[Bug]: snowflake_external_function resource Error: return_type VARCHAR not recognized

[ddorchehVisa]

Terraform CLI Version

1.9.4

Terraform Provider Version

1.0.2

Company Name

No response

Terraform Configuration

resource "snowflake_external_function" "my_external_functions" {
  for_each = var.snowflake_fle_external_functions

  name     = each.value.function_name
  database = each.value.database
  schema   = snowflake_schema.my_schemas_schemas[each.key].name
  arg {
    name = "CIPHER"
    type = "binary"
  }
  return_type               = "varchar"
  return_behavior           = "VOLATILE"
  api_integration           = snowflake_api_integration.my_api_integrations[each.key].fully_qualified_name
  url_of_proxy_and_resource = each.value.url_of_proxy_and_resource
  return_null_allowed       = false
}

import {
  for_each = var.my_external_functions

  to = snowflake_external_function.my_external_functions[each.key]
  id = "\"${each.value.database}\".\"${each.value.schema}\".\"${each.value.function_name}\"(BINARY)" 
}

Category

category:resource

Object type(s)

resource:external_function

Expected Behavior

I first import an existing external function in the data warehouse into terraform. The existing external function returns varchar data. This is confirmed working in the UI.
The external function object can then be managed by terraform.
The plan is generated successfully and can be applied successfully.

Actual Behavior

The plan is initially generated successfully:

# snowflake_external_function.fle_external_functions["demo"] must be replaced
  # (imported from ""MY_DB".""."MY_FUNC"(BINARY)")
  # Warning: this will destroy the imported resource
-/+ resource "snowflake_external_function" "my_external_functions" {
      + api_integration           = "\"MY_API_INTEGRATION\"" # forces replacement
        comment                   = "user-defined function"
        compression               = "AUTO"
      ~ created_on                = "2025-02-11T08:45:51.028-08:00" -> (known after apply)
        database                  = "MY_DB"
      ~ fully_qualified_name      = "\"MY_DB\".\"MY_SCHEMA\".\"MY_FUNC\"(BINARY)" -> (known after apply)
      ~ id                        = "\"MY_DB\".\"MY_SCHEMA\".\"MY_FUNC\"(BINARY)" -> (known after apply)
        name                      = "MY_FUNC"
        null_input_behavior       = "CALLED ON NULL INPUT"
        return_behavior           = "VOLATILE"
      + return_null_allowed       = false # forces replacement
        return_type               = "VARCHAR"
        schema                    = "MY_SCHEMA"
        url_of_proxy_and_resource = "https://abcdef1234.execute-api.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/placeholder"

        arg {
            name = "CIPHER"
            type = "BINARY"
        }
    }

On apply, I get the following error and the object is not created:

Error: return_type VARCHAR not recognized

with snowflake_external_function.my_external_functions["demo"],
on my_objects.tf line 149, in resource "snowflake_external_function" "my_external_functions":
149: resource "snowflake_external_function" "my_external_functions" {

When reverting the change, the plan to remove the resource generates the same error.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Manually create an external function object in Snowflake that returns a VARCHAR.
2. Add the configuration like above that imports the object and creates the resource in terraform.
3. Generate the plan and apply the plan.

How much impact is this issue causing?

High

Logs

No response

Additional Information

The same error is returned when setting return_type = "VARCHAR" vs return_type = "varchar".
Since the object was imported successfully, the error is only returned when loading the object from the tfstate file.

Would you like to implement a fix?

[sfc-gh-jmichalak]

Hi @ddorchehVisa 👋

This resource is still in the preview, and we will rework it after GA (see roadmap). This will include reworked data types.

[nijave]

Tested this locally and it seems to fix the issue for us #3400

[sfc-gh-jmichalak]

Hi @nijave ,

We've released v1.0.4 (release, migration guide) with the fix.