To help organize your BigQuery resources, you can add labels to your datasets, tables, and views. Labels are key-value pairs that you can attach to a resource. When you create BigQuery resources, labels are optional.
After labeling your resources, you can search for them based on label values. For example, you can use labels to group datasets by purpose, environment, department, and so on.
This page explains how to manage labels on BigQuery resources, including how to update and remove labels.
For information on adding labels to BigQuery resources and on using labels in BigQuery, see Adding and using labels.
What are labels?
A label is a key-value pair that helps you organize your Google Cloud Platform BigQuery resources. You can attach a label to each resource, then filter the resources based on their labels. Information about labels is forwarded to the billing system, so you can break down your billing charges by label.
Common uses of labels
Here are some common use cases for labels:
Team or cost center labels: Add labels based on team or cost center to distinguish BigQuery resources owned by different teams (for example,
team:research
andteam:analytics
). You can use this type of label for cost accounting or budgeting.Component labels: For example,
component:redis
,component:frontend
,component:ingest
, andcomponent:dashboard
.Environment or stage labels: For example,
environment:production
andenvironment:test
.State labels: For example,
state:active
,state:readytodelete
, andstate:archive
.
Requirements for labels
The labels applied to a resource must meet the following requirements:
- Each resource can have multiple labels, up to a maximum of 64.
- Each label must be a key-value pair.
- Keys have a minimum length of 1 character and a maximum length of 63 characters, and cannot be empty. Values can be empty, and have a maximum length of 63 characters.
- Keys and values can contain only lowercase letters, numeric characters, underscores, and dashes. All characters must use UTF-8 encoding, and international characters are allowed.
- The key portion of a label must be unique. However, you can use the same key with multiple resources.
- Keys must start with a lowercase letter or international character.
Updating dataset labels
A dataset label can be updated by:
- Using the GCP Console or the classic BigQuery web UI
- Using the command-line tool's
bq update
command - Calling the
datasets.patch
API method
Required permissions
To update a dataset label, you must have OWNER
access at the dataset level, or you must be assigned a project-level IAM role
that includes bigquery.datasets.update
permissions. The following predefined,
project-level IAM roles include bigquery.datasets.update
permissions:
In addition, because the bigquery.user
role has bigquery.datasets.create
permissions, a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role can update
any dataset that user creates. When a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role creates a dataset, that user is given OWNER
access to the dataset.
OWNER
access to a dataset gives the user full control over it.
For more information on IAM roles and permissions in BigQuery, see Access control. For more information on dataset-level roles, see Primitive roles for datasets.
Updating a dataset label
To update labels for an existing dataset:
Classic UI
In the web UI, select the dataset.
On the Dataset Details page, to the right of Labels, click Edit.
In the Edit Labels dialog:
- To apply additional labels, click Add Label. Each key can be used only once per dataset, but you can use the same key in different datasets in the same project.
- Modify the existing keys or values to update a label.
Click OK.
Command-line
To add additional labels or to update a dataset label, issue thebq update
command with the set_label
flag. Repeat the flag to add or update multiple
labels.
If the dataset is in a project other than your default project, add the project
ID to the dataset in the following format: [PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
.
bq update --set_label [KEY:VALUE] [PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
Where:
[KEY:VALUE]
corresponds to a key:value pair for a label that you want to add or update. If you specify the same key as an existing label, the value for the existing label is updated. The key must be unique.[PROJECT_ID]
is your project ID.[DATASET]
is the dataset you're updating.
Examples:
To update the department
label on mydataset
, enter the bq update
command
and specify department
as the label key. For example, to update the
department:shipping
label to department:logistics
, enter the following
command. mydataset
is in myotherproject
, not your default project.
bq update --set_label department:logistics myotherproject:mydataset
API
To add additional labels or to update a label for an existing dataset, call the
datasets.patch
method and add to or update the labels
property for the dataset resource.
Because the datasets.update
method replaces the entire dataset resource, the
datasets.patch
method is preferred.
Go
Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation .
Java
This sample uses the Google HTTP Client Library for Java to send a request to the BigQuery API.Python
Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation .
Updating table and view labels
A label can be updated after a table or view is created by:
- Using the GCP Console or the classic BigQuery web UI
- Using the command-line tool's
bq update
command - Calling the
tables.patch
API method- Because views are treated like table resources, you use the
tables.patch
method to modify both views and tables.
- Because views are treated like table resources, you use the
Required permissions
To update a table or view label, you must have
OWNER
access at the dataset level, or you must be assigned a project-level IAM role
that includes bigquery.tables.update
permissions. The following predefined,
project-level IAM roles include bigquery.tables.update
permissions:
In addition, because the bigquery.user
role has bigquery.datasets.create
permissions, a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role can update tables and
views in any dataset that user creates. When a user assigned to the
bigquery.user
role creates a dataset, that user is given OWNER
access to the
dataset. OWNER
access to a dataset gives the user full control over it and the
tables and views in it.
