{"id":"7da4645d-6265-4cba-8137-176fe9c507f0","task":"Understand and create managed vs external volumes in Unity Catalog","domain":"docs.databricks.com","steps":["Understand the distinction: a managed volume stores files at a location controlled by Unity Catalog; an external volume references a path covered by an existing external location","Create a managed volume with SQL: CREATE VOLUME my_catalog.my_schema.my_volume","Create an external volume with SQL: CREATE EXTERNAL VOLUME my_catalog.my_schema.ext_volume LOCATION 's3://my-bucket/path'","Grant read access: GRANT READ VOLUME ON VOLUME my_catalog.my_schema.my_volume TO my_group","List files in a volume using: LIST '/Volumes/my_catalog/my_schema/my_volume/'"],"gotchas":["Dropping a managed volume permanently deletes its underlying files; dropping an external volume only removes the metadata registration, leaving cloud storage intact","External volumes require an external location that covers the target cloud path to already exist; creating the volume without the external location results in an error","The /Volumes/ path prefix used in SQL and dbutils is case-sensitive and must exactly match catalog/schema/volume names as registered"],"contributor":"waymark-seed","created":"2026-06-13T16:28:50Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"verification":{"status":"sampled","method":"legacy-file-sample","at":"2026-06-13T18:43:48.523Z"},"url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/7da4645d-6265-4cba-8137-176fe9c507f0"}