SNOWFLAKE database roles¶

ACCOUNT_USAGE schema¶

ACCOUNT_USAGE schemas have four defined SNOWFLAKE database roles, each granted the SELECT privilege on specific views.

READER_ACCOUNT_USAGE schema¶

The READER_USAGE_VIEWER SNOWFLAKE database role is granted SELECT privilege on all READER_ACCOUNT_USAGE views. As reader accounts are created by clients, the READER_USAGE_VIEWER role is expected to be granted to those roles used to monitor reader account use.

ORGANIZATION_USAGE schema¶

The ORGANIZATION_USAGE_VIEWER, ORGANIZATION_BILLING_VIEWER, and ORGANIZATION_ACCOUNTS_VIEWER SNOWFLAKE database roles are granted the SELECT privilege on Organization Usage views in the shared SNOWFLAKE database.

CORE schema¶

The CORE_VIEWER SNOWFLAKE database role is granted to the PUBLIC role in all Snowflake accounts containing a shared SNOWFLAKE database. The USAGE privilege is granted to all Snowflake-defined functions and bundles in the CORE schema.

ALERT schema¶

The ALERT_VIEWER SNOWFLAKE database role is granted the USAGE privilege on the functions defined in this schema.

ML schema¶

The ML_USER SNOWFLAKE database role is granted to the PUBLIC role in all Snowflake accounts that contain a shared SNOWFLAKE database and allows customers to access and use ML functions.

MONITORING schema¶

The MONITORING_VIEWER database role has the SELECT privilege on all views in the MONITORING schema.

The MONITORING_VIEWER database role is granted to the PUBLIC role in all Snowflake accounts containing a shared SNOWFLAKE database.

CORTEX schema¶

By default, the CORTEX_USER role is granted to the PUBLIC role. The PUBLIC role is automatically granted to all users and roles, so this allows all users in your account to use the Snowflake Cortex LLM functions.

If you don’t want all users to have this privilege, you can revoke access to the PUBLIC role and grant access to specific roles. For details, see Cortex LLM Functions required privileges.

SNOWFLAKE.COPILOT_USER database role¶

The SNOWFLAKE.COPILOT_USER database role allows customers to access Snowflake Copilot features. Initially, this database role is granted to the PUBLIC role. The PUBLIC role is automatically granted to all users and roles, so this allows all users in your account to use Snowflake Copilot. If you want to limit access to Snowflake Copilot features, you can revoke access to the PUBLIC role and grant access to specific roles. For details, see Access control requirements.

Using SNOWFLAKE database roles¶

Administrators can use the GRANT DATABASE ROLE to assign a SNOWFLAKE database role to another role, which can then be granted to a user. This would allow the user to access a specific subset of views in the SNOWFLAKE database.

In this following example a role is created which can be used to view SNOWFLAKE database object metadata, and does the following:

1. Creates a custom role.

2. Grants the OBJECT_VIEWER role to the custom role.

3. Grants the custom role to a user.

To create and grant the custom role, do the following:

1. Create the CAN_VIEWMD role, using CREATE ROLE that will be used to grant access to object metadata.

   Only users with the USERADMIN system role or higher, or another role with the CREATE ROLE privilege on the account, can create roles.

   CREATE ROLE CAN_VIEWMD COMMENT = 'This role can view metadata per SNOWFLAKE database role definitions';
   

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2. Grant the OBJECT_VIEWER role to the CAN_VIEWMD role.

   Only users with the OWNERSHIP role can grant SNOWFLAKE database roles. For additional information, refer to GRANT DATABASE ROLE.

   GRANT DATABASE ROLE OBJECT_VIEWER TO ROLE CAN_VIEWMD;
   

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3. Assign CAN_VIEWMD role to user smith.

   Only users with the SECURITYADMIN role can grant roles to users. For additional options, refer to GRANT ROLE.

   GRANT ROLE CAN_VIEWMD TO USER smith;
   

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