What is the minimum database-level permission required to work with external tables?

• A. READ
• B. USAGE
• C. CREATE SCHEMA
• D. ALL PRIVILEGES

Answer: (B)

Access to objects inside a Snowflake database is governed at the database level by the USAGE privilege. This minimal permission lets you reference and work with objects within the database, including external tables, as long as you have the necessary privileges on the specific objects themselves (for example, SELECT on the external table and USAGE on its schema). Other options either don’t represent a database-level privilege used for this purpose (READ isn’t a standard database-level grant) or grant broader rights than needed (CREATE SCHEMA or ALL PRIVILEGES).