# CREATE DATABASE

CREATE DATABASE registers a persistent server database. Use [`USE`](https://coordinatordb.com/docs/reference/statements/use) to select it for later native requests, or choose it through the HTTP database parameter.

This is a server command. An embedded application opens a database with the `Connection` API instead.

## Syntax

```text
CREATE DATABASE [IF NOT EXISTS] name
```

## Names

Names ignore ASCII case. They must begin with an ASCII letter or underscore, contain only ASCII letters, digits and underscores, and have at most 63 characters. `system` and `none` are reserved in any letter case.

`IF NOT EXISTS` allows the command to succeed when the database is already registered. Creating a database does not select it for the connection.

## Example

### Creating a reporting database

```sql
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS reporting;
```

```sql
SELECT name
FROM system.databases
WHERE name = 'reporting'
FORMAT csv;
```

```text
"reporting"
```

Use [`SHOW DATABASES`](https://coordinatordb.com/docs/reference/statements/show) or [`system.databases`](https://coordinatordb.com/docs/reference/system-tables/databases) to inspect the inventory. `DROP DATABASE` is not an SQL command.