Reference
Version · 6.0
Change Automation Reference

setColumnRemarks

Last updated: August 12, 2026

The setColumnRemarks Change Type sets remarks on a column.

Uses

You can typically use the setColumnRemarks Change Type when you want to alter the existing column by adding a comment to it.

Running the setColumnRemarks 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 the column with a remark.

Available attributes

Name	Description	Required for	Supports	Since
`catalogName`	Name of the catalog		asany, db2, db2z, h2, mariadb, mysql, oracle, postgresql	3.0
`columnName`	Name of the column	all	all
`remarks`	A short descriptive comment	all	all
`schemaName`	Name of the schema		all
`tableName`	Name of the table containing the column to set remarks on	all	all
`columnDataType`	Data type of the column. To help make scripts database-independent, Liquibase automatically converts the following generic data types to the correct database implementation: `BIGINT`, `BLOB`, `BOOLEAN`, `CHAR`, `CLOB`, `CURRENCY`, `DATE`, `DATETIME`, `DECIMAL`, `DOUBLE`, `FLOAT`, `INT`, `MEDIUMINT`, `NCHAR`, `NUMBER`, `NVARCHAR`, `SMALLINT`, `TIME`, `TIMESTAMP`, `TINYINT`, `UUID`, `VARCHAR`, `XML`. Also, specifying a `java.sql.Types.` type is converted to the correct type as well. For example: `java.sql.Types.TIMESTAMP` `java.sql.Types.VARCHAR(255)` For Snowflake, Liquibase also implements `BINARY`, `TIME`, and `TIMESTAMP_NTZ`. For Databricks, Liquibase also implements `ARRAY<INT>` and `ARRAY<STRING>`, `MAP`, and `STRUCT` variable types. Note:* To specify a complex Databricks type like `ARRAY<STRING>` in an XML changelog, you must specify the escape sequences `<` and `>` rather than `<` and `>`. See `createTable`. For more information, see Liquibase Data Type Handling.	mysql		4.3 (for XML)
`columnParentType`	Indicates the parent object type of the column we are setting remarks against. Valid values are `VIEW a`nd `TABLE`. Default: `TABLE`.

Database support

Database	Notes	Auto Rollback
DB2/LUW	Supported	No
DB2/z	Supported	No
Derby	Not Supported	No
Firebird	Not Supported	No
Google BigQuery	Supported	No
H2	Supported	No
HyperSQL	Not Supported	No
INGRES	Not Supported	No
Informix	Not Supported	No
MariaDB	Supported	No
MySQL	Supported	No
Oracle	Supported	No
PostgreSQL	Supported	No
Snowflake	Supported	No
SQL Server	Supported	No
SQLite	Not Supported	No
Sybase	Not Supported	No
Sybase Anywhere	Supported	No

setColumnRemarks examples

*Note: The SQL to set column remarks is platform-specific. You need to modify the example depending on your database syntax.*

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset liquibase-docs:setColumnRemarks-example
ALTER TABLE person 
MODIFY COLUMN NAME VARCHAR(50) 
COMMENT 'A String';

databaseChangeLog:
-  changeSet:
    id:  setColumnRemarks-example
    author:  liquibase-docs
    changes:
    -  setColumnRemarks:
        catalogName:  department
        columnName:  id
        remarks:  A String
        schemaName:  public
        tableName:  person
        columnDataType:  int

{
    "databaseChangeLog": [
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "setColumnRemarks-example",
                "author": "liquibase-docs",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "setColumnRemarks": {
                            "catalogName": "department",
                            "columnName": "id",
                            "remarks": "A String",
                            "schemaName": "public",
                            "tableName": "person",
                            "columnDataType": "int"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

<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="setColumnRemarks-example">
        <setColumnRemarks catalogName="department"
            columnName="id"
            remarks="A String"
            schemaName="public"
            tableName="person"
            columnDataType="int"/>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

*Note: The SQL to set column remarks is platform-specific. You need to modify the example depending on your database syntax.*

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset liquibase-docs:setColumnRemarks-example
ALTER TABLE person 
MODIFY COLUMN NAME VARCHAR(50) 
COMMENT 'A String';

databaseChangeLog:
-  changeSet:
    id:  setColumnRemarks-example
    author:  liquibase-docs
    changes:
    -  setColumnRemarks:
        catalogName:  department
        columnName:  id
        remarks:  A String
        schemaName:  public
        tableName:  person
        columnDataType:  int

{
    "databaseChangeLog": [
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "setColumnRemarks-example",
                "author": "liquibase-docs",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "setColumnRemarks": {
                            "catalogName": "department",
                            "columnName": "id",
                            "remarks": "A String",
                            "schemaName": "public",
                            "tableName": "person",
                            "columnDataType": "int"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

<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="setColumnRemarks-example">
        <setColumnRemarks catalogName="department"
            columnName="id"
            remarks="A String"
            schemaName="public"
            tableName="person"
            columnDataType="int"/>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

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setColumnRemarks

Uses

Running the setColumnRemarks Change Type

Available attributes

Database support

setColumnRemarks examples

SQL example

YAML example

JSON example

XML example