# format — DuckDB 1.3.2

Formats a string using fmt syntax

- Reference: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.3.2/format/
- JSON: /products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.3.2/functions/format.json
- Snapshot ID: duckdb-1.3.2
- Engine: duckdb v1.3.2
- Source ID: 0b83e5d2f6
- Binary SHA-256: 9a2ae2a4d5dbd07a5b0cb30c502d65014825d34924c681eb3faa7647e7cd2b6f
- Captured: 2026-09-05T18:37:33.818Z
- Source: https://github.com/duckdb/duckdb/releases/tag/v1.3.2
- Loaded extensions: autocomplete, core_functions, icu, json, parquet, shell

## Interpretation

- Choose a snapshot matching the target engine and build. The default is captured from the published Haybarn WASM package used by the browser playground. Historical native snapshots are also available.
- Availability is an observation in the recorded build and extension profile, not a guarantee of support in every installation or in WASM.
- Types and descriptions are declarations from duckdb_functions(). Binding can specialize result types. Null means not supplied by the catalog; do not invent defaults, optionality, argument mode, or table output columns.
- Raw parameter arrays preserve catalog order for scalar/aggregate/macro functions. Raw table arguments are alphabetical. Use callingConvention for engine-confirmed positional order and named arguments; null modes are unrecorded. Named does not mean optional. Macro defaults and special named variadic behavior are not supplied by duckdb_functions().
- Catalog examples are source material and may require data or extensions. runnableExamples contains separately verified SQL for the pinned WASM package; sample-data adaptations and guide examples are labeled separately.
- Guide annotations and recipes are separate editorial content. The browser runner always uses Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3, independently of the documentation snapshot.
- All URLs beginning with / are relative to the origin hosting this document. Exports require no JavaScript, cookies, API key, or browser engine.

## Overloads

### overload-f4bdbae08c282571

Kind: scalar. Parameter order: catalog-order.

```text
format(format: VARCHAR, …: ANY) → VARCHAR
```

Link: /products/haybarn/functions/releases/duckdb-1.3.2/format/#overload-f4bdbae08c282571

| Argument | Catalog type | Calling mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| format | VARCHAR | not recorded |

Declared return type: VARCHAR. Variadic argument type: ANY.
Stability: CONSISTENT. Declared side effects: false.


## Guide recipes

No guide recipes.

## Engine catalog examples

Source examples may require additional data or extensions. Expressions are wrapped in SELECT; execution verification is not recorded.

Reported for: overload-f4bdbae08c282571

```sql
SELECT format('Benchmark "{}" took {} seconds', 'CSV', 42);
```

## Runnable examples

Executed successfully in Haybarn WASM 1.5.5-rc3. Sample data and guide examples are separate from the original catalog.

```sql
SELECT format('Benchmark "{}" took {} seconds', 'CSV', 42);
```

## Additional DuckDB documentation

- [Text Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/text#formatformat-)
- [Text Functions](https://duckdb.org/docs/current/sql/functions/text.html#formatformat-)

## In other engines

### MySQL: format()



MySQL:

```sql
SELECT FORMAT(12332.1, 4)
```

Haybarn / DuckDB:

```sql
SELECT FORMAT('{:,.4f}', 12332.1)
```

Translation from [SQLGlot](https://github.com/tobymao/sqlglot/blob/3086608e6fd4c41c02dfba47171608d2b193fce2/tests/dialects/test_mysql.py#L1679).

### Snowflake: uuid_string()

Uses format as part of a larger rewrite.

Snowflake:

```sql
UUID_STRING('fe971b24-9572-4005-b22f-351e9c09274d', 'foo')
```

Haybarn / DuckDB:

```sql
(SELECT LOWER(SUBSTRING(h, 1, 8) || '-' || SUBSTRING(h, 9, 4) || '-' || '5' || SUBSTRING(h, 14, 3) || '-' || FORMAT('{:02x}', CAST('0x' || SUBSTRING(h, 17, 2) AS INT) & 63 | 128) || SUBSTRING(h, 19, 2) || '-' || SUBSTRING(h, 21, 12)) FROM (SELECT SUBSTRING(SHA1(UNHEX(REPLACE('fe971b24-9572-4005-b22f-351e9c09274d', '-', '')) || ENCODE('foo')), 1, 32) AS h))
```

Translation from [SQLGlot](https://github.com/tobymao/sqlglot/blob/3086608e6fd4c41c02dfba47171608d2b193fce2/tests/dialects/test_snowflake.py#L2294).

### Trino: format()



Trino:

```sql
SELECT FORMAT('%s', 123)
```

Haybarn / DuckDB:

```sql
SELECT FORMAT('{}', 123)
```

Translation from [SQLGlot](https://github.com/tobymao/sqlglot/blob/3086608e6fd4c41c02dfba47171608d2b193fce2/tests/dialects/test_trino.py#L69).

## Observed availability

| Snapshot | Observed | Overloads | JSON |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| haybarn-1.5.5-rc3 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/haybarn-1.5.5-rc3/functions/format.json) |
| duckdb-1.5.5 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.5.5/functions/format.json) |
| duckdb-1.4.4 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.4.4/functions/format.json) |
| duckdb-1.3.2 | present | 1 | [reference](/products/haybarn/functions/api/v1/duckdb-1.3.2/functions/format.json) |

Engine catalog documentation is derived from MIT-licensed Haybarn and DuckDB. [Notices](/third-party-notices.txt).