michael-the1
commented
9 months ago This is also important for us, for exactly the same reasons as yours. We currently solve this using a custom materialization, but that comes with its own downsides of course.
Implementation is pretty straightforward. For the definition, I like the names dbt-snowflake-utils, though I'd put them at the top level:
# schema.yml
models:
- name: ACCOUNT
+schema: FINANCE
database_tags:
accounting_row_string: a
columns:
- name: ACCOUNT_NAME
database_tags:
accounting_col_string: b
Is this your first time submitting a feature request?
Describe the feature
Besides dbt tags there should be possibility to define 'snowflake-tags' for tables and columns (and possibly schemas), which would be persisted to Snowflake as tags (https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/object-tagging).
Describe alternatives you've considered
We are aware of the dbt-snowflake-utils package by Montreal Analytics, which now has a macro that creates Snowflake tags from model/column meta.
It is not usable for tag-based masking though, because there is a time gap between materializing a table and creating a tag (currently it creates tags in on-run-end, so when all models are ready), which would create a serious vulnerability in PII protection. Therefore tags need to be a part of the CTAS (same as masking policies problem described in dbt-labs/dbt-adapters#85
Who will this benefit?
Tags are useful for monitoring, but also they enable a powerful feature called tag-based masking, which is getting more and more popular.
Are you interested in contributing this feature?
No response
Anything else?
This feature has already been requested (#104), but closed with suggestion, that the dbt-snowflake-utils macro is a sufficient alternative. It may be for some cases, but we take our PII protection too seriously to enable a time gap between table materialization and tag creation.