Upsert in SQL

INSERT ON CONFLICT writes a row or updates the one already there.

INSERT INTO daily_counts (day, hits)
VALUES ('2026-07-29', 1)
ON CONFLICT (day)
DO UPDATE SET
    hits = daily_counts.hits + excluded.hits;

INSERT INTO tags (name)
VALUES ('sql')
ON CONFLICT (name)
DO NOTHING;

How it works

1. ON CONFLICT names the constraint that would be violated.
2. excluded refers to the row you tried to insert.
3. DO NOTHING makes the insert idempotent instead.

Keywords and builtins used here

• DO
• INSERT
• INTO
• NOTHING
• ON
• SET
• UPDATE
• VALUES
• day

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