## Catalog permissions & Lake Formation

URL: https://docs.atlan.com/apps/connectors/etl-tools/aws-glue/references/catalog-permissions-and-lake-formation

> The exact IAM permissions Atlan needs for AWS Glue, plus the Lake Formation grants whose absence silently empties crawls instead of raising errors.

Glue has no firewall to open - its "allowlist" is IAM plus, if you use it, Lake Formation. This page covers the exact permissions, and the silent failure mode that generates more confusion than any hard error.

## IAM permissions Atlan needs

Read-only, metadata-only. The full policy JSON is in [Connect with IAM access keys](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/aws-glue/connect-with-iam-access-keys/llms.txt); the actions are:

| Actions | Why Atlan needs them |
|---|---|
| `glue:GetDatabases`, `glue:GetDatabase` | List and read the databases in the catalog |
| `glue:GetTables`, `glue:GetTable`, `glue:SearchTables` | List and read tables and views (columns arrive inside the table response) |
| `glue:GetTableVersions`, `glue:GetTableVersion` | Read table schema versions |
| `glue:GetPartition`, `glue:GetPartitions` | Read partition metadata (table sizes, structure) |
| `glue:GetUserDefinedFunctions`, `glue:GetUserDefinedFunction` | Read UDF metadata |
| `glue:GetTags` | Read Glue resource tags on databases. Only needed when you [import tags](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/aws-glue/manage-aws-glue-tags/llms.txt) with **Resource tags** selected |
| `lakeformation:ListLFTags`, `lakeformation:GetResourceLFTags` | Read Lake Formation tags. Only needed when you import tags with **Lake Formation tags** selected |

> **Caution: Check all four Resource lines**
>
>
> The policy grants these actions on four resource types: `catalog`, `database/*`, `table/*/*`, and `tableVersion/*/*/*`. A policy that drops the **catalog** resource line fails with `AccessDeniedException … not authorized to perform: glue:GetTables on resource: …:catalog` even when everything else is correct. Copy all four lines.
>

## Silent failure mode: Missing permissions ≠ error

> **Warning: Read this before your first big crawl**
>
>
> When some Glue permissions are missing or scoped too narrowly, the AWS APIs often **return empty results instead of an error**. The crawl "succeeds" - with 0 tables or 0 columns. Atlan then sees your previously cataloged assets missing from the new crawl and the **circuit breaker** stops the workflow with `Delete percentage is more than 80.0. Exiting.` Nothing in that message says "permissions." If a crawl suddenly returns far fewer assets, **check permissions first**, not the connector.
>

## Lake Formation - extra permission layer

If you're using AWS Lake Formation to manage access to your AWS resources, you need to grant permissions in Lake Formation and to the objects you want to crawl (see [Set up AWS Glue](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/aws-glue/set-up-aws-glue/llms.txt)). In practice:

- Lake Formation sits *on top of* IAM. IAM can say yes while Lake Formation quietly filters the response.
- Grant the Atlan IAM role (or user) **DESCRIBE** and **SELECT** on each governed database and table, and `lakeformation:GetDataAccess`.
- If column-level security is configured, grant access to **all columns** for the Atlan role. With table-level-only grants, `GetTables` returns every table with an **empty column list** - no error anywhere.
- If you import Lake Formation tags, grant **DESCRIBE** on each LF-Tag key to import. Lake Formation leaves out keys the Atlan role can't DESCRIBE, with no error, so their tags aren't imported.

### How to check yourself, in 2 minutes

Ask your AWS admin to run this while assuming the Atlan role (or using the Atlan user's keys):

```
aws glue get-tables --database-name <one-of-your-databases> --region <region>

# Healthy: each table shows a populated "StorageDescriptor": { "Columns": [ ... ] }

# Lake Formation filtering: tables appear but "Columns" is empty or missing

# Missing IAM grant: AccessDeniedException naming the exact action and resource

```

This one command distinguishes the three failure classes that account for most Glue issues. Include its output when you open a support ticket - it usually turns a week of back-and-forth into one reply.

## Organization guardrails that can interfere

- **Service control policies (SCPs)** or permission boundaries at your AWS organization level can override the role's own policy. If the policy looks perfect but calls are denied, ask whoever manages your AWS organization.
- **Per-database cross-account grants:** if some databases in your catalog are shared from another AWS account (resource links), the Atlan role needs `glue:GetTables` granted on those databases *in the owning account* too - see [Special cases](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/connectors/aws-glue/special-cases/llms.txt).

_Last updated: 7 October 2026._

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