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Documentation Index

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An index is a database structure that speeds up lookups on a column (or combination of columns). Without an index, the database has to scan every row of a table to find matches; with one, it can jump directly to the relevant rows. Indexes also have a second job: unique indexes prevent duplicate values from being inserted, which is the standard way to enforce uniqueness across multiple columns at once.

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When to add an index

Add an index when:
  • A column is frequently used in lookups — for example, an email field on users or a slug on posts.
  • A column is used to filter or sort large result sets.
  • You need to enforce uniqueness across a combination of columns (use a unique index).
Don’t add indexes preemptively to every column. Indexes take up storage and slow down inserts and updates. Add them when a query is measurably slow, or when uniqueness needs to be enforced.

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Unique vs. non-unique

TypeWhat it does
Non-unique indexSpeeds up lookups on the indexed columns. Multiple rows can share the same value.
Unique indexSpeeds up lookups and rejects inserts or updates that would create a duplicate combination of indexed values.
A unique index across (workspace_id, slug) is the right way to say “every workspace must have unique slugs, but slugs can repeat across workspaces.”

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Creating an index

1

Open the table

Click the table you want to index in the Data Model sidebar.
2

Scroll to the Indexes section

Below the field list, the Indexes section lists every index already configured on the table.
3

Click + Add Index

The index configuration dialog opens.
4

Pick the fields

Select one or more fields. The order matters for multi-column indexes — pick the order that matches how you’ll query.
5

Choose unique or non-unique

Toggle the Unique option if you want the index to enforce uniqueness across the chosen fields.
6

Name the index

Index names cannot contain spaces. Use snake_case (for example, users_email_unique).
7

Save

Click Add. The index is created immediately. For large tables, the operation runs in the background.
Table indexes panel Index configuration dialog

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Single-column vs. multi-column indexes

A single-column index speeds up lookups on that column alone:
  • users.email — speeds up WHERE email = '...'
A multi-column index speeds up lookups on the leading columns. The order matters:
  • An index on (workspace_id, created_at) speeds up queries that filter by workspace_id, by workspace_id and created_at, but not queries that filter only by created_at.
When in doubt, start with a single-column index. Add a multi-column index only when your query plan shows it would help.

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Unique constraints on a single field vs. a unique index

A field with Unique turned on is implemented under the hood as a single-column unique index. The two are equivalent for a single column — use the field-level toggle for clarity. Use the Indexes panel when:
  • Uniqueness needs to span multiple columns.
  • You want to add a non-unique index for performance.
  • You’re naming the index explicitly to match a convention.

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How it appears in the API

Indexes don’t change the shape of the GraphQL or REST APIs — they affect query performance only. Unique indexes do surface as validation: inserts and updates that would violate uniqueness are rejected with a clear error.

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Permissions

Indexes are infrastructure-level — they don’t have their own permissions. Read and write permissions on the underlying table are governed by Role-Based Access.

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FAQ

No. Indexes have a write cost — every insert and update has to maintain them. Add an index when a query is measurably slow on real data. Most tables only need a few indexes.
Yes for multi-column indexes. The index helps queries that filter on a leading prefix of the columns. (a, b) helps WHERE a = ? and WHERE a = ? AND b = ?, but not WHERE b = ? alone.
A field with Unique on is a unique index on that single column. The Indexes panel is the right tool when uniqueness spans multiple columns.
Yes. The Indexes panel lists each index with a delete control. Dropping a non-unique index is safe; dropping a unique index removes the uniqueness guarantee.
Indexes on small tables are nearly instant. On large tables, the database creates the index without blocking reads or writes — but creation itself takes longer.