Catalogs
Use Catalogs to browse the data available in a warehouse and inspect its SQL objects. You can search and refresh the object tree, review definitions and metadata, preview supported objects, and open available management actions. Catalogs is primarily a data-browser and object-inspection page. Use SQL or the relevant management workflow to create objects that do not have an available console action.
Before you start
- Select the warehouse that contains the data you want to inspect. Catalogs displays objects in the selected warehouse.
- Your warehouse SQL privileges determine which catalogs, databases, and objects you can view and which actions you can use. Read-only users cannot perform mutations.
- Catalog browsing applies to SaaS and BYOC warehouses. The Import action for an eligible table is available only in SaaS warehouses.
For information about the privileges that control access to catalogs and their objects, see Warehouse Users and Roles.
Explore Catalogs
To open the Catalogs page, do the following:
- Log in to the VeloDB Cloud console.
- Select the warehouse that you want to use.
- In the left navigation pane, click Catalogs.
The page opens with the catalog list and a data tree. Use the search box to find a catalog, database, or object, and use refresh when you need the latest metadata.
Understand the catalog hierarchy
Catalogs organizes SQL objects in the following hierarchy:
Catalog
└── Database
├── Table
├── Materialized View
├── View
└── Function
A catalog is a collection of databases. VeloDB Cloud provides two catalog types:
- Internal catalog: Contains the databases and objects managed in the selected VeloDB Cloud warehouse.
- External catalog: Registers an external data source so that you can browse and query its data without first moving it into the warehouse. In Catalogs, an external catalog exposes tables in the object tabs.
Browse and inspect catalogs
The catalog list shows the Name, Type, and available Actions for each catalog. Select a catalog to open its detail page:
- Detail shows the catalog definition and basic metadata, such as timestamps when they are available.
- Databases lists the databases in that catalog. You can search the list and review each database's name and data size.
For eligible internal, non-system databases, additional actions can be available to users with sufficient permissions. External catalogs and system databases do not provide those database actions. Similarly, deletion is available only for external catalogs when your role permits it.
Warning:
Deleting an external catalog removes its connection from the warehouse. Confirm that users and workloads no longer need the catalog before you delete it.
Explore database objects
Select a database to browse the object tabs that are available for that catalog. An internal catalog can show Table, Materialized View, View, and Function. An external catalog shows Table only.
| Object | What you can inspect in Catalogs |
|---|---|
| Table | The list includes name, data size, creation time, last modified time, and comment. Open a table to view Detail, Fields, Indexes, and Summary. The detail view includes its DDL and metadata such as data model, size, row count, partition method, and replicas when available. Fields shows column type, key status, nullability, visibility, extra properties, and comments. Indexes shows index names, columns, types, and comments. |
| Materialized View | The list shows the materialized view's state, refresh state, data size, timestamps, and comment. Open it to review Detail, Fields, Refresh History, and Summary. Refresh History helps you investigate refresh executions, including status, trigger mode, refresh mode, progress, duration, and compute-group information when available. |
| View | Browse views defined in the database and select a view to inspect it. |
| Function | Browse functions defined in the database and select a function to inspect it. |
If the table is eligible and you use a SaaS warehouse, select Import from the table list to start an import workflow. The action is not available for external-catalog tables, unsupported schemas, read-only users, or BYOC warehouses. For data-source-specific instructions, see Import Data.
Add an external catalog
If your deployment and permissions support external catalogs, click Add External Catalog from the catalog list, then select the data-source type and provide its connection settings. The button is unavailable to read-only users and may not be available in every deployment.
VeloDB Cloud supports catalog integrations for data-lake metadata services, relational databases, and sample datasets. Setup requirements vary by source, especially for authentication and network access. For more information about the supported catalog types and source-specific setup instructions, see Add Catalog.
Troubleshoot catalog visibility and actions
A catalog, database, or object is not visible
First confirm that you selected the intended warehouse, catalog, and database. Then verify that your warehouse SQL role has the required data privilege at the catalog, database, or object level. A privilege granted on a parent object can include the corresponding privilege on child objects. See Warehouse Users and Roles for the data-privilege model.
Add External Catalog is unavailable
The action is shown only when the deployment supports external catalogs and your user is not read-only. Ask a warehouse administrator to confirm your access and whether external catalog creation is enabled for the deployment.
An expected management action is unavailable
Actions depend on the object type, catalog type, system-database status, deployment, and your permissions. For example, external catalogs do not provide internal-database actions, and Import is SaaS-only. Use SQL or ask a warehouse administrator when the console does not offer the action you need.