UPDATE and DELETE

UPDATE and DELETE change or remove rows of a keyed table (UPSERT or VERSIONED). The examples use the balances table.

UPDATE

UPDATE <table> SET <column> = <value>, … WHERE <condition> [ATTRIBUTE GROUP <group>]

• SET assigns a literal, an expression, NULL, or DEFAULT to each named column. Columns not named keep their values.
• WHERE addresses one row by its complete primary key, or many rows by any condition.
• Primary-key columns identify the row and keep their values.

UPDATE balances
SET amount = 0, updated_at = '2026-10-02 00:00:00.000'
WHERE chain_id = 1 AND address = '0x9c2e4f1a' AND token = 'USDC'
ATTRIBUTE GROUP holding;

A STREAM SELECT open over balances receives the change as one delta.

DEFAULT sets a column to its declared default:

UPDATE balances
SET label = DEFAULT
WHERE chain_id = 1 AND token = 'USDC';

DELETE

DELETE FROM <table> WHERE <condition>

DELETE writes a tombstone for each matching key: the row disappears from current reads, every attribute group included, and its history stays readable AS OF COMMIT.

DELETE FROM balances
WHERE chain_id = 1 AND address = '0x9c2e4f1a' AND token = 'USDC';

DELETE FROM balances
WHERE chain_id = 1 AND amount = 0;

A later write to a deleted key starts the row again; the deleted values do not return. A subscriber of the table receives each delete as one change: the key's erase.

Related pages

• INSERT, UPSERT and REPLACE
• Attribute groups
• Transactions