Manage Scopes and Collections

Scopes and collections can be managed by means of the UI, CLI, and REST API.

Understanding Scopes and Collections

Scopes and collections allow documents to be categorized and organized, within a bucket. A collection is a data container, defined on Couchbase Server, within a bucket whose type is either Couchbase or Ephemeral. A scope is a mechanism for the grouping of multiple collections. A complete overview is provided in Scopes and Collections.

Examples on This Page

The examples on this page demonstrate how to manage scopes and collections with the UI, the CLI, and the REST API.

Manage Scopes and Collections with the UI

The following sequence demonstrates how to create, examine, and delete scopes and collections, using the UI of Couchbase Web Console. Proceed as follows:

Access Couchbase Web Console, and left-click on the Buckets tab, in the vertical, left-hand navigation bar:

This brings up the Buckets screen.
Add a new bucket, named testBucket. Left-click on the ADD BUCKET tab, at the upper right:

This brings up the Add Data Bucket dialog. Use this to create testBucket as a Couchbase bucket of 256 MB, as follows:

Left-click on the Add Bucket button, to create. The Buckets screen now displays the newly created bucket:
Examine the new bucket’s default collection. At the right-hand side of the row that displays the new bucket, two options appear: Documents and Scopes & Collections. Left-click on the Scopes & Collections option:

This brings up the Scopes & Collections screen, which appears as follows:

The screen features two rows. The first row displays the _default scope. As its name indicates, this scope is created by default for each new bucket. Collections that are created without any administrator-defined scope specified as their destination are duly saved in the _default scope.

The second row displays the _system scope. This scope, and its collections, are also created by default: however, they are not for the use of administrators; and should not be accessed in any way by users or user-created applications.

To examine the contents of the _default scope, left-click on the row. The row expands as follows:

This indicates that the _default scope contains a single collection, which is the _default collection. As its name indicates, this collection is created by default, within the _default scope, for each new bucket. Documents that are created without any administrator-defined collection specified as their destination are duly saved in the _default collection.
Add a scope to the bucket. Left-click on the ADD SCOPE tab, at the upper right of the screen:

This brings up the Add Scope dialog, which appears as follows:

Enter the name of a new scope into the New Scope Name field: for example, MyScope. Then, left-click on the Save button.

The Scopes & Collections screen now appears as follows:

The new scope, MyScope, is now displayed.
Add a new collection, within the new scope. At the extreme right of the row for MyScope are two options: Drop and Add Collection. Left-click on Add Collection:

This brings up a dialog entitled Add Collection into MyScope scope:

Enter the name of a new collection into the Name field: for example, MyCollection. The Collection Max Time-To-Live field can, for this example, be left at its default value of 0 — which indicates that no expiration value is assigned to the collection and the documents it contains. (For information, see Expiration). Left-click on the Save button.

Next, left-click on the row for MyScope. The row expands, as follows:

The new collection, MyCollection, is thus shown to have been created within the scope MyScope.

Manage Scopes and Collections with the CLI

The following sequence of CLI commands demonstrates how to create, examine, and delete scopes and collections.

Note that the create bucket, scope, and collection commands are asynchronous by default. If you create a collection right after creating a scope, or create an index right after creating a collection, it is possible that you may encounter a failure if the cluster is still being updated. In this case, we recommend that the application wait for the cluster to be updated or retry the operation.

Proceed as follows:

At the command-line prompt, proceed as follows:

Create a bucket, named testBucket, using the couchbase-cli bucket-create command.

/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli bucket-create \
--cluster localhost:8091 --username Administrator \
--password password --bucket testBucket --bucket-type couchbase \
--bucket-ramsize 100

If the command is successful, the following output is displayed:

SUCCESS: Bucket created

For more information on this command, see bucket-create.

Create a scope, using the couchbase-cli collection-manage command. The --bucket parameter specifies the name of the bucket within which the scope will be created; and the --create-scope parameter specifies the name of the scope.
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage \
--cluster http://localhost:8091 \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--create-scope my_scope
```
If the command is successful, the following output is displayed:
```
SUCCESS: Scope created
```
List the scopes now contained by the bucket testBucket.
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage \
-c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--list-scopes
```
The following output is displayed:
```
my_scope
_default
```
This indicates that testBucket now contains two scopes. One is the _default, the other is the newly created scope my_scope.
Use collection-manage successively, to create two collections within my_scope. The name of the collection to be created is specified with the --create-collection parameter, using a path in dot format (that is, in the form scope-name.collection-name) to specify the destination scope. Then, list the collections in the scope, using collection-manage with the --list-collections parameter.

