Secure 6.0: keywords

Reference
Version · 6.0
Change Automation Reference

keywords

Last updated: September 29, 2026

Use the keywords attribute to tag a changeset with short terms that describe your own filtering dimension, such as a business domain, a compliance category, or an application area. At runtime, you can control which tagged changesets a command runs using the keywords-filter argument.

Note: The keywords attribute requires Liquibase Secure 5.2.2 or later.

Keep each keyword to a short, single term, like a tag. The value is split on commas, so it is not suitable for narrative notes or sentences.

Uses

You can specify a keyword as any case-insensitive string, or a comma-separated list of keywords. You can typically use keywords to:

Tag changesets with short terms that describe your own filtering dimension, such as hotfix or compliance.
Deploy or roll back only the changesets that match one or more keywords.
Limit which changesets a checks run operation inspects, without enabling or disabling checks or maintaining separate checks packages and configuration files.
Slice deployments across an additional dimension when labels, contexts, teams, and releases are already in use for other purposes.

Syntax

Add the keywords attribute to a changeset in any changelog format. You can specify a single value or a comma-separated list.

Note: In XML changelogs, the attribute name must be lowercase (keywords). In other formats, the attribute name is case-insensitive.

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset your.name:1-create-employees keywords:schema-init
CREATE TABLE employees (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL, department VARCHAR(50));
--rollback DROP TABLE employees;

--changeset your.name:2-create-products keywords:hotfix
CREATE TABLE products (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL, price DECIMAL(10,2));
--rollback DROP TABLE products;

--changeset your.name:3-create-audit-log keywords:compliance
CREATE TABLE audit_log (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, action VARCHAR(255), performed_at TIMESTAMP);
--rollback DROP TABLE audit_log;

--changeset your.name:4-create-app-config
CREATE TABLE app_config (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, setting_name VARCHAR(100));
--rollback DROP TABLE app_config;

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<databaseChangeLog
    xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
    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">

    <changeSet id="1-create-employees" author="your.name" keywords="schema-init">
        <createTable tableName="employees">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="name" type="varchar(100)">
                <constraints nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="department" type="varchar(50)"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="employees"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

    <changeSet id="2-create-products" author="your.name" keywords="hotfix">
        <createTable tableName="products">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="name" type="varchar(100)">
                <constraints nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="price" type="decimal(10,2)"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="products"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

    <changeSet id="3-create-audit-log" author="your.name" keywords="compliance">
        <createTable tableName="audit_log">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="action" type="varchar(255)"/>
            <column name="performed_at" type="timestamp"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="audit_log"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

    <changeSet id="4-create-app-config" author="your.name">
        <createTable tableName="app_config">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="setting_name" type="varchar(100)"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="app_config"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

databaseChangeLog:
  - changeSet:
      id: 1-create-employees
      author: your.name
      keywords: 'schema-init'
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: employees
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: name
                  type: varchar(100)
              - column:
                  name: department
                  type: varchar(50)
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: employees
  - changeSet:
      id: 2-create-products
      author: your.name
      keywords: 'hotfix'
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: products
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: name
                  type: varchar(100)
              - column:
                  name: price
                  type: decimal(10,2)
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: products
  - changeSet:
      id: 3-create-audit-log
      author: your.name
      keywords: 'compliance'
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: audit_log
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: action
                  type: varchar(255)
              - column:
                  name: performed_at
                  type: timestamp
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: audit_log
  - changeSet:
      id: 4-create-app-config
      author: your.name
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: app_config
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: setting_name
                  type: varchar(100)
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: app_config

{
    "databaseChangeLog": [
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "1-create-employees",
                "author": "your.name",
                "keywords": "schema-init",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "employees",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "name",
                                        "type": "varchar(100)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "department",
                                        "type": "varchar(50)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "employees"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "2-create-products",
                "author": "your.name",
                "keywords": "hotfix",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "products",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "name",
                                        "type": "varchar(100)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "price",
                                        "type": "decimal(10,2)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "products"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "3-create-audit-log",
                "author": "your.name",
                "keywords": "compliance",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "audit_log",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "action",
                                        "type": "varchar(255)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "performed_at",
                                        "type": "timestamp"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "audit_log"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "4-create-app-config",
                "author": "your.name",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "app_config",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "setting_name",
                                        "type": "varchar(100)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "app_config"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset your.name:1-create-employees keywords:schema-init
CREATE TABLE employees (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL, department VARCHAR(50));
--rollback DROP TABLE employees;

