# Amazon Redshift Reference

> All Redshift authentication options and data type mappings.

#  Amazon Redshift Reference

Authentication options and data type handling for [Redshift connections](../connect/redshift.md).

## Authentication

| Connection parameter | Environment variable |
|---|---|
| `user` | `DATACONTRACT_REDSHIFT_USERNAME` |
| `password` | `DATACONTRACT_REDSHIFT_PASSWORD` |

`host`, `port` (default 5439), `database`, and `schema` come from the contract's `servers` block.

:::note
IAM-based authentication (region / access key / role ARN) is not currently supported for Redshift, because ibis connects through the generic Postgres backend rather than a Redshift-specific driver.
:::

## Data types

### Importing

`datacontract import sql --dialect redshift` maps DDL types like the [Postgres dialect](./postgres.md#importing): `VARCHAR`/`CHAR`/`TEXT` → `string`, integer types → `integer`, `NUMERIC`/`DECIMAL`/`REAL`/`DOUBLE PRECISION` → `number`, `BOOLEAN` → `boolean`, `DATE` → `date`, `TIME` → `time`, `TIMESTAMP`/`TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE` → `timestamp`. Redshift-specific types without a portable equivalent (`SUPER`, `GEOMETRY`) get no `logicalType`; the `physicalType` is still written.

### Testing

Redshift supports **native type introspection**: the declared `physicalType` is checked against `information_schema.columns`. `decimal` and `numeric` are interchangeable, as are timezone variants of timestamps; length/precision is only enforced when declared. A `physicalType` that can't be interpreted falls back to the logical type category comparison.

{/* AUTOGENERATED TYPE MAPPING: do not edit by hand; regenerate with update_reference_types.py */}

### Logical type mapping

When no `physicalType` is declared, the CLI derives the native type from the `logicalType` — for example in `datacontract export sql` and the dbt exports. This table is generated from the converter in the CLI's code:

| `logicalType` | Redshift type |
|---|---|
| `string` | `text` |
| `integer` | `integer` |
| `number` | `numeric` |
| `boolean` | `boolean` |
| `date` | `date` |
| `timestamp` | `timestamptz` |
| `time` | `time` |
| `object` | `jsonb` |
| `array` | `text[]` |

{/* END AUTOGENERATED TYPE MAPPING */}