Add semantic view as materialization

dbt-snowflake/.changes/unreleased/Features-20250903-133304.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+kind: Features
+body: Add Snowflake Semantic View as materialization
+time: 2025-09-03T13:33:04.958749-07:00
+custom:
+    Author: sfc-gh-yutliu
+    Issue: "1260"

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/adapters/snowflake/relation.py

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class SnowflakeRelation(BaseRelation):
                 SnowflakeRelationType.Table,  # type: ignore
                 SnowflakeRelationType.View,  # type: ignore
                 SnowflakeRelationType.DynamicTable,  # type: ignore
+                SnowflakeRelationType.SemanticView,  # type: ignore
             }
         )
     )
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ class SnowflakeRelation(BaseRelation):
                 SnowflakeRelationType.DynamicTable,  # type: ignore
                 SnowflakeRelationType.Table,  # type: ignore
                 SnowflakeRelationType.View,  # type: ignore
+                SnowflakeRelationType.SemanticView,  # type: ignore
             }
         )
     )
@@ -69,6 +71,10 @@ def is_materialized_view(self) -> bool:
     def is_iceberg_format(self) -> bool:
         return self.table_format == constants.ICEBERG_TABLE_FORMAT
 
+    @property
+    def is_semantic_view(self) -> bool:
+        return self.type == SnowflakeRelationType.SemanticView
+
     @classproperty
     def DynamicTable(cls) -> str:
         return str(SnowflakeRelationType.DynamicTable)

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/adapters/snowflake/relation_configs/policies.py

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ class SnowflakeRelationType(StrEnum):
     CTE = "cte"
     External = "external"
     DynamicTable = "dynamic_table"
+    SemanticView = "semantic_view"
 
 
 class SnowflakeIncludePolicy(Policy):

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/include/snowflake/macros/adapters.sql

@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@
 {% macro snowflake__alter_relation_comment(relation, relation_comment) -%}
     {%- if relation.is_dynamic_table -%}
         {%- set relation_type = 'dynamic table' -%}
+    {% elif relation.is_semantic_view -%}
+        {%- set relation_type = 'semantic view' -%}
     {%- else -%}
         {%- set relation_type = relation.type -%}
     {%- endif -%}
@@ -111,6 +113,8 @@
     {% set existing_columns = adapter.get_columns_in_relation(relation) | map(attribute="name") | list %}
     {% if relation.is_dynamic_table -%}
         {% set relation_type = "table" %}
+    {% elif relation.is_semantic_view -%}
+        {%- set relation_type = "semantic view" -%}
     {% else -%}
         {% set relation_type = relation.type %}
     {% endif %}

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/include/snowflake/macros/materializations/semantic_view.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{% materialization semantic_view, adapter='snowflake' -%}
+
+    {% set original_query_tag = set_query_tag() %}
+    {% set to_return = snowflake__create_or_replace_semantic_view() %}
+
+    {% set target_relation = this.incorporate(type='semantic_view') %}
+
+    -- COMMENT ON SEMANTIC VIEW support
+    {% do persist_docs(target_relation, model, for_columns=false) %}
+
+    {% do unset_query_tag(original_query_tag) %}
+
+    {% do return(to_return) %}
+
+{%- endmaterialization %}

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/include/snowflake/macros/relations/create.sql

@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
     {% if relation.is_dynamic_table %}
         {{ snowflake__get_create_dynamic_table_as_sql(relation, sql) }}
 
+    {% elif relation.is_semantic_view %}
+            {{ snowflake__get_create_semantic_view_sql(relation, sql) }}
+
     {% else %}
         {{ default__get_create_sql(relation, sql) }}
 

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/include/snowflake/macros/relations/semantic_view/create.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+{% macro snowflake__get_create_semantic_view_sql(relation, sql) -%}
+{#-
+--  Produce DDL that creates a semantic view
+--
+--  Args:
+--  - relation: Union[SnowflakeRelation, str]
+--      - SnowflakeRelation - required for relation.render()
+--      - str - is already the rendered relation name
+--  - sql: str - the code defining the model
+--  Returns:
+--      A valid DDL statement which will result in a new semantic view.
+-#}
+
+  create or replace semantic view {{ relation }}
+  {{ sql }}
+
+{%- endmacro %}
+
+
+{% macro snowflake__create_or_replace_semantic_view() %}
+  {%- set identifier = model['alias'] -%}
+
+  {%- set old_relation = adapter.get_relation(database=database, schema=schema, identifier=identifier) -%}
+  {%- set exists_as_view = (old_relation is not none and old_relation.is_semantic_view) -%}
+  {%- set copy_grants = config.get('copy_grants', default=false) -%}
+
+  {%- set target_relation = api.Relation.create(
+      identifier=identifier, schema=schema, database=database,
+      type='semantic_view') -%}
+  {% set grant_config = config.get('grants') %}
+
+  {%- if copy_grants -%}
+    {#- Normalize SQL and append COPY GRANTS if not already present (case-insensitive) -#}
+    {%- set _sql_norm = sql | trim -%}
+    {%- set _sql_norm = _sql_norm[:-1] if _sql_norm[-1:] == ';' else _sql_norm -%}
+    {%- set _sql_norm = _sql_norm | trim -%}
+    {%- set _ends = (_sql_norm | lower)[-11:] -%}
+    {%- if _ends != 'copy grants' -%}
+      {%- set sql = sql ~ '\nCOPY GRANTS' -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+  {%- endif -%}
+
+  {{ run_hooks(pre_hooks) }}
+
+  -- build model
+  {% call statement('main') -%}
+    {{ snowflake__get_create_semantic_view_sql(target_relation, sql) }}
+  {%- endcall %}
+
+  {{ run_hooks(post_hooks) }}
+
+  {{ return({'relations': [target_relation]}) }}
+
+{% endmacro %}

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/include/snowflake/macros/relations/semantic_view/drop.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{% macro snowflake__get_drop_semantic_view_sql(relation) %}
+    drop semantic view if exists {{ relation }}
+{% endmacro %}

dbt-snowflake/src/dbt/include/snowflake/macros/relations/semantic_view/rename.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{%- macro snowflake__get_semantic_view_rename_sql(relation, new_name) -%}
+    /*
+    Rename or move a semantic view to the new name.
+    Args:
+        relation: SnowflakeRelation - relation to be renamed
+        new_name: Union[str, SnowflakeRelation] - new name for `relation`
+    Returns: templated string
+    */
+    alter semantic view if exists {{ relation }} rename to {{ new_name }}
+{%- endmacro -%}