# Is there a way to use persist\_docs and inherited column descriptions to show field descriptions in Snowflake?

**URL:** <https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-use-persist-docs-and-inherited-column-descriptions-to-show-field-descriptions-in-snowflake/19065>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** snowflake, documentation, dbt-cloud\
**Created:** [April 16, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-use-persist-docs-and-inherited-column-descriptions-to-show-field-descriptions-in-snowflake/19065 "2025-04-16T15:26:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![amanda.wong](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discourse.getdbt.com/amanda.wong/32/5569_2.png) [@amanda.wong](https://discourse.getdbt.com/u/amanda.wong)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-use-persist-docs-and-inherited-column-descriptions-to-show-field-descriptions-in-snowflake/19065/1 "2025-04-16T15:26:44Z")

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## The problem I’m having:

I can use `persist_docs` to surface model and column descriptions in Snowflake but this seems to require every description field to be filled out rather than leveraging inherited column descriptions as shown in dbt explore.

## The context of why I’m trying to do this:

If I can use a combination of `persist_docs` and inherited column descriptions, I will only have to write a column definition once rather than copying it over in every model or using a doc block.

## What I’ve already tried:

I’ve tested that `persist_docs` works when a field description is explicitly filled out and inherited column descriptions works in dbt explore, but I cannot get them to work in combination in Snowflake.

## Some example code:

I’m using the config described [here](https://docs.getdbt.com/reference/resource-configs/persist_docs) in the `dbt_project` yml for `persist_docs` and not doing anything for inherited column descriptions, as that is automatic.

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**Author:** ![a\_slack\_user](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discourse.getdbt.com/a_slack_user/32/1629_2.png) [@a\_slack\_user](https://discourse.getdbt.com/u/a_slack_user)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2025, 8:39pm UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-use-persist-docs-and-inherited-column-descriptions-to-show-field-descriptions-in-snowflake/19065/2 "2025-04-16T20:39:26Z")

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Not at the moment. They are separate features.

1. Persist docs, a dbt-core library feature, takes what you’ve written in your yaml and adds it as table/column comments in your dwh.
2. Inherited col descriptions, a dbt Cloud Catalog/Explorer feature - which can propagate column descriptions down to child columns. This is entirely all in dbt Cloud Catalog/Explorer UI and has nothing to do with the objects that live on your dwh (unlike 1).

Note: `@Jeremy Yeo` originally [posted this reply in Slack](https://getdbt.slack.com/archives/CBSQTAPLG/p1744835946975209?thread_ts=1744817231.834449&cid=CBSQTAPLG). It might not have transferred perfectly.