE_SCHEMA",
              "ifExists": true
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-schema-cross-db",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameSchema": {
              "oldCatalogName": "DEV_DB",
              "oldSchemaName": "ANALYTICS",
              "newCatalogName": "PROD_DB",
              "newSchemaName": "ANALYTICS"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

databaseChangeLog:
  # Simple rename
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-schema
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameSchema:
            oldSchemaName: OLD_SCHEMA
            newSchemaName: NEW_SCHEMA

  # Rename with IF EXISTS
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-schema-if-exists
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameSchema:
            oldSchemaName: TEMP_SCHEMA
            newSchemaName: ARCHIVE_SCHEMA
            ifExists: true

  # Cross-database rename
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-schema-cross-db
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameSchema:
            oldCatalogName: DEV_DB
            oldSchemaName: ANALYTICS
            newCatalogName: PROD_DB
            newSchemaName: ANALYTICS

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset examples:simple-rename
-- Simple rename
ALTER SCHEMA OLD_SCHEMA RENAME TO NEW_SCHEMA;

--changeset examples:rename-with-if-exists
-- Rename with IF EXISTS
ALTER SCHEMA IF EXISTS TEMP_SCHEMA RENAME TO ARCHIVE_SCHEMA;

--changeset examples:cross-database-rename
-- Cross-database rename
ALTER SCHEMA DEV_DB.ANALYTICS RENAME TO PROD_DB.ANALYTICS;

renameSchema

Available attributes

XML example

JSON example

YAML example

SQL example

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