Create the my_scope.my_collection_in_my_scope_1 collection:
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--create-collection my_scope.my_collection_in_my_scope_1 \
--max-ttl 0
```
The max-ttl parameter is set at 0, which indicates that no expiration time is applied to the new collection (this being the default — for information on expiration, see Expiration).

On success, the output is as follows:
```
SUCCESS: Collection created
```
Create the my_scope.my_collection_in_my_scope_2 collection:
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--create-collection my_scope.my_collection_in_my_scope_2
```
On success, the output is as again follows:
```
SUCCESS: Collection created
```
Now, list all collections:
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--list-collections my_scope
```
If the command is successful, the output features a list of all created collections within my_scope:
```
Scope my_scope:
    - my_collection_in_my_scope_2
    - my_collection_in_my_scope_1
```
The output indicates that my_scope now contains the collections my_collection_in_my_scope_1 and my_collection_in_my_scope_2.
Create a collection in the _default scope, and then list collections within that scope.
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--create-collection _default.my_collection_in_default_scope
```
The argument to the create-collection parameter thus specifies a new collection, my_collection_in_default_scope, to be created in the _default scope. (Note, however that, as a convenience for the CLI-user, this notation can be shortened; by simply omitting explicit reference to the _default scope, and preceding the name of the new collection with the dot alone: thus, the argument to create-collection is shortened to .my_collection_in_default_scope.)

On success, the following output is displayed:
```
SUCCESS: Collection created
```
Now, list collections within the scope:
```
/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--list-collections _default
```
On success, a list of the collections in the scope is displayed:
```
Scope _default:
    - my_collection_in_default_scope
    - _default
```
The output indicates that the _default scope now contains two collections, which are the _default collection, and the newly created collection my_collection_in_default_scope.

Create two documents, within the collection my_collection_in_my_scope_1, using the cbc create command. Scope and collection are respectively specified with the --scope and --collection flags (note that if no scope or collection is explicitly specified, the default scope or collection is assumed).

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbc create \
-u Administrator -P password testDocument1 \
-U couchbase://localhost/testBucket \
--scope='my_scope' \
--collection='my_collection_in_my_scope_1' \
-V '{"key1" : "value1"}'

On success, this produces output indicating that the named document has been saved, and providing its CAS number.

testDocument1        Stored. CAS=0x1668d67ee31b0000
                     SYNCTOKEN=816,47341375326027,5

Now, create the second document:

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbc create -u Administrator -P password testDocument2 \
-U couchbase://localhost/testBucket \
--scope='my_scope' \
--collection='my_collection_in_my_scope_1' \
-V '{"key2" : "value2"}'

On success, the output is as follows:

testDocument2        Stored. CAS=0x1668d68983750000
                     SYNCTOKEN=569,122315102163226,5

Display statistics on existing collections, using the cbstats command, specifying the collections parameter.

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbstats -u Administrator -p password \
-b testBucket localhost:11210 collections

Statistics are displayed as follows:

0x0:0x0:collections_mem_used: 0
0x0:0x0:data_size:            0
0x0:0x0:history:              true
0x0:0x0:items:                0
0x0:0x0:name:                 _default
0x0:0x0:ops_delete:           0
0x0:0x0:ops_get:              0
0x0:0x0:ops_store:            0
0x0:0x0:scope_name:           _default
0x0:0xa:collections_mem_used: 0
0x0:0xa:data_size:            120832
0x0:0xa:history:              true
0x0:0xa:items:                0
0x0:0xa:name:                 my_collection_in_default_scope
0x0:0xa:ops_delete:           0
0x0:0xa:ops_get:              0
0x0:0xa:ops_store:            0
0x0:0xa:scope_name:           _default
0x8:0x8:collections_mem_used: 180
0x8:0x8:data_size:            117882
0x8:0x8:history:              true
0x8:0x8:items:                2
0x8:0x8:name:                 my_collection_in_my_scope_1
0x8:0x8:ops_delete:           0
0x8:0x8:ops_get:              0
0x8:0x8:ops_store:            2
0x8:0x8:scope_name:           my_scope
0x8:0x9:collections_mem_used: 0
0x8:0x9:data_size:            118784
0x8:0x9:history:              true
0x8:0x9:items:                0
0x8:0x9:name:                 my_collection_in_my_scope_2
0x8:0x9:ops_delete:           0
0x8:0x9:ops_get:              0
0x8:0x9:ops_store:            0
0x8:0x9:scope_name:           my_scope
manifest_uid:                 4

The output identifies all data associated with each collection using a pair of hexadecimal prefixes, these are the scope and collection unique identifiers. For example 0x8:0x9:name: is the name of the collection with id 0x8 in the scope with id 0x9.

