# Integrate With Query Engines and External Catalogs

Tableflow has direct integration with some external catalogs. Additionally, most catalogs have some concept of an "external table" where the catalog will periodically scrape the object storage bucket where the table lives as the mode of integration, or fetch the latest metadata on-demand when running a query. For example, Snowflake calls this the "Iceberg files" integration method.

{% hint style="info" %}
Snowflake Documentation: <https://docs.snowflake.com/en/sql-reference/sql/create-iceberg-table-iceberg-files>
{% endhint %}

Similar to catalogs, most query engines have a way to specify the location of a table in object storage and query that directly without going through a catalog. This method can be applied to ClickHouse and DuckDB, for example.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.warpstream.com/warpstream/tableflow/catalogs-and-query-engines.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.