Analyzing query workloads with Performance Explorer¶

Full access to Performance Explorer data in the account¶

You have full access to Performance Explorer data for your account when any role granted to you meets one of the following conditions:

• Your role is the ACCOUNTADMIN role.

• Your role has been granted IMPORTED PRIVILEGES on the shared SNOWFLAKE database (see Enabling other roles to use schemas in the SNOWFLAKE database).

• Your role has been granted the SNOWFLAKE.PERFORMANCE_EXPLORER_USER application role.

For example, to give the user jdoe full Performance Explorer access by using a custom role, run:

USE ROLE ACCOUNTADMIN;

CREATE ROLE pe_viewer_role;
GRANT APPLICATION ROLE SNOWFLAKE.PERFORMANCE_EXPLORER_USER TO ROLE pe_viewer_role;
GRANT ROLE pe_viewer_role TO USER jdoe;

Query health, query activity, top warehouses, and related charts¶

If you do not have full access as described above, you can still see query activity when any role granted to you satisfies one of the following:

• Your role has been granted the GOVERNANCE_VIEWER database role in the SNOWFLAKE database (account-wide query activity).

• Your role has the MONITOR privilege on the account, or the MANAGE WAREHOUSES privilege on the account, which effectively covers all warehouses (query activity that uses warehouses).

• Your role has OWNERSHIP, MONITOR, or OPERATE on at least one warehouse (query activity only for queries that ran on warehouses you can monitor or operate).

If none of the above apply and you cannot MONITOR or OPERATE any warehouse, Performance Explorer shows a permission error for query activity. This is intentional: without at least one authorized warehouse, no query metrics would be visible. In practice, many accounts include a default warehouse that all users can monitor; see Snowsight templates.

Warehouse filters list warehouses you are allowed to use in filters (for example, warehouses you can MONITOR or OPERATE, and in some cases warehouses that had query activity in the retention window). Warehouse-scoped visibility is similar in spirit to the rules for Query History in Monitor query activity with Query History, but Performance Explorer uses all roles granted to you and combines several privilege types, so the exact rules differ.

Database filters and database-oriented breakdowns¶

To see all databases in database filters (and related aggregations by database), you need full access or the OBJECT_VIEWER database role in the SNOWFLAKE database, RESOLVE ALL on the account, or MONITOR on the account. Otherwise, you only see databases where any role granted to you has at least one privilege on the database. Queries can still appear in other sections even if they touch a database you cannot list, except where the UI explicitly names databases (for example, certain side-panel breakdowns).

Warehouse events¶

To see warehouse events for all warehouses that appear in your authorized query activity, you need full access or the USAGE_VIEWER database role in the SNOWFLAKE database or the MONITOR privilege on the account or the MANAGE WAREHOUSES privilege on the account. Otherwise, warehouse events are limited to warehouses where you have OWNERSHIP, MONITOR, or OPERATE. If you have none of those warehouse privileges or usage-related database roles, Performance Explorer shows a permission error for warehouse events.

Top tables and table change events¶

The Top tables section and table change events require full access or the GOVERNANCE_VIEWER database role in the SNOWFLAKE database. Snowflake does not offer a lower-privilege, per-table alternative for these sections due to security and performance constraints. If you do not meet this bar, those sections show a permission error.

Empty charts, filtered results, and permission errors¶

For security reasons, an empty chart or table can mean either that there was no activity in the selected period or that your roles cannot see that activity. Tile-level permission errors call out missing privileges (for example, governance visibility for table metrics).

Privilege changes and data freshness¶

Updates to grants and revocations can take a few hours to affect what Performance Explorer shows.

For the feature announcement for granular access, see Apr 2, 2026: Performance Explorer granular access control.

Performance Explorer filters¶

At the top of the Performance Explorer dashboard, you can apply the following filters:

• Period - Select a time period, such as the last week, the last two weeks, or a custom range. The dashboard shows metrics for the specified period.

  Performance Explorer displays metrics for one week by default. It supports a period of up to one month, going back from the current date.

  Several Performance Explorer charts show the percentage of change compared to the previous period. The range of the previous period corresponds with the current period range. For example, if the current period is two weeks, then the previous period is the two weeks before the current period started.

• Warehouse - Select a warehouse to view metrics only for query activity that ran using that warehouse. To limit the warehouses in the list, use the search field. To clear the filter, select X.

• Database - Select a database to view metrics only for query activity that accessed that database. To limit the databases in the list, use the search field. To clear the filter, select X.

• Role - Select a role to view metrics only for query activity initiated by that role. To limit the roles in the list, use the search field. To clear the filter, select X.

Performance Explorer charts¶

Performance Explorer displays metrics in different types of charts. It is important to understand the components in each type of chart and how to interpret them.

The Query health and Query activity sections have line charts that are similar to the following image:

The following table describes the callouts in the image:

Some charts include a large average or median value and the percentage of change for the period. When there is more than one line, there is a key to the lines above the chart.

Some charts have an information icon next to the title. Hover over the icon for information about the metrics in the chart.

You can hover over a point in the line chart to see the value for a specific hour:

The Top warehouses and Top tables sections have bar charts that are similar to the following image:

The following table describes the callouts in the image:

On both line charts and bar charts, select View details > to open a side panel that displays more detailed information about the metrics on the chart. The detailed information varies based on the metrics shown in the chart. Most side panels present sortable tables that you can use to view metrics for specific warehouses, roles, databases, and queries in the period.

You can select a custom period of time in a side panel by clicking where the custom period starts and dragging to where the custom period ends. The following image shows an example of a side panel with a custom period selected for Mar 5, 12 PM - Mar 7, 2 PM:

In a side panel, you can select one of the following tabs:

• By warehouse - Shows the activity by warehouses in the period.

• By database - Shows the activity by databases in the period.

• By role - Shows the activity by roles in the period.

• By grouped queries - Shows the queries that were run in the period. Some queries are redacted for security reasons. For information about how queries are grouped, see Use the Grouped Query History view in Snowsight.

If you select a custom period, these tabs refresh to show the metrics only for the selected custom period.

The Top warehouses and Top tables sections also have events charts that are similar to the following image:

An events chart shows a sortable table of events for the type of object. You can examine the data for unexpected events. For more information about warehouse events, see WAREHOUSE_EVENTS_HISTORY view. For more information about table events, see TABLES view.