For more information on IAM roles and permissions in BigQuery, see Access control. For more information on dataset-level roles, see Primitive roles for datasets.
Updating a table or view label
To update a table or view label:
Classic UI
In the web UI, select the table, or view.
On the details page, to the right of Labels, click Edit. This example shows the details for a table.
In the Edit Labels dialog:
- To add additional labels, click Add Label. Each key can be used only once per table or view, but you can use the same key in tables or views in different datasets.
- Modify the existing keys or values to update a label.
Click OK.
Command-line
To add additional labels or to update a table or view label, issue the
bq update
command with the set_label
flag. Repeat the flag to add or update
multiple labels.
If the table or view is in a project other than your default project, add the
project ID to the dataset in the following format: [PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
.
bq update --set_label [KEY:VALUE] [PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET].[TABLE_OR_VIEW]
Where:
[KEY:VALUE]
corresponds to a key:value pair for a label that you want to add or update. If you specify the same key as an existing label, the value for the existing label is updated. The key must be unique.[PROJECT_ID]
is your project ID.[DATASET]
is the dataset that contains the table or view you're updating.[TABLE_OR_VIEW]
is the name of the table or view you're updating.
Examples:
To update the department
label for mytable
, enter the bq update
command
and specify department
as the label key. For example, to update the
department:shipping
label to department:logistics
for mytable
, enter the
following command. mytable
is in myotherproject
, not your default project.
bq update --set_label department:logistics myotherproject:mydataset.mytable
API
To add additonal labels or to update a label for an existing table or view, call
the tables.patch
method and add to or update the labels
property for the table resource.
Because views are treated like table resources, you use the tables.patch
method to modify both views and tables.
Because the tables.update
method replaces the entire dataset resource, the
tables.patch
method is preferred.
Go
Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation .
Java
This sample uses the Google HTTP Client Library for Java to send a request to the BigQuery API.Python
Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation .
Updating job labels
Currently, updating a job label is not supported. To update the label on a job, resubmit the job with a new label specified.
Deleting labels
A label can be removed from a dataset, table, or view by using the
GCP Console, the BigQuery web UI, the command-line tool's bq update
command, or by calling the
datasets.patch
or
tables.patch
API method.
Deleting a dataset label
You can remove a dataset label by:
- Using the GCP Console or the classic BigQuery web UI
- Using the command-line tool's
bq update
command - Calling the
datasets.patch
API method.
Required permissions
To remove a dataset label, you must have OWNER
access at the dataset level, or you must be assigned a project-level IAM role
that includes bigquery.datasets.update
permissions. The following predefined,
project-level IAM roles include bigquery.datasets.update
permissions:
In addition, because the bigquery.user
role has bigquery.datasets.create
permissions, a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role can update
any dataset that user creates. When a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role creates a dataset, that user is given OWNER
access to the dataset.
OWNER
access to a dataset gives the user full control over it.
For more information on IAM roles and permissions in BigQuery, see Access control. For more information on dataset-level roles, see Primitive roles for datasets.
Deleting a dataset label
To remove a label from a dataset:
Classic UI
In the web UI, select the dataset.
On the Dataset Details page, to the right of Labels, click Edit.
In the Edit Labels dialog:
- Click the delete icon (X) for each label you want to remove.
Click OK.
Command-line
To remove a dataset label, issue the bq update
command with the
clear_label
flag. Repeat the flag to remove multiple labels.
If the dataset is in a project other than your default project, add the project
ID to the dataset in the following format: [PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
.
bq update --clear_label [KEY] [PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
Where:
[KEY]
is the key for a label that you want to remove.[PROJECT_ID]
is your project ID.[DATASET]
is the dataset you're updating.
Examples:
To remove the department:shipping
label from mydataset
, enter the
bq update
command with the --clear_label
flag. mydataset
is in your
default project.
bq update --clear_label department mydataset
To remove the department:shipping
label from mydataset
in
myotherproject
, enter the bq update
command with the --clear_label
flag.
bq update --clear_label department myotherproject:mydataset
To remove multiple labels from a dataset, repeat the clear_label
flag and
specify each label's key. For example, to remove the department:shipping
label and cost_center:logistics
labels from mydataset
in your default
project, enter:
bq update --clear_label department --clear_label cost_center mydataset
API
To remove a particular label for an existing dataset, call the
datasets.patch
method and update the labels
property for the dataset resource
by setting the label's key value to null
.
To remove all labels from a dataset, call the
datasets.patch
method and remove the labels
property.
Because the datasets.update
method replaces the entire dataset resource, the
datasets.patch
method is preferred.
Go
Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation .
Python
Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation .
