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

> Use this reference to learn about the metadata available for Firebolt databases using the information schema.

# Catalogs

You can use the `information_schema.catalogs` view to get information about catalogs (databases in SQL terminology). You can use a `SELECT` query to return information about each database as shown in the example below.

In order to view catalog information, you must have [catalog](/overview/security/rbac/database-permissions#database-level-privileges) privileges or have ownership of the catalog object.

```sql theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark"}}
SELECT
  *
FROM
  information_schema.catalogs;
```

## Columns in information\_schema.catalogs

Each row has the following columns with information about the database.

| Column Name             | Data Type   | Description                                              |
| :---------------------- | :---------- | :------------------------------------------------------- |
| catalog\_name           | TEXT        | Name of the database.                                    |
| default\_collation      | TEXT        | Always 'POSIX'.                                          |
| default\_character\_set | TEXT        | Always 'UTF-8'.                                          |
| description             | TEXT        | The description of the database.                         |
| created                 | TIMESTAMPTZ | The time the database was created.                       |
| ddl                     | TEXT        | The text of the SQL statement that created the database. |
| catalog\_owner          | TEXT        | The owner of the database, `NULL` if there is none.      |
| last\_altered           | TIMESTAMPTZ | Time the database was last altered.                      |
| last\_altered\_by       | TEXT        | Name of the last user to alter the database.             |