# ALTER RESOURCE GROUP reference

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ALTER RESOURCE GROUP changes a group's admission, CPU weight and memory policy, clears parameters, or renames the group. Applies to QuestDB Enterprise.

<EnterpriseNote>
  Resource groups isolate competing query workloads inside a single QuestDB
  instance.
</EnterpriseNote>

`ALTER RESOURCE GROUP` changes an existing query workload policy.

For what the limits actually guarantee, see
[resource groups](/docs/concepts/resource-groups/).

---

## Syntax

```questdb-sql title="Set parameters"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP groupName
    SET ( parameter = value [, parameter = value ...] );
```

```questdb-sql title="Clear parameters back to the instance defaults"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP groupName RESET ( parameter [, parameter ...] );
```

```questdb-sql title="Rename"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP groupName RENAME TO newName;
```

The parameters are the same ones
[`CREATE RESOURCE GROUP`](/docs/query/sql/acl/create-resource-group/#parameters)
accepts: `cpu_weight`, `max_active_queries`, `max_queued_queries`,
`queue_timeout` and `memory_limit`.

## Description

`SET` changes only the parameters named; anything else the group already sets is
left alone. `RESET` clears a parameter so it falls back to the instance default,
which is not always "unlimited": `RESET (cpu_weight)` returns the group to a
weight of 100, and `RESET (queue_timeout)` returns it to 30 seconds.

The statement requires the
[`RESOURCE GROUP ADMIN`](/docs/security/rbac/#permissions) permission.

`DEFAULT` can be altered but not renamed. `ALTER RESOURCE GROUP DEFAULT RENAME TO`
fails with `built-in Resource Group cannot be renamed`.

Renaming preserves the policy and every principal mapping, because mappings
attach to the group's identity rather than its name.

### Effect on queries already running

A policy change applies online. It does not cancel anything running at the
moment `ALTER` executes:

| Change                 | Effect on existing work                                                                           |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `cpu_weight`           | Subsequent scheduling uses the new policy                                                         |
| `max_active_queries`   | Existing slots are retained; subsequent admission, including a resumed cursor, uses the new limit |
| `max_queued_queries`, `queue_timeout` | New admission requests use the new settings; an already queued request keeps its deadline |
| `memory_limit`         | Subsequent allocations check the new budget; existing memory is released normally                 |

Lowering `memory_limit` below current usage does not fail running queries
retroactively, but it can make their subsequent allocations fail. The
single-query ceiling is captured when a query starts, so changing the group
budget does not replace a principal's own limit.

## Examples

```questdb-sql title="Raise the weight and cap concurrency"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP analytics SET (cpu_weight = 300, max_active_queries = 8);
```

```questdb-sql title="Remove the group's memory ceiling"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP reporting SET (memory_limit = UNLIMITED);
```

`RESET (memory_limit)` and `SET (memory_limit = 0)` do the same thing.

```questdb-sql title="Clear parameters back to the instance defaults"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP analytics RESET (memory_limit, max_active_queries);
```

```questdb-sql title="Rename"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP analytics RENAME TO reporting;
```

`DEFAULT` takes limits like any other group, which is how you bound everything
that is not explicitly mapped:

```questdb-sql title="Cap the default workload"
ALTER RESOURCE GROUP DEFAULT SET (max_active_queries = 16);
```

## See also

- [CREATE RESOURCE GROUP](/docs/query/sql/acl/create-resource-group/)
- [DROP RESOURCE GROUP](/docs/query/sql/acl/drop-resource-group/)
- [Configure and use resource groups](/docs/operations/resource-groups/)