> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.deltastream.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.deltastream.io/reference/sql-syntax/command/describe-entity.md).

# DESCRIBE ENTITY

## Syntax

```sql
DESCRIBE Entity entity_name
[ IN STORE store_name ];
```

## Description

This command describes an entity in a [Data Store](/overview/core-concepts/store.md).

Entities is visible only if the current [Access Control](/overview/core-concepts/access-control.md#role) has `USAGE` privileges on the store.

### Arguments <a href="#parameters" id="parameters"></a>

#### entity\_name

This is the name of the entity to describe. If the name is case-sensitive, you must wrap it in double quotes; otherwise, the lowercase name is used.

#### IN STORE store\_name

Optionally, describe an entity in a specific store. If the name is case-sensitive, you must wrap it in double quotes; otherwise, the lowercase name is used.

## Examples

#### Describe an entity in the current Kafka store

The following describes the `pageviews` entity in the current Kafka store `demostore`:

```sh
demodb.public/demostore# DESCRIBE ENTITY pageviews;
+-----------+--------------+-------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------------+-----------+
|  Name     |  Entity Type |  Partitions |  Replicas |  Key Descriptor |  Value Descriptor |  Configs  |
+===========+==============+=============+===========+=================+===================+===========+
| pageviews | Topic        | 1           | 1         | <null>          | <null>            | {}        |
+-----------+--------------+-------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------------+-----------+
```

The entity provides the Kafka topic-specific information and the Key/Value [Descriptor](/reference/sql-syntax/data-format-serialization.md#protocol-buffers-and-descriptors) defining the serialization format of both the key and value portions of a Kafka record.

#### Describe an entity in a specific Kinesis store

The following describes the `InterestCount` entity in the Amazon Kinesis store `kinesis_main`:

```sh
demodb.public/demostore# DESCRIBE ENTITY "InterestCount" IN STORE kinesis_store;
+---------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
|  Name         |  Entity Type |  Shards |  Descriptor |
+===============+==============+=========+=============+
| InterestCount | Data Stream  | 6       | <null>      |
+---------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
```

The entity provides the Kinesis stream specific information and a [Descriptor](/reference/sql-syntax/data-format-serialization.md#protocol-buffers-and-descriptors) defining the serialization format of the Kinesis records.

#### Describe an entity with descriptors

The following describes the `pv_pb` entity in the Kafka Store called `KafkaStore2`. This entity's native format is ProtoBuf and the Key and Value descriptors assigned to it allow serialization to/from this format:

````sh
demodb.analytics/demostore# DESCRIBE ENTITY pv_pb IN STORE "KafkaStore2";
```csharp
+-------+--------------+-------------+-----------+---------------------+--------------------+-----------+
|  Name |  Entity Type |  Partitions |  Replicas |  Key Descriptor     |  Value Descriptor  |  Configs  |
+=======+==============+=============+===========+=====================+====================+===========+
| pv_pb | Topic        | 1           | 2         | pb_key.PageviewsKey | pb_value.Pageviews | {}        |
+-------+--------------+-------------+-----------+---------------------+--------------------+-----------+
````

#### Describe a Snowflake database

```sh
demodb.public/sfstore# DESCRIBE ENTITY "FLINK_STREAMING";
+-----------------+--------------+------------+-------------------------------+-----------------+--------------+-----------+
|       Name      |  Entity Type |    Type    |  Created At                   |  Retention Time |     Owner    |  Comment  |
+=================+==============+============+===============================+=================+--------------+===========+
| FLINK_STREAMING | Database     | STANDARD   | 2024-07-17 00:19:33 +0000 UTC |               1 | ACCOUNTADMIN | <null>    |
+-----------------+--------------+------------+-------------------------------+-----------------+--------------+-----------+
```

#### Describe a Snowflake table

```sh
demodb.public/sfstore# DESCRIBE ENTITY "FLINK_STREAMING"."PUBLIC"."SF_PAGEVIEWS";
+-------------------------------------+--------------+------------+-------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 Name                |  Entity Type |    Type    |           Created At          |     Owner    |           Last DDLAt          |  Retention Time |           Updated At          |  Comment |                                                             Columns                                                                                     |
+=====================================+==============+============+===============================+==============+===============================+=================+===============================+==========+=========================================================================================================================================================+
| FLINK_STREAMING.PUBLIC.SF_PAGEVIEWS | Table        | BASE TABLE | 2024-07-03 14:55:20 +0000 UTC | ACCOUNTADMIN | 2024-07-03 14:55:20 +0000 UTC |               1 | 2024-07-03 15:02:46 +0000 UTC | <nil>    | [{"name":"TIMESTAMP","type":"NUMBER(38,0)","nullable":true,"default":null,"primaryKey":false,"uniqueKey":false,"comment":null,"policyName":null},{...}] |
+-------------------------------------+--------------+------------+-------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-----------------+-------------------------------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
```

#### Describe a Databricks catalog

```sh
demodb.public/databricks_store# DESCRIBE ENTITY catalog1;
+------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------+
|     Name         |  Entity Type |           Created At          |                Created By               |           Updated At          |                Updated By               |  Comment |
+==================+==============+===============================+=========================================+===============================+=========================================+==========+
| catalog1         | Catalog      | 2024-02-09 22:07:14 +0000 UTC | subscriptions+databricks@deltastream.io | 2024-02-09 22:07:14 +0000 UTC | subscriptions+databricks@deltastream.io |          |
+------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+----------+
```

#### Describe a Databricks schema

```sh
demodb.public/databricks_store# DESCRIBE ENTITY catalog1.schema1;
+------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------+-------------+----------+
|      Name        |  Entity Type |           Created At          | Created By  |           Updated At          | Updated By  |  Comment |
+==================+==============+===============================+=============+===============================+=============+==========+
| catalog1.schema1 | Schema       | 2024-02-13 23:43:59 +0000 UTC | sch_owner   | 2024-02-13 23:43:59 +0000 UTC | sch_owner   |          |
+------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------+-------------+----------+
```

#### Describe a Databricks table

```sh
demodb.public/dbx_store# DESCRIBE ENTITY catalog1.schema1.pageviews;
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------+-------------+----------------------+------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|            Name            |  Entity Type |           Created At          | Created By  |           Updated At          | Updated By  | Storage Location     |              Comment               |                              Columns                                      |
+============================+==============+===============================+=============+===============================+=============+======================+====================================+===========================================================================+
| catalog1.schema1.pageviews | Table        | 2024-04-10 15:24:07 +0000 UTC | tbl_owner   | 2024-04-10 15:24:07 +0000 UTC | tbl_owner   | s3://somebucket/test | {"deltastream.relation.fqn":"..."} | [{"name":"messageId","type":"string","nullable":true,"position":0},{...}] |
+----------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------+-------------+----------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
```

#### Describe a Postgresql schema

```sh
demodb.public/databricks_store# DESCRIBE ENTITY db.schema1;
+-------------+--------------+-----------+
|  Name       |  Entity Type |  Owner    |
+=============+==============+===========+
| db.schema1  | Schema       | sch_owner |
+-------------+--------------+-----------+
```

#### Describe a Postgresql table

```sh
demodb.public/pgx_store# DESCRIBE ENTITY public.pageviews;
+------------------+--------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Name            |  Entity Type |  Owner    |  Columns                                                                  |
+==================+==============+===========+===========================================================================+
| public.pageviews | Table        | tbl_owner | [{"name":"viewtime","type":"bigint","nullable":true,"position":0},{...}]  |
+------------------+--------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
```