The history listing indicates for each collection whether a change-history is currently active. For information, see Collection Change-History.

For more information on the listings in the above output, see the collections reference page for cbstats.

The identifier or name (with scope) of a collection can be used to return data about a single collection. Here cbstats can also select collections in the default scope using a single ..

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbstats -u Administrator -p password -b testBucket \
localhost:11210 collections my_scope.my_collection_in_my_scope_2

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbstats -u Administrator -p password -b testBucket \
localhost:11210 collections id 0x9

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbstats -u Administrator -p password -b testBucket \
localhost:11210 collections .my_collection_in_default_scope

Again display statistics on existing collections using the cbstats command, this time specifying the collections-details parameter.

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbstats -u Administrator -p password -b testBucket \
localhost:11210 collections-details

Statistics are displayed as follows:

0x0:0x0:collections_mem_used: 0
0x0:0x0:data_size:            0
0x0:0x0:history:              true
0x0:0x0:items:                0
0x0:0x0:name:                 _default
0x0:0x0:ops_delete:           0
0x0:0x0:ops_get:              0
0x0:0x0:ops_store:            0
0x0:0x0:scope_name:           _default
0x0:0xa:collections_mem_used: 0
0x0:0xa:data_size:            120832
0x0:0xa:history:              true
0x0:0xa:items:                0
0x0:0xa:name:                 my_collection_in_default_scope
0x0:0xa:ops_delete:           0
0x0:0xa:ops_get:              0
0x0:0xa:ops_store:            0
0x0:0xa:scope_name:           _default
0x8:0x8:collections_mem_used: 180
0x8:0x8:data_size:            117882
0x8:0x8:history:              true
0x8:0x8:items:                2
0x8:0x8:name:                 my_collection_in_my_scope_1
0x8:0x8:ops_delete:           0
0x8:0x8:ops_get:              0
0x8:0x8:ops_store:            2
0x8:0x8:scope_name:           my_scope
0x8:0x9:collections_mem_used: 0
0x8:0x9:data_size:            118784
0x8:0x9:history:              true
0x8:0x9:items:                0
0x8:0x9:name:                 my_collection_in_my_scope_2
0x8:0x9:ops_delete:           0
0x8:0x9:ops_get:              0
0x8:0x9:ops_store:            0
0x8:0x9:scope_name:           my_scope
manifest_uid:                 4

The output, which is presented here in truncated form, provides additional details on scopes, collections, and their content; including sequence numbers, manifest uids, and per-vBucket information. Note that an identifying vBucket-number can be specified, to produce output for that vBucket alone:

/opt/couchbase/bin/cbstats -u Administrator -p password -b testBucket localhost:11210 collections-details 8

The number 8 having been specified, displayed statistics are for vBucket 8 only:

