What causes SHOW Command Insufficient Privileges?

The role does not have USAGE on the schema or database, so SHOW TABLES returns an empty result rather than an error. SHOW USERS and SHOW ROLES require ACCOUNTADMIN or SECURITYADMIN — running them with a less privileged role silently returns only the current user. SHOW WAREHOUSES returns only warehouses the role can USAGE — other warehouses are hidden. A dbt project or pipeline using SHOW to discover schema structure fails to find expected objects because the service account role lacks visibility

How do I fix SHOW Command Insufficient Privileges?

Grant USAGE on the relevant database and schema to the executing role: `GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE TO ROLE ; GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA TO ROLE `.. For SHOW USERS, use ACCOUNTADMIN or SECURITYADMIN, or grant the MANAGE GRANTS privilege to a custom role.. For service account discovery queries (dbt introspection, Fivetran schema sync): ensure the service account role has USAGE on all schemas it needs to introspect.. Use `SHOW GRANTS TO ROLE ` to audit what the role can currently see.. Test visibility: switch to the role and run SHOW TABLES to confirm what objects are visible.

Low severitycredentials

Power BI Refresh Error:
SHOW Command Insufficient Privileges

What does this error mean?

A Snowflake SHOW command (SHOW TABLES, SHOW WAREHOUSES, SHOW USERS, etc.) returned no results or raised a privilege error because the executing role lacks the visibility privileges required to list the specified objects.

Common causes

1The role does not have USAGE on the schema or database, so SHOW TABLES returns an empty result rather than an error
2SHOW USERS and SHOW ROLES require ACCOUNTADMIN or SECURITYADMIN — running them with a less privileged role silently returns only the current user
3SHOW WAREHOUSES returns only warehouses the role can USAGE — other warehouses are hidden
4A dbt project or pipeline using SHOW to discover schema structure fails to find expected objects because the service account role lacks visibility

How to fix it

1Grant USAGE on the relevant database and schema to the executing role: `GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE <db> TO ROLE <role>; GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA <schema> TO ROLE <role>`.
2For SHOW USERS, use ACCOUNTADMIN or SECURITYADMIN, or grant the MANAGE GRANTS privilege to a custom role.
3For service account discovery queries (dbt introspection, Fivetran schema sync): ensure the service account role has USAGE on all schemas it needs to introspect.
4Use `SHOW GRANTS TO ROLE <role>` to audit what the role can currently see.
5Test visibility: switch to the role and run SHOW TABLES to confirm what objects are visible.

Frequently asked questions

Why does SHOW return empty results instead of an error when privileges are missing?

Snowflake's access control model hides inaccessible objects from SHOW commands rather than raising errors — this prevents information disclosure. The absence of results is the indicator that visibility is missing.