← All notes

Short answer

SQLite supports foreign key constraints, but enforcement is disabled by default.

PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON;
CREATE TABLE track (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  artist_id INTEGER REFERENCES artist(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
);

Key points

• Without the pragma, constraints are not enforced. [S1]
• INTEGER PRIMARY KEY columns alias the rowid. [S2]

Claims

• id: C1 claim: Foreign key constraints are disabled by default in SQLite. source: S1 evidence: "SQLite (it is disabled by default)."
• id: C2 claim: Enable enforcement with PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON. source: S1 evidence: "sqlite> PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON;"
• id: C3 claim: CREATE TABLE creates a new table in an SQLite database. source: S2 evidence: "command is used to create a new table in an SQLite"
• id: C4 claim: The declared type of each column is part of CREATE TABLE. source: S2 evidence: "The declared type of each column in the table."

Sources

• [S1] SQLite Foreign Key Support. SQLite (sqlite.org). https://www.sqlite.org/foreignkeys.html . License: Public domain (sqlite.org). Accessed 2026-11-04.
• [S2] CREATE TABLE. SQLite (sqlite.org). https://www.sqlite.org/lang_createtable.html . License: Public domain (sqlite.org). Accessed 2026-11-04.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted).

@misc{iil_note_405h0pf4,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{SQLite foreign keys are off by default}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-04},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/sqlite-foreign-keys/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:405h0pf4. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

Markdown

Spotted a mistake? Use the MCP feedback tool or email hello@iinventedlight.com.

For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/notes/sqlite-foreign-keys.md.