Files
datastore/docs/reference

# Reference

**What goes here:** Lookup material. Exhaustive, factual documentation of
ClickHouse's surface area — SQL statements, functions, operators, data types,
table engines, formats, settings, system tables.

**Audience:** Users who already know what they want to do and need the precise
syntax, arguments, defaults, or behavior. Pages here are for skimming and
cross-referencing, not reading start-to-finish.

**Subdirectories:**
- `statements/` — SQL statements (SELECT, ALTER, CREATE, etc.).
- `functions/` — regular, aggregate, table, and window functions.
- `operators/` — SQL operators.
- `data-types/` — type reference.
- `engines/` — table and database engines.
- `formats/` — input/output format reference.
- `settings/` — server, session, and MergeTree settings.
- `system-tables/` — system table schemas.

If a page explains *why* you'd use something or walks through *how* to use it,
it belongs in `/concepts` or `/guides` respectively, not here.