> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.narrative.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Reserved Keywords

> Keywords that require quoting when used as identifiers

Reserved keywords have special meaning in NQL and cannot be used as unquoted identifiers (table names, column names, aliases). To use a reserved keyword as an identifier, enclose it in double quotes.

## Using reserved keywords as identifiers

```sql theme={null}
-- This fails: "type" is a reserved keyword
SELECT type FROM company_data."123"

-- This works: quoted identifier
SELECT "type" FROM company_data."123"

-- Column alias using reserved keyword
SELECT category AS "group" FROM company_data."123"
```

***

## Reserved keywords list

The following keywords are reserved in NQL:

### A-C

| Keyword             | Category   |
| ------------------- | ---------- |
| `ALL`               | Clause     |
| `AND`               | Operator   |
| `ANY`               | Clause     |
| `ARRAY`             | Type       |
| `AS`                | Clause     |
| `ASC`               | Clause     |
| `BETWEEN`           | Operator   |
| `BIGINT`            | Type       |
| `BOOLEAN`           | Type       |
| `BUDGET`            | Narrative  |
| `BY`                | Clause     |
| `CALENDAR_DAY`      | Narrative  |
| `CALENDAR_MONTH`    | Narrative  |
| `CASE`              | Expression |
| `CAST`              | Function   |
| `CREATE`            | Statement  |
| `CROSS`             | Join       |
| `CURRENT_DATE`      | Function   |
| `CURRENT_TIMESTAMP` | Function   |

### D-G

| Keyword          | Category   |
| ---------------- | ---------- |
| `DATE`           | Type       |
| `DAY`            | Interval   |
| `DECIMAL`        | Type       |
| `DELETE`         | Statement  |
| `DELTA`          | Narrative  |
| `DESC`           | Clause     |
| `DESCRIPTION`    | Narrative  |
| `DISPLAY_NAME`   | Narrative  |
| `DISTINCT`       | Clause     |
| `DOUBLE`         | Type       |
| `ELSE`           | Expression |
| `END`            | Expression |
| `EXISTS`         | Operator   |
| `EXPLAIN`        | Statement  |
| `EXPIRE`         | Narrative  |
| `EXTENDED_STATS` | Narrative  |
| `FALSE`          | Literal    |
| `FROM`           | Clause     |
| `FULL`           | Join       |
| `GROUP`          | Clause     |

### H-L

| Keyword    | Category  |
| ---------- | --------- |
| `HAVING`   | Clause    |
| `HOUR`     | Interval  |
| `IF`       | Function  |
| `IN`       | Operator  |
| `INNER`    | Join      |
| `INSERT`   | Statement |
| `INT`      | Type      |
| `INTEGER`  | Type      |
| `INTERVAL` | Type      |
| `INTO`     | Clause    |
| `IS`       | Operator  |
| `JOIN`     | Join      |
| `LATERAL`  | Join      |
| `LEFT`     | Join      |
| `LIKE`     | Operator  |
| `LIMIT`    | Clause    |
| `LONG`     | Type      |

### M-O

| Keyword        | Category  |
| -------------- | --------- |
| `MAP`          | Type      |
| `MATCHED`      | Merge     |
| `MATERIALIZED` | Statement |
| `MERGE`        | Statement |
| `MINUTE`       | Interval  |
| `MONTH`        | Interval  |
| `NOT`          | Operator  |
| `NULL`         | Literal   |
| `OFFSET`       | Clause    |
| `ON`           | Clause    |
| `OR`           | Operator  |
| `ORDER`        | Clause    |
| `OUTER`        | Join      |
| `OVER`         | Window    |

### P-R

| Keyword            | Category  |
| ------------------ | --------- |
| `PARTITION`        | Window    |
| `PARTITIONED_BY`   | Narrative |
| `PER`              | Narrative |
| `QUALIFY`          | Clause    |
| `REFRESH_SCHEDULE` | Narrative |
| `RIGHT`            | Join      |
| `ROWS`             | Clause    |

### S-T

| Keyword     | Category   |
| ----------- | ---------- |
| `SECOND`    | Interval   |
| `SELECT`    | Statement  |
| `SET`       | Statement  |
| `SOURCE`    | Merge      |
| `STATUS`    | Narrative  |
| `STRING`    | Type       |
| `STRUCT`    | Type       |
| `TABLE`     | Statement  |
| `TAGS`      | Narrative  |
| `TARGET`    | Merge      |
| `THEN`      | Expression |
| `TIMESTAMP` | Type       |
| `TRUE`      | Literal    |

### U-Z

| Keyword      | Category   |
| ------------ | ---------- |
| `UNION`      | Clause     |
| `UNNEST`     | Function   |
| `UPDATE`     | Statement  |
| `USD`        | Narrative  |
| `VALUES`     | Clause     |
| `VARCHAR`    | Type       |
| `VIEW`       | Statement  |
| `WHEN`       | Expression |
| `WHERE`      | Clause     |
| `WITH`       | Clause     |
| `WITHIN`     | Clause     |
| `WRITE_MODE` | Narrative  |
| `YEAR`       | Interval   |

***

## Categories

| Category   | Description                          |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Clause     | SQL clause keywords                  |
| Expression | CASE/conditional expression keywords |
| Function   | Built-in function names              |
| Interval   | Date/time interval units             |
| Join       | JOIN clause keywords                 |
| Literal    | Literal value keywords               |
| Merge      | MERGE statement keywords             |
| Narrative  | Narrative-specific extensions        |
| Operator   | Comparison and logical operators     |
| Statement  | Statement type keywords              |
| Type       | Data type keywords                   |
| Window     | Window function keywords             |

***

## Best practices

### Quote numeric dataset IDs

Numeric dataset IDs must be quoted because they are numeric. Dataset names are identifiers and don't need quoting — unless the name is a reserved keyword or contains special characters, in which case wrap it in double quotes:

```sql theme={null}
-- Correct
FROM company_data."123"
FROM company_data.my_dataset
FROM company_data."select"   -- name that is a reserved keyword

-- Incorrect
FROM company_data.123
```

### Quote ambiguous column names

When column names might conflict with keywords:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT
  "type",
  "group",
  "order",
  "value"
FROM company_data."123"
```

### Use aliases for clarity

Assign clear aliases to avoid quoting in subsequent references:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT
  "type" AS identifier_type,
  "group" AS category_group
FROM company_data."123"
WHERE identifier_type = 'email'
```

### Prefer bracket notation for property access

When accessing struct fields, bracket notation avoids reserved keyword conflicts:

```sql theme={null}
-- Bracket notation: no quoting needed for reserved keywords
SELECT
  data['type'],
  data['value'],
  data['group']
FROM company_data."123"

-- Dot notation: reserved keywords must be double-quoted
SELECT
  data."type",
  data."value",
  data."group"
FROM company_data."123"
```

Both syntaxes work, but bracket notation is simpler when field names may include reserved keywords.

***

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