vb_8:0x0:disk_size:            0
vb_8:0x0:high_seqno:           0
vb_8:0x0:history:              true
vb_8:0x0:items:                0
vb_8:0x0:name:                 _default
vb_8:0x0:ops_delete:           0
vb_8:0x0:ops_get:              0
vb_8:0x0:ops_store:            0
vb_8:0x0:persisted_high_seqno: 0
vb_8:0x0:scope:                0x0
vb_8:0x0:start_seqno:          0
vb_8:0x8:disk_size:            115
vb_8:0x8:high_seqno:           2
vb_8:0x8:history:              true
vb_8:0x8:items:                0
vb_8:0x8:name:                 my_collection_in_my_scope_1
vb_8:0x8:ops_delete:           0
vb_8:0x8:ops_get:              0
vb_8:0x8:ops_store:            0
vb_8:0x8:persisted_high_seqno: 2
vb_8:0x8:scope:                0x8
vb_8:0x8:start_seqno:          2
vb_8:0x9:disk_size:            116
vb_8:0x9:high_seqno:           3
vb_8:0x9:history:              true
vb_8:0x9:items:                0
vb_8:0x9:name:                 my_collection_in_my_scope_2
vb_8:0x9:ops_delete:           0
vb_8:0x9:ops_get:              0
vb_8:0x9:ops_store:            0
vb_8:0x9:persisted_high_seqno: 3
vb_8:0x9:scope:                0x8
vb_8:0x9:start_seqno:          3
vb_8:0xa:disk_size:            118
vb_8:0xa:high_seqno:           4
vb_8:0xa:history:              true
vb_8:0xa:items:                0
vb_8:0xa:name:                 my_collection_in_default_scope
vb_8:0xa:ops_delete:           0
vb_8:0xa:ops_get:              0
vb_8:0xa:ops_store:            0
vb_8:0xa:persisted_high_seqno: 4
vb_8:0xa:scope:                0x0
vb_8:0xa:start_seqno:          4
vb_8:collections:              4
vb_8:manifest:uid:             4

For more information on the listings in the above output, see the collections and collections-details reference pages for cbstats.

Drop a collection from the created scope, then list collections within that scope.

/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--drop-collection my_scope.my_collection_in_my_scope_1

If the command is successful, the following is displayed:

SUCCESS: Collection dropped

Now, list collections in the scope:

/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--list-collections my_scope

Output features each collection in the specified scope:

Scope my_scope:
    - my_collection_in_my_scope_2

The output indicates that the collection my_collection_in_my_scope_1 has now been dropped from my_scope.

Drop the created scope, then list scopes.

/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--drop-scope my_scope

On success, the following output is displayed:

SUCCESS: Scope dropped

List all remaining scopes:

/opt/couchbase/bin/couchbase-cli collection-manage -c localhost \
--username Administrator \
--password password \
--bucket testBucket \
--list-scopes

The following output is displayed:

_default

This indicates that my_scope, and the collection it contained, my_collection_in_my_scope_2, have been dropped.

This concludes the sequence of commands.

Manage Scopes and Collections with the REST API

The following sequence of REST API commands demonstrates how to create, examine, and delete scopes and collections. Proceed as follows:

At the command-line prompt, proceed as follows:

