sys-external-models-transact-sql.md

title	sys.external_models (Transact-SQL)
description	sys.external_models contains a row for each external model in the current database.
author	JetterMcTedder
ms.author	bspendolini
ms.reviewer	randolphwest
ms.date	04/21/2025
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	system-objects
ms.topic	reference
dev_langs	TSQL
monikerRange	=azuresqldb-current || >=sql-server-ver17 || >=sql-server-linux-ver17
ms.custom	build-2025

sys.external_models (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE sqlserver2025]

Contains a row for each external model in the current database.

Column name	Data type	Description	Range
external_model_id	int	ID of the model, unique within an instance of SQL Server
name	nvarchar	Name of the model
principal_id	int	ID of the database principal that owns the external model object
location	nvarchar	Server name or file path of the model
api_format	nvarchar	Name of the API format (Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, etc.)
model_type_id	int	ID of the model type. (embeddings, chat, etc.)
model_type_desc	nvarchar	Name of the model type. (embeddings, chat, etc.)
model	nvarchar	Name of the embedding model (text-ada-small-02, etc.)
credential_id	int	ID of the database scoped credential object
parameters	json	JSON to be appended to the outgoing payload
create_time	datetime2	Create time of the model
modify_time	datetime2	Time the model was updated (if updated), and defaults to create_time on creation of the model

Permissions

The visibility of the metadata in catalog views is limited to securables that a user either owns, or on which the user is granted some permission. For more information, see Metadata Visibility Configuration.

Related content

• AI_GENERATE_EMBEDDINGS (Transact-SQL)
• AI_GENERATE_CHUNKS (Transact-SQL)
• CREATE EXTERNAL MODEL (Transact-SQL)
• ALTER EXTERNAL MODEL (Transact-SQL)
• DROP EXTERNAL MODEL (Transact-SQL)