SNOWFLAKE Database Roles¶

When an account is provisioned, the SNOWFLAKE database is automatically imported. The database is an example of Snowflake using Secure Data Sharing to provide object metadata and other usage metrics for your organization and accounts.

Access to schema objects in the SNOWFLAKE database is controlled by different database roles. The following sections describe each SNOWFLAKE database role, its associated privileges, and the associated schema objects the role is grants access to.

ACCOUNT_USAGE Schema¶

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

Role	Purpose and Description
OBJECT_VIEWER	The OBJECT_VIEWER role provides visibility into object metadata.
USAGE_VIEWER	The USAGE_VIEWER role provides visibility into historical usage information.
GOVERNANCE_VIEWER	The GOVERNANCE_VIEWER role provides visibility into policy related information.
SECURITY_VIEWER	The SECURITY_VIEWER role provides visibility into security based information.

ACCOUNT_USAGE Views by Database Role¶

The OBJECT_VIEWER, USAGE_VIEWER, GOVERNACE_VIEWER, and SECURITY_VIEWER roles have the SELECT privilege to query Account Usage views in the shared SNOWFLAKE database.

A checkmark (i.e. ✔) indicates the role is granted the SELECT privilege on the view.

View	OBJECT_VIEWER Role	USAGE_VIEWER Role	GOVERNANCE_VIEWER Role	SECURITY_VIEWER Role
COLUMNS View	✔
COMPLETE_TASK_GRAPHS View	✔
DATABASES View	✔
FILE_FORMATS View	✔
FUNCTIONS View	✔
OBJECT_DEPENDENCIES View	✔		✔
PIPES View	✔		✔
REFERENTIAL_CONSTRAINTS View	✔
SCHEMATA View	✔	✔
SEQUENCES View	✔
STAGES View	✔
TABLE_CONSTRAINTS View	✔
TABLES View	✔
TAGS View	✔		✔
VIEWS View	✔
AUTOMATIC_CLUSTERING_HISTORY View		✔
COPY_HISTORY View		✔
DATA_TRANSFER_HISTORY View		✔
DATABASE_STORAGE_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
LOAD_HISTORY View		✔
MATERIALIZED_VIEW_REFRESH_HISTORY View		✔
METERING_DAILY_HISTORY View		✔
METERING_HISTORY View		✔
PIPE_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
REPLICATION_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
REPLICATION_GROUP_REFRESH_HISTORY View		✔
REPLICATION_GROUP_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
SEARCH_OPTIMIZATION_HISTORY View		✔
SERVERLESS_TASK_HISTORY View		✔
STAGE_STORAGE_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
STORAGE_USAGE View		✔
TABLE_STORAGE_METRICS View		✔
TASK_HISTORY View		✔
WAREHOUSE_EVENTS_HISTORY View		✔
WAREHOUSE_LOAD_HISTORY View		✔
WAREHOUSE_METERING_HISTORY View		✔
MASKING_POLICIES View			✔
QUERY_ACCELERATION_ELIGIBLE View			✔
QUERY_HISTORY View			✔
POLICY_REFERENCES View			✔	✔
ROW_ACCESS_POLICIES View			✔
TAG_REFERENCES View			✔
ACCESS_HISTORY View			✔
GRANTS_TO_ROLES View				✔
GRANTS_TO_USERS View				✔
LOGIN_HISTORY View				✔
PASSWORD_POLICIES View				✔
ROLES View				✔
SESSION_POLICIES View				✔
SESSIONS View				✔
USERS View				✔

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.

View
LOGIN_HISTORY View
QUERY_HISTORY View
RESOURCE_MONITORS View
STORAGE_USAGE View
WAREHOUSE_METERING_HISTORY View

ORGANIZATION_USAGE Schema¶

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

View	ORGANIZATION_BILLING_VIEWER Role	ORGANIZATION_USAGE_VIEWER Role
CONTRACT_ITEMS View	✔
RATE_SHEET_DAILY View	✔
REMAINING_BALANCE_DAILY View	✔
USAGE_IN_CURRENCY_DAILY View	✔
MARKETPLACE_DISBURSEMENT_REPORT View	✔
DATA_TRANSFER_DAILY_HISTORY View		✔
DATA_TRANSFER_HISTORY View		✔
DATABASE_STORAGE_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
AUTOMATIC_CLUSTERING_HISTORY View		✔
MARKETPLACE_PAID_USAGE_DAILY View		✔
MATERIALIZED_VIEW_REFRESH_HISTORY View		✔
METERING_DAILY_HISTORY View		✔
MONETIZED_USAGE_DAILY View		✔
PIPE_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
REPLICATION_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
SEARCH_OPTIMIZATION_HISTORY View		✔
STAGE_STORAGE_USAGE_HISTORY View		✔
STORAGE_DAILY_HISTORY View		✔
WAREHOUSE_METERING_HISTORY View		✔

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.

Tag objects¶

The GOVERNANCE_ADMIN Snowflake database role is granted the APPLY privilege on the PRIVACY_CATEGORY and SEMANTIC_CATEGORY system tags (e.g. apply on tag privacy_category to role governance_admin). This grant allows users with the GOVERNANCE_ADMIN role to apply these tags to objects that the GOVERNANCE_ADMIN owns (i.e. has the OWNERSHIP privilege on the object).

For more information, see:

ALERT Schema¶

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

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:

Creates a custom role.
Grants the OBJECT_VIEWER role to the custom role.
Grants the custom role to a user.

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

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';
```
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;
```
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;
```