--changeset your.name:2-create-products keywords:hotfix
CREATE TABLE products (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL, price DECIMAL(10,2));
--rollback DROP TABLE products;

--changeset your.name:3-create-audit-log keywords:compliance
CREATE TABLE audit_log (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, action VARCHAR(255), performed_at TIMESTAMP);
--rollback DROP TABLE audit_log;

--changeset your.name:4-create-app-config
CREATE TABLE app_config (id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, setting_name VARCHAR(100));
--rollback DROP TABLE app_config;

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<databaseChangeLog
    xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
    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">

    <changeSet id="1-create-employees" author="your.name" keywords="schema-init">
        <createTable tableName="employees">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="name" type="varchar(100)">
                <constraints nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="department" type="varchar(50)"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="employees"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

    <changeSet id="2-create-products" author="your.name" keywords="hotfix">
        <createTable tableName="products">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="name" type="varchar(100)">
                <constraints nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="price" type="decimal(10,2)"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="products"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

    <changeSet id="3-create-audit-log" author="your.name" keywords="compliance">
        <createTable tableName="audit_log">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="action" type="varchar(255)"/>
            <column name="performed_at" type="timestamp"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="audit_log"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

    <changeSet id="4-create-app-config" author="your.name">
        <createTable tableName="app_config">
            <column name="id" type="int" autoIncrement="true">
                <constraints primaryKey="true" nullable="false"/>
            </column>
            <column name="setting_name" type="varchar(100)"/>
        </createTable>
        <rollback>
            <dropTable tableName="app_config"/>
        </rollback>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

databaseChangeLog:
  - changeSet:
      id: 1-create-employees
      author: your.name
      keywords: 'schema-init'
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: employees
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: name
                  type: varchar(100)
              - column:
                  name: department
                  type: varchar(50)
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: employees
  - changeSet:
      id: 2-create-products
      author: your.name
      keywords: 'hotfix'
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: products
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: name
                  type: varchar(100)
              - column:
                  name: price
                  type: decimal(10,2)
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: products
  - changeSet:
      id: 3-create-audit-log
      author: your.name
      keywords: 'compliance'
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: audit_log
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: action
                  type: varchar(255)
              - column:
                  name: performed_at
                  type: timestamp
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: audit_log
  - changeSet:
      id: 4-create-app-config
      author: your.name
      changes:
        - createTable:
            tableName: app_config
            columns:
              - column:
                  name: id
                  type: int
                  autoIncrement: true
                  constraints:
                    primaryKey: true
                    nullable: false
              - column:
                  name: setting_name
                  type: varchar(100)
      rollback:
        - dropTable:
            tableName: app_config

{
    "databaseChangeLog": [
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "1-create-employees",
                "author": "your.name",
                "keywords": "schema-init",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "employees",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "name",
                                        "type": "varchar(100)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "department",
                                        "type": "varchar(50)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "employees"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "2-create-products",
                "author": "your.name",
                "keywords": "hotfix",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "products",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "name",
                                        "type": "varchar(100)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "price",
                                        "type": "decimal(10,2)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "products"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "3-create-audit-log",
                "author": "your.name",
                "keywords": "compliance",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "audit_log",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "action",
                                        "type": "varchar(255)"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "performed_at",
                                        "type": "timestamp"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "audit_log"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "changeSet": {
                "id": "4-create-app-config",
                "author": "your.name",
                "changes": [
                    {
                        "createTable": {
                            "tableName": "app_config",
                            "columns": [
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "id",
                                        "type": "int",
                                        "autoIncrement": true,
                                        "constraints": {
                                            "primaryKey": true,
                                            "nullable": false
                                        }
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "column": {
                                        "name": "setting_name",
                                        "type": "varchar(100)"
                                    }
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "rollback": [
                    {
                        "dropTable": {
                            "tableName": "app_config"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

Filtering by keywords

At runtime, pass the --keywords-filter argument to run only the changesets whose keywords attribute matches the filter value. Matching is a straight string comparison with no logical operators. Changesets without a keywords attribute always run, even when a filter is specified. See keywords-filter for matching rules, examples, and supported commands.

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keywords

Uses

Syntax

SQL

XML

YAML

JSON

Filtering by keywords