ALTER ROLE

Updates an existing role's parent or comment.

Category: securityPrivilege: ManageRolesDeltaForge extension

Syntax

ALTER ROLE <name> [SET]
  [INHERIT <parent_role>]
  [COMMENT '<description>']

Description

## Overview ALTER ROLE updates mutable attributes of an existing role. Only INHERIT and COMMENT are changeable through SQL. ## Behavior - The role must already exist; otherwise the ALTER raises an error. - The SET keyword is optional. - Changing INHERIT immediately changes which privileges the role inherits. All users, groups, and service principals that hold the role gain or lose privileges according to the new parent. ## Access Control Requires the `ManageRoles` privilege. ## Compatibility DeltaForge extension.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
`name`		Specifies the role to alter. Must already exist.
`parent_role`		Specifies the new parent role. The role must already exist.
`comment`		Specifies a new description.

Examples

-- Change the parent role
ALTER ROLE data_lead SET INHERIT senior_engineer;

-- Update only the comment
ALTER ROLE data_lead SET COMMENT 'Pipeline owners with elevated grants (revised 2026-04)';

Pitfalls

Changing INHERIT can elevate or demote every principal that holds the role, instantly. Validate downstream impact (run SHOW GRANTS TO PRINCIPAL on the role's holders) before swapping parents in a production environment.