Reference
Version · 6.0
Change Automation Reference

addColumn

Last updated: August 12, 2026

The addColumn Change Type adds a new column to an existing table.

Uses

You can typically use the addColumn Change Type when you want to add a new column and deploy it to the table in your database.

Running the `addColumn` Change Type

To run this Change Type, follow these steps:

Add the Change Type to your changeset, as shown in the examples on this page.
Specify any required attributes. Use the table on this page to see which ones your database requires.
Deploy your changeset by running the update command: liquibase update

Now, you should see a new column.

Available attributes

Name	Description	Required for	Supports
`catalogName`	Name of the catalog		all
`schemaName`	Name of the schema		all
`tableName`	Name of the table to add the column to	all	all

Nested tags

Name

Description

Required for

Supports

Multiple allowed

column

The column constraint and foreign key information.

Setting the defaultValue attribute specifies a default value for the column. Setting the value attribute sets all rows existing to the specified value without modifying the column default.

Note: YAML and JSON changelogs using the column tag must nest it within a columns tag.

all

yes

Database support

Database	Notes	Auto Rollback
DB2/LUW	Supported	Yes
DB2/z	Supported	Yes
Derby	Supported	Yes
Firebird	Supported	Yes
Google BigQuery	Supported	Yes
H2	Supported	Yes
HyperSQL	Supported	Yes
INGRES	Supported	Yes
Informix	Supported	Yes
MariaDB	Supported	Yes
MySQL	Supported	Yes
Oracle	Supported	Yes
PostgreSQL	Supported	Yes
Snowflake	Supported	Yes
SQL Server	Supported	Yes
SQLite	Supported	Yes
Sybase	Supported	Yes
Sybase Anywhere	Supported	Yes

addColumn examples

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset liquibase-docs:addColumn-example
ALTER TABLE cat.person ADD address VARCHAR(255) NULL,
ADD name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL;

databaseChangeLog:
- changeSet:
    id: addColumn-example
    author: liquibase-docs
    changes:
      - addColumn:
          tableName: person
          columns:
          - column:
              name: middlename
              type: varchar(50)

{
    "databaseChangeLog": [
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "addColumn-example",
                "author": "liquibase-docs",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "addColumn": {
                            "catalogName": "cat",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "address",
                                        "type": "varchar(255)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "nullable": false
                                        },
                                        "name": "name",
                                        "type": "varchar(50)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ],
                            "schemaName": "public",
                            "tableName": "person"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}
Database support
Database

<databaseChangeLog
    xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:ext="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog-ext"
    xmlns:pro="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro"
    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/dbchangelog-ext
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog/dbchangelog-ext.xsd
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro/liquibase-pro-latest.xsd">

    <changeSet author="liquibase-docs" id="addColumn-example">
        <addColumn catalogName="cat"
            schemaName= "public"
            tableName="person">
            <column name="address" type="varchar (255) "/>
                <constraints nullable="false" unique="true" uniqueConstraintName="first_column_is_unique"/>
            </column>					
            <column name="person_id" type="int">
                <constraints references="id" referencedTableName="person" foreignKeyName="fk_person"/>
            </column>
        </addColumn>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset liquibase-docs:addColumn-example
ALTER TABLE cat.person ADD address VARCHAR(255) NULL,
ADD name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL;

databaseChangeLog:
- changeSet:
    id: addColumn-example
    author: liquibase-docs
    changes:
      - addColumn:
          tableName: person
          columns:
          - column:
              name: middlename
              type: varchar(50)

{
    "databaseChangeLog": [
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "addColumn-example",
                "author": "liquibase-docs",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "addColumn": {
                            "catalogName": "cat",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "address",
                                        "type": "varchar(255)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "nullable": false
                                        },
                                        "name": "name",
                                        "type": "varchar(50)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ],
                            "schemaName": "public",
                            "tableName": "person"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}
Database support
Database

<databaseChangeLog
    xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:ext="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog-ext"
    xmlns:pro="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro"
    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/dbchangelog-ext
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog/dbchangelog-ext.xsd
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro/liquibase-pro-latest.xsd">

    <changeSet author="liquibase-docs" id="addColumn-example">
        <addColumn catalogName="cat"
            schemaName= "public"
            tableName="person">
            <column name="address" type="varchar (255) "/>
                <constraints nullable="false" unique="true" uniqueConstraintName="first_column_is_unique"/>
            </column>					
            <column name="person_id" type="int">
                <constraints references="id" referencedTableName="person" foreignKeyName="fk_person"/>
            </column>
        </addColumn>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

PreviousAddAutoIncrement NextAlterSequence

addColumn

Uses

Running the addColumn Change Type

Available attributes

Nested tags

Database support

addColumn examples

SQL example

YAML example

JSON example

XML example

Running the `addColumn` Change Type