Deleting a table or view label
You can remove a table or view label by:
- Using the GCP Console or the classic BigQuery web UI
- Using the command-line tool's
bq update
command - Calling the
tables.patch
API method.- Because views are treated like table resources, you use the
tables.patch
method to modify both views and tables.
- Because views are treated like table resources, you use the
Required permissions
To remove a table or view label, you must have OWNER
access at the dataset level, or you must be assigned a project-level IAM role
that includes bigquery.tables.update
permissions. The following predefined,
project-level IAM roles include bigquery.tables.update
permissions:
In addition, because the bigquery.user
role has bigquery.datasets.create
permissions, a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role can update a table or
view in any dataset that user creates. When a user assigned to the bigquery.user
role creates a dataset, that user is given OWNER
access to the dataset.
OWNER
access to a dataset gives the user full control over it and all the
tables and views in it.
For more information on IAM roles and permissions in BigQuery, see Access control. For more information on dataset-level roles, see Primitive roles for datasets.
Deleting a table or view label
To remove a label from a table or view:
Classic UI
In the web UI, select the table or view.
On the Details page, to the right of Labels, click Edit.
In the Edit Labels dialog:
- Click the delete icon (X) for each label you want to remove.
Click OK.
Command-line
To remove a label from a table or view, issue the bq update
command with
the clear_label
flag. Repeat the flag to remove multiple labels.
If the table or view is in a project other than your default project, add
the project ID to the dataset in the following format:
[PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
.
bq update --clear_label [KEY] [PROJECT_ID]:[TABLE_OR_VIEW]
Where:
[KEY]
is the key for a label that you want to remove.[PROJECT_ID]
is your project ID.[DATASET]
is the dataset you're updating.[TABLE_OR_VIEW]
is the name of the table or view you're updating.
Examples:
To remove the department:shipping
label from mydataset.mytable
, enter the
bq update
command with the --clear_label
flag. mydataset
is in your
default project.
bq update --clear_label department mydataset.mytable
To remove the department:shipping
label from mydataset.myview
in
myotherproject
, enter the bq update
command with the --clear_label
flag.
bq update --clear_label department myotherproject:mydataset.myview
To remove multiple labels from a table or view, repeat the clear_label
flag and
specify each label's key. For example, to remove the department:shipping
label and cost_center:logistics
label from mydataset.mytable
in your default
project, enter:
bq update --clear_label department --clear_label cost_center mydataset.mytable
API
To remove a particular label for an existing table or view, call the
tables.patch
method and update the labels
property for the table resource
by setting the label's key value to null
.
To remove all labels from a table or view, call the
tables.patch
method and remove the labels
property.
Because views are treated like table resources, you use the tables.patch
method to modify both views and tables. Also, because the tables.update
method replaces the entire dataset resource, the tables.patch
method is
preferred.
Go
Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation .
Python
Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery Quickstart Using Client Libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation .
Deleting job labels
Currently, deleting a label from an existing job is not supported.
Converting a label to a tag
A label that has a key with an empty value is used as a tag. You can create a new label with no value, or you can turn an existing label into a tag.
Tags can be useful in situations where you are labeling a resource, but you do
not need the key:value format. For example, if you have a table that contains
test data that is used by multiple groups (support, development, and so on), you
can add a test_data
tag to the table to identify it.
To convert a label to a tag:
Classic UI
In the web UI, select the appropriate resource (a dataset, table, or view).
For datasets, the Dataset Details page is automatically opened. For tables and views, click Details to open the details page.
On the details page, to the right of Labels, click Edit.
In the Edit Labels dialog:
- Delete the value for an existing label.
Click OK.
Command-line
To convert a label to a tag, use the bq update
command with the set_label
flag. Specify the key, followed by a colon, but leave the value unspecified.
This updates an existing label to a tag.
bq update --set_label [KEY]: [RESOURCE_ID]
Where:
[KEY]
is the label key that you want update to a tag.[RESOURCE_ID]
is a valid dataset, table, or view name. If the resource is in a project other than your default project, add the project ID in the following format:[PROJECT_ID]:[DATASET]
.
Examples:
Enter the following command to change the existing test_data:development
label on mydataset
to a tag. mydataset
is in myotherproject
, not your
default project.
bq update --set_label test_data: myotherproject:mydataset
API
To turn an existing label into a tag, call the datasets.patch
method or the tables.patch
method and replace the label values with the empty string (""
) in the
dataset resource
or the table resource.
Because views are treated like table resources, you use the tables.patch
method to modify both views and tables. Also, because the tables.update
method replaces the entire dataset resource, the tables.patch
method is
preferred.
What's next
- Learn how to Add and use labels in BigQuery.
- Read about Labeling or tagging resources in the Compute Engine documentation.
- Read about Using labels in the Resource Manager documentation.