Query history and profiling in Snowflake - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is the purpose of query history in Snowflake?

Query history in Snowflake helps you see details about past queries, such as when they ran, how long they took, and if they succeeded or failed. It helps track and troubleshoot query performance.

intermediate

Which Snowflake feature provides detailed information about query execution steps?

The QUERY_HISTORY view shows general query info, but the Query Profile provides detailed execution steps and resource usage for profiling queries.

beginner

How can you filter query history to see only queries from the last 24 hours?

Use a SQL filter on the START_TIME column, for example: WHERE START_TIME > DATEADD(hour, -24, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()).

intermediate

What key metrics can you find in query profiling to improve performance?

You can find metrics like execution time per step, bytes scanned, rows processed, and wait times. These help identify slow parts and optimize queries.

beginner

Why is it important to monitor query history regularly in Snowflake?

Regular monitoring helps catch inefficient queries early, manage resource usage, and maintain good performance and cost control.

Which Snowflake view shows the general history of executed queries?

A QUERY_PROFILE

B USER_SESSIONS

C INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES

D QUERY_HISTORY

QUERY_HISTORY contains records of executed queries with timestamps and status.

What does Query Profile provide that QUERY_HISTORY does not?

A List of tables

B User login details

C Detailed execution steps and resource usage

D Warehouse size

Query Profile shows detailed execution steps useful for profiling query performance.

How can you limit query history results to recent queries in SQL?

A Use ORDER BY QUERY_ID

B Use WHERE START_TIME > DATEADD(hour, -24, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP())

C Use LIMIT 10

D Use GROUP BY USER_NAME

Filtering by START_TIME limits queries to a recent time window.

Which metric is NOT typically found in query profiling?

A User password

B Bytes scanned

C Rows processed

D Execution time per step

User password is not part of query profiling data.

Why is query history useful for cost management?

A It helps identify long-running or resource-heavy queries

B It shows query text only

C It lists user emails

D It controls user access

Identifying heavy queries helps control compute costs.

Explain how you would use Snowflake's query history and profiling features to improve query performance.

Think about how history shows what happened and profiling shows how it happened.

Describe the benefits of regularly monitoring query history in Snowflake.

Consider both performance and cost aspects.