Create a bucket, named testBucket, using the /pools/default/buckets REST method:
```
curl -X POST -u Administrator:password \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets \
-d name=testBucket \
-d ramQuotaMB=100
```
For information on this REST call and its parameters, see Creating and Editing Buckets.
Create a scope. This is a POST operation, using the /pools/default/buckets/<bucket>/scopes endpoint, and specifying the -name parameter.
```
curl -u Administrator:password -X POST \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes \
-d name=my_scope
```
If successful, the command returns a uid for the action (this is principally for internal use, and need not be tracked by the user):
```
{"uid":1}
```
Now, examine the collections manifest for the specified bucket. This is a GET operation, using the /pools/default/buckets/<bucket>/scopes endpoint.
```
curl -u Administrator:password -X GET \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes
```
This returns the following output:
```
{"uid":"1","scopes":[{"name":"my_scope","uid":"8","collections":[]},{"name":"_default","uid":"0","collections":[{"name":"_default","uid":"0","maxTTL":0,"history":true}]}]}
```
Formatted, this output is as follows:
```
{
  "uid": "1",
  "scopes": [
    {
      "name": "my_scope",
      "uid": "8",
      "collections": []
    },
    {
      "name": "_default",
      "uid": "0",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "_default",
          "uid": "0",
          "maxTTL": 0,
          "history": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```
This output shows that the bucket now contains two scopes, which are my_scope and _default. The _default scope contains a single collection, which is also named _default. The maxTTL for the collection is 0, which means that by default, no expiration time has been applied to this collection. (For information on expiration, see Expiration).

Create two collections, within the created scope. This requires a POST operation, specifying the created scope as a path parameter, and using the name parameter to specify the new collection-name. For the first collection, enter the following command:

curl -u Administrator:password -X POST \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes/my_scope/collections \
-d name=my_collection_in_my_scope_1 \
-d maxTTL=0

The maxTTL parameter thus establishes that there is no expiration time applied to the new collection (which is, in fact, the default). If successful, the operation returns a uid.

{"uid":2}

Create the second collection as follows:

curl -u Administrator:password -X POST \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes/my_scope/collections \
-d name=my_collection_in_my_scope_2

Again, success returns a uid:

{"uid":3}

Now, re-examine the collections manifest for the bucket.

curl -u Administrator:password -X GET \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes

The unformatted output is as follows:

{"uid":"3","scopes":[{"name":"my_scope","uid":"8","collections":[{"name":"my_collection_in_my_scope_2","uid":"9","history":true,"maxTTL":0},{"name":"my_collection_in_my_scope_1","uid":"8","history":true,"maxTTL":0}]},{"name":"_default","uid":"0","collections":[{"name":"_default","uid":"0","maxTTL":0,"history":true}]}]}

When formatted, the output takes the following appearance:

{
  "uid": "3",
  "scopes": [
    {
      "name": "my_scope",
      "uid": "8",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_my_scope_2",
          "uid": "9",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        },
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_my_scope_1",
          "uid": "8",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "_default",
      "uid": "0",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "_default",
          "uid": "0",
          "maxTTL": 0,
          "history": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

This indicates that the collections my_collection_in_my_scope_1 and my_collection_in_my_scope_2 have been successfully created in my_scope.

Create a collection in the default scope. This is a POST operation, specifying the _default scope as a path parameter, and the name parameter to specify the new collection-name.

curl -u Administrator:password -X POST \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes/_default/collections \
-d name=my_collection_in_default_scope

A uid is returned:

{"uid":4}

Now, re-examine the collections manifest for the bucket.

curl -u Administrator:password -X GET \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes

This returns the following:

{"uid":"4","scopes":[{"name":"my_scope","uid":"8","collections":[{"name":"my_collection_in_my_scope_2","uid":"9","history":true,"maxTTL":0},{"name":"my_collection_in_my_scope_1","uid":"8","history":true,"maxTTL":0}]},{"name":"_default","uid":"0","collections":[{"name":"my_collection_in_default_scope","uid":"a","history":true,"maxTTL":0},{"name":"_default","uid":"0","maxTTL":0,"history":true}]}]}

When formatted the output is as follows:

{
  "uid": "4",
  "scopes": [
    {
      "name": "my_scope",
      "uid": "8",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_my_scope_2",
          "uid": "9",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        },
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_my_scope_1",
          "uid": "8",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "_default",
      "uid": "0",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_default_scope",
          "uid": "a",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        },
        {
          "name": "_default",
          "uid": "0",
          "maxTTL": 0,
          "history": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

This indicates that the collection my_collection_in_default_scope has been successfully created in the _default scope, and so appears alongside the _default collection.

Drop a collection from the created scope. This requires a DELETE operation, and the endpoint that specifies the collection that is to be dropped.

curl -u Administrator:password -X DELETE \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes/my_scope/\
collections/my_collection_in_my_scope_1

This returns a uid:

{"uid":5}

Now, re-examine the collections manifest for the bucket.

curl -u Administrator:password -X GET \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes

The output (here formatted) indicates that the collection my_collection_in_my_scope_1 has successfully been dropped from my_scope:

{
  "uid": "5",
  "scopes": [
    {
      "name": "my_scope",
      "uid": "8",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_my_scope_2",
          "uid": "9",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "_default",
      "uid": "0",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_default_scope",
          "uid": "a",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        },
        {
          "name": "_default",
          "uid": "0",
          "maxTTL": 0,
          "history": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Drop the created scope, and examine the manifest.

curl -u Administrator:password -X DELETE \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes/my_scope

This returns a uid:

{"uid":6}

Examine the manifest:

curl -u Administrator:password -X GET \
http://localhost:8091/pools/default/buckets/testBucket/scopes

The output (here formatted) is as follows:

{
  "uid": "6",
  "scopes": [
    {
      "name": "_default",
      "uid": "0",
      "collections": [
        {
          "name": "my_collection_in_default_scope",
          "uid": "a",
          "history": true,
          "maxTTL": 0
        },
        {
          "name": "_default",
          "uid": "0",
          "maxTTL": 0,
          "history": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

This indicates that my_scope has successfully been dropped; and with it, the collection my_collection_in_my_scope_2.

This concludes the sequence of commands.

Manage Scopes and Collections

Understanding Scopes and Collections

Examples on This Page

Manage Scopes and Collections with the UI

Manage Scopes and Collections with the CLI

Manage Scopes and Collections with the REST API

See Also