ADF sink is configured to create the target table automatically but the service account lacks DDL permissions. The staging schema for ADF PolyBase or COPY statement does not have CREATE TABLE granted. dbt is running with a service account that has only read access

Step 1: Grant CREATE TABLE permission: GRANT CREATE TABLE TO [username];. Step 2: Also grant schema ALTER permission (required to create objects in a schema): GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA::[dbo] TO [username];. Step 3: For dbt or ADF sinks that need full DDL access, consider using the db_ddladmin role: ALTER ROLE db_ddladmin ADD MEMBER [username];

Medium severitypermission

Power BI Refresh Error:
262

What does this error mean?

The database user does not have permission to create tables in the specified database.

Common causes

1ADF sink is configured to create the target table automatically but the service account lacks DDL permissions
2The staging schema for ADF PolyBase or COPY statement does not have CREATE TABLE granted
3dbt is running with a service account that has only read access

How to fix it

1Step 1: Grant CREATE TABLE permission: GRANT CREATE TABLE TO [username];
2Step 2: Also grant schema ALTER permission (required to create objects in a schema): GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA::[dbo] TO [username];
3Step 3: For dbt or ADF sinks that need full DDL access, consider using the db_ddladmin role: ALTER ROLE db_ddladmin ADD MEMBER [username];

Frequently asked questions

Does ADF need CREATE TABLE permission if the target table already exists?

No — if the table exists and ADF is configured to insert/upsert only, SELECT and INSERT permissions are sufficient. CREATE TABLE is only needed when ADF is configured to auto-create the table.

What permissions does dbt need on SQL Server?

dbt needs: CREATE TABLE, CREATE VIEW, ALTER on the target schema, and SELECT on source schemas. Use GRANT CREATE TABLE; GRANT CREATE VIEW; GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA::[dbt_schema] TO [dbt_user];

Is db_ddladmin safe for a service account?

db_ddladmin grants broad DDL rights (create, alter, drop on all objects). Prefer granular grants (CREATE TABLE + ALTER SCHEMA) for service accounts to follow least-privilege.

Official documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/errors-events/mssqlserver-262-database-engine-error