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MindsDB allows you to create and manage a variety of entities within its ecosystem. All MindsDB objects follow the same naming conventions to ensure consistency and compatibility across the platform.

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MindsDB Entities

The following entities can be created in MindsDB:

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General Naming Rules

When creating these entities, the following conventions apply:
  • Case-insensitive names Object names are not sensitive to letter casing. For example: 
    CREATE VIEW my_view (...);   -- creates "my_view"
CREATE VIEW My_View (...);   -- also creates "my_view"
CREATE VIEW MY_VIEW (...);   -- also creates "my_view"
    All names are automatically converted to lowercase.
  • Allowed characters Lowercase letters (a–z) Numbers (0–9) Underscores (_) Example: 
    CREATE AGENT my_agent345 (...);   -- creates "my_agent345"
  • Special characters If you need special characters or spaces in object names, enclose them in backticks. 
    CREATE VIEW `my view` (...);   -- creates “my view”
CREATE VIEW `my-view!` (...);  -- creates “my-view!”
    However, names inside backticks must be lowercase. Using uppercase letters will result in an error because all object names must be in lowercase letters. 
    CREATE VIEW `My View` (...);   -- error
When working with entities from a data source connected to MindsDB, their original names are preserved and are not subject to MindsDB naming rules.For example, if you connect a Snowflake data source that contains a table named ANALYTICS_101 with a column named Date_Time, you must reference them exactly as they appear in the source, utilizing backticks, as shown below:
SELECT `Date_Time`
FROM snowflake_data.`ANALYTICS_101`;

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Backward Compatibility

Older objects created with uppercase letters are still supported for backward compatibility. To reference them, wrap the name in backticks. 
SELECT * FROM `MyView`;   -- selects from “MyView”
DROP VIEW `MyView`;   -- deletes “MyView”
You cannot create new objects with uppercase letters. For example: 
CREATE VIEW `MyView` (...);   -- error

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Examples

Here are some practical examples:

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Databases

Note that when enclosing the object name in backticks, it preserves the case-sensitivity and special characters included in the name. Otherwise, the upper-case letters are automatically converted to lower-case letters. See the usage examples below. 
CREATE DATABASE my_database WITH …;    -- creates my_database
SELECT * FROM my_database.table_name;  -- selects from my_database
DROP DATABASE my_database;             -- drops my_database

CREATE DATABASE MY_DATABASE WITH …;    -- creates my_database (note that upper-case letters are converted to lower-case letters)
SELECT * FROM my_database.table_name;  -- selects from my_database
SELECT * FROM MY_DATABASE.table_name;  -- selects from my_database
DROP DATABASE MY_DATABASE;             -- drops my_database

CREATE DATABASE `My-database` WITH …;    -- creates My-database (note that the name must be enclosed in backticks because it contains a special character)
SELECT * FROM `My-database`.table_name;  -- selects from My-database
DROP DATABASE `My-database`;             -- drops My-database

-- this works
CREATE DATABASE demodata WITH …;
SELECT * FROM demodata.table_name;
SELECT * FROM `demodata`.table_name;
DROP DATABASE demodata;

-- this works and converts all letters to lower-case
CREATE DATABASE demoData WITH …;
SELECT * FROM demoData ...
DROP DATABASE demoData;

-- this works and keeps upper/lower-case letters because the name is enclosed in backticks
CREATE DATABASE `DemoData` WITH …;
SELECT * FROM `DemoData` ...
DROP DATABASE `DemoData` ...

CREATE DATABASE DemoData WITH …;     -- creates demodata
CREATE DATABASE `DemoData` WITH …;   -- cannot create DemoData because demodata already exists
DROP DATABASE `DemoData`;            -- cannot drop DemoData because DemoData does not exist
DROP DATABASE DemoData;              -- drops demodata

CREATE DATABASE `DemoData` WITH …;     -- creates DemoData
CREATE DATABASE demodata WITH …;       -- cannot create demodata because DemoData already exists
DROP DATABASE demodata;                -- cannot drop demodata because demodata does not exist
DROP DATABASE `DemoData`;              -- drops demodata

CREATE DATABASE demodata WITH …;   -- creates demodata
SELECT * FROM DEMODATA.table_name; -- selects from demodata, because DEMODATA is converted to demodata
DROP DATABASE demodata;            -- drops demodata

CREATE DATABASE `DemoData` WITH …;    -- creates DemoData
SELECT * FROM demodata.table_name;    -- cannot select from demodata
SELECT * FROM `DemoData`.table_name;  -- selects from DemoData
DROP DATABASE demodata;               -- cannot drop demodata because demodata does not exist
DROP DATABASE `DemoData`;             -- drops DemoData

CREATE DATABASE `Dèmo data 2` WITH …;
SELECT * FROM `Dèmo data 2`.table_name;
DROP DATABASE `Dèmo data 2`;

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Views

CREATE VIEW my_view (...);   -- creates "my_view"
CREATE VIEW My_View (...);   -- also creates "my_view"
CREATE VIEW `my view` (...);   -- creates "my view"
CREATE VIEW `My_View` (...);   -- error
If an older object named My_View exists, you can still use it: 
SELECT * FROM `My_View`;   -- selects from “My_View”
DROP VIEW `My_View`;   -- deletes “My_View”

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Agents

CREATE AGENT my_agent USING ...;   -- creates "my_agent"
CREATE AGENT My_Agent USING ...;   -- also creates "my_agent"
CREATE AGENT `my agent 1` USING ...;   -- creates "my agent 1"
CREATE AGENT `My agent 1` USING ...;   -- error
If an older object named My agent 1 exists, you can still use it: 
SELECT * FROM `My agent 1`;   -- selects from “My agent 1”
DROP AGENT `My agent 1`;   -- deletes “My agent 1”