snowflake-create-external-table

name	snowflake-create-external-table
description	Consult Snowflake CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE parameter reference before generating any CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE DDL.

Before writing a CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE statement:

1. Read references/parameters.md to review all available parameters and their defaults.
2. For each parameter, decide whether the user's request implies a non-default value.
3. Include only the parameters that differ from the default or that the user explicitly requested.
4. Never use CREATE OR REPLACE — always use CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE IF NOT EXISTS where supported.
5. Always specify LOCATION (referencing an external stage on S3, Azure, or GCS — internal Snowflake stages are not supported) and FILE_FORMAT.
6. All data columns must be defined as virtual columns using expressions against the VALUE (VARIANT) pseudocolumn, METADATA$FILENAME, or METADATA$FILE_ROW_NUMBER; do not attempt to define plain physical columns.
7. AUTO_REFRESH = TRUE and REFRESH_ON_CREATE = TRUE are the defaults; only override them if the user explicitly opts out of automatic refreshes.
8. Use PARTITION_TYPE = USER_SPECIFIED only when the user intends to manage partitions manually via ALTER EXTERNAL TABLE … ADD PARTITION.
9. External tables do not support Time Travel, clustering keys, or cloning — do not include those parameters.