SHOW [FULL] COLUMNS FROM
The statement SHOW [FULL] COLUMNS FROM <table_name> describes the columns of a table or view in a useful tabular format. The optional keyword FULL displays the privileges the current user has to that column, and the comment from the table definition.
The statements SHOW [FULL] FIELDS FROM <table_name>, DESC <table_name>, DESCRIBE <table_name>, and EXPLAIN <table_name> are aliases of this statement.
Synopsis
ShowStmt:

ShowColumnsFilterable:

OptFull:

FieldsOrColumns:

ShowTableAliasOpt:

FromOrIn:

TableName:

ShowDatabaseNameOpt:

DBName:

ShowLikeOrWhereOpt:

Examples
mysql> create view v1 as select 1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.11 sec)
mysql> show columns from v1;
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| Field | Type      | Null | Key  | Default | Extra |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| 1     | bigint(1) | YES  |      | NULL    |       |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> desc v1;
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| Field | Type      | Null | Key  | Default | Extra |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| 1     | bigint(1) | YES  |      | NULL    |       |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> describe v1;
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| Field | Type      | Null | Key  | Default | Extra |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| 1     | bigint(1) | YES  |      | NULL    |       |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> explain v1;
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| Field | Type      | Null | Key  | Default | Extra |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| 1     | bigint(1) | YES  |      | NULL    |       |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> show fields from v1;
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| Field | Type      | Null | Key  | Default | Extra |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
| 1     | bigint(1) | YES  |      | NULL    |       |
+-------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> show full columns from v1;
+-------+-----------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+---------------------------------+---------+
| Field | Type      | Collation | Null | Key  | Default | Extra | Privileges                      | Comment |
+-------+-----------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+---------------------------------+---------+
| 1     | bigint(1) | NULL      | YES  |      | NULL    |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
+-------+-----------+-----------+------+------+---------+-------+---------------------------------+---------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
mysql> show full columns from mysql.user;
+------------------------+---------------+-------------+------+------+---------+-------+---------------------------------+---------+
| Field                  | Type          | Collation   | Null | Key  | Default | Extra | Privileges                      | Comment |
+------------------------+---------------+-------------+------+------+---------+-------+---------------------------------+---------+
| Host                   | char(255)     | utf8mb4_bin | NO   | PRI  | NULL    |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| User                   | char(32)      | utf8mb4_bin | NO   | PRI  | NULL    |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| authentication_string  | text          | utf8mb4_bin | YES  |      | NULL    |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| plugin                 | char(64)      | utf8mb4_bin | YES  |      | NULL    |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Select_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Insert_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Update_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Delete_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Drop_priv              | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Process_priv           | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Grant_priv             | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| References_priv        | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Alter_priv             | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Show_db_priv           | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Super_priv             | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_tmp_table_priv  | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Lock_tables_priv       | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Execute_priv           | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_view_priv       | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Show_view_priv         | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_routine_priv    | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Alter_routine_priv     | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Index_priv             | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_user_priv       | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Event_priv             | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Repl_slave_priv        | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Repl_client_priv       | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Trigger_priv           | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_role_priv       | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Drop_role_priv         | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Account_locked         | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Shutdown_priv          | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Reload_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| FILE_priv              | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Config_priv            | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| Create_Tablespace_Priv | enum('N','Y') | utf8mb4_bin | NO   |      | N       |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
| User_attributes        | json          | NULL        | YES  |      | NULL    |       | select,insert,update,references |         |
+------------------------+---------------+-------------+------+------+---------+-------+---------------------------------+---------+
38 rows in set (0.00 sec)
MySQL compatibility
The SHOW [FULL] COLUMNS FROM statement in TiDB is fully compatible with MySQL. If you find any compatibility differences, report a bug.