SHOW SNAPSHOTS

Note

This operation is not currently covered by the Service Level set forth in Snowflake’s Support Policy and Service Level Agreement.

Lists the snapshots for which you have access privileges.

You can use this command to list objects in the current database and schema for the session, a specified database or schema, or your entire account.

The output includes the metadata and properties for each object. The objects are sorted lexicographically by database, schema, and object name (see Output in this topic for descriptions of the output columns). The order is important to note if you want to filter the results.

See also:

CREATE SNAPSHOT, ALTER SNAPSHOT, DESCRIBE SNAPSHOT, DROP SNAPSHOT

Syntax

SHOW SNAPSHOTS [ LIKE '<pattern>' ]
               [ IN
                   {
                       ACCOUNT                  |

                       DATABASE                 |
                       DATABASE <database_name> |

                       SCHEMA                   |
                       SCHEMA <schema_name>     |
                       <schema_name>            |
                   }
               ]
               [ STARTS WITH '<name_string>' ]
               [ LIMIT <rows> [ FROM '<name_string>' ] ]
Copy

Parameters

LIKE 'pattern'

Optionally filters the command output by object name. The filter uses case-insensitive pattern matching, with support for SQL wildcard characters (% and _).

For example, the following patterns return the same results:

... LIKE '%testing%' ...
... LIKE '%TESTING%' ...

. Default: No value (no filtering is applied to the output).

[ IN ... ]

Optionally specifies the scope of the command. Specify one of the following:

ACCOUNT

Returns records for the entire account.

DATABASE, . DATABASE db_name

Returns records for the current database in use or for a specified database (db_name).

If you specify DATABASE without db_name and no database is in use, the keyword has no effect on the output.

SCHEMA, . SCHEMA schema_name, . schema_name

Returns records for the current schema in use or a specified schema (schema_name).

SCHEMA is optional if a database is in use or if you specify the fully qualified schema_name (for example, db.schema).

If no database is in use, specifying SCHEMA has no effect on the output.

Default: Depends on whether the session currently has a database in use:

  • Database: DATABASE is the default (that is, the command returns the objects you have privileges to view in the database).

  • No database: ACCOUNT is the default (that is, the command returns the objects you have privileges to view in your account).

STARTS WITH 'name_string'

Optionally filters the command output based on the characters that appear at the beginning of the object name. The string must be enclosed in single quotes and is case-sensitive.

For example, the following strings return different results:

... STARTS WITH 'B' ...
... STARTS WITH 'b' ...

. Default: No value (no filtering is applied to the output)

LIMIT rows [ FROM 'name_string' ]

Optionally limits the maximum number of rows returned, while also enabling “pagination” of the results. The actual number of rows returned might be less than the specified limit. For example, the number of existing objects is less than the specified limit.

The optional FROM 'name_string' subclause effectively serves as a “cursor” for the results. This enables fetching the specified number of rows following the first row whose object name matches the specified string:

  • The string must be enclosed in single quotes and is case-sensitive.

  • The string does not have to include the full object name; partial names are supported.

Default: No value (no limit is applied to the output)

Note

For SHOW commands that support both the FROM 'name_string' and STARTS WITH 'name_string' clauses, you can combine both of these clauses in the same statement. However, both conditions must be met or they cancel out each other and no results are returned.

In addition, objects are returned in lexicographic order by name, so FROM 'name_string' only returns rows with a higher lexicographic value than the rows returned by STARTS WITH 'name_string'.

For example:

  • ... STARTS WITH 'A' LIMIT ... FROM 'B' would return no results.

  • ... STARTS WITH 'B' LIMIT ... FROM 'A' would return no results.

  • ... STARTS WITH 'A' LIMIT ... FROM 'AB' would return results (if any rows match the input strings).

Output

The output of the command includes the following columns, which describe the properties and metadata of the object:

Column

Description

name

Name of the snapshot.

state

Snapshot state (for example, CREATED).

database_name

Database in which the snapshot is created.

schema_name

Schema in which the snapshot is created.

service_name

Fully qualified service name from which the snapshot is created.

volume_name

Volume from the specified service instance for which the snapshot is created.

instance

ID of the service instance.

size

Size (in GB) of the snapshot.

comment

General comment about the snapshot.

owner

Role that owns the snapshot.

owner_role_type

The type of role that owns the object, either ROLE or DATABASE_ROLE.

created_on

Date and time when the snapshot was created.

Access control requirements

A role used to execute this SQL command must have the following privileges at a minimum:

Privilege

Object

Notes

OWNERSHIP or USAGE

Snapshot

OWNERSHIP is a special privilege on an object that is automatically granted to the role that created the object, but can also be transferred using the GRANT OWNERSHIP command to a different role by the owning role (or any role with the MANAGE GRANTS privilege).

Note that operating on any object in a schema also requires the USAGE privilege on the parent database and schema.

For instructions on creating a custom role with a specified set of privileges, see Creating custom roles.

For general information about roles and privilege grants for performing SQL actions on securable objects, see Overview of Access Control.

Usage notes

  • Columns that start with the prefix is_ return either Y (yes) or N (no).

  • The command does not require a running warehouse to execute.

  • The command returns a maximum of 10K records for the specified object type, as dictated by the access privileges for the role used to execute the command; any records above the 10K limit are not returned, even with a filter applied.

    To view results for which more than 10K records exist, query the corresponding view (if one exists) in the Snowflake Information Schema.

  • To post-process the output of this command, you can use the RESULT_SCAN function, which treats the output as a table that can be queried.

Examples

The following example lists the snapshots in the current database and schema:

SHOW SNAPSHOTS;
Copy

Output:

+-------------+---------+---------------+-------------+------------------------------------+-------------+----------+------+-----------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+
| name        | state   | database_name | schema_name | service_name                       | volume_name | instance | size | comment         | owner     | owner_role_type | created_on                    | updated_on                    |
|-------------+---------+---------------+-------------+------------------------------------+-------------+----------+------+-----------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------------|
| MY_SNAPSHOT | CREATED | TUTORIAL_DB   | DATA_SCHEMA | TUTORIAL_DB.DATA_SCHEMA.MY_SERVICE | block-vol1  | 0        |   10 | updated comment | TEST_ROLE | ROLE            | 2023-12-13 17:06:04.162 -0800 | 2023-12-13 17:06:56.303 -0800 |
+-------------+---------+---------------+-------------+------------------------------------+-------------+----------+------+-----------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+