From 98649c54e344eeaa02f27c955a0b06d705f50130 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kevin Longe <273747162+kvlonge@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2026 13:23:35 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix: distinguish Snowflake START WITH from CTEs

---
 .../src/sql_lint/_helpers/engine.rs                  | 12 ++++++++----
 .../src/sql_lint/tests/test_sql_lint.rs              |  6 ++++++
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/_helpers/engine.rs b/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/_helpers/engine.rs
index 68ae046abc..4a692e1352 100644
--- a/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/_helpers/engine.rs
+++ b/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/_helpers/engine.rs
@@ -515,12 +515,16 @@ fn collect_rule_migration_facts(
             facts.cross_joins.push(tokens[index].span);
         }
         if text.eq_ignore_ascii_case("with") {
-            if depths[index] > 0 {
+            let starts_hierarchy = position.checked_sub(1).is_some_and(|previous| {
+                tokens[significant[previous]].token_type == TokenType::Start
+            });
+            if depths[index] > 0 && !starts_hierarchy {
                 facts.nested_ctes.push(tokens[index].span);
             }
-            if significant
-                .get(position + 1)
-                .is_some_and(|&next| tokens[next].text.eq_ignore_ascii_case("recursive"))
+            if !starts_hierarchy
+                && significant
+                    .get(position + 1)
+                    .is_some_and(|&next| tokens[next].text.eq_ignore_ascii_case("recursive"))
             {
                 facts.recursive_ctes.push(tokens[index].span);
             }
diff --git a/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/tests/test_sql_lint.rs b/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/tests/test_sql_lint.rs
index c344a2dceb..5e4c0d0ed0 100644
--- a/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/tests/test_sql_lint.rs
+++ b/crates/sqlbuild-rules-native/src/sql_lint/tests/test_sql_lint.rs
@@ -443,6 +443,12 @@ fn given_plain_sql_rules_when_linting_then_project_context_is_not_required() ->
             rule: "SQBRSQL036",
             expected_count: 1,
         },
+        test_types::PlainSqlLintTestCase {
+            description: "Snowflake hierarchy START WITH is not a nested CTE",
+            sql: "WITH entities AS (SELECT id, parent_id FROM source_rows), hierarchy AS (SELECT id FROM entities START WITH parent_id IS NULL CONNECT BY parent_id = PRIOR id) SELECT id FROM hierarchy",
+            rule: "SQBRSQL036",
+            expected_count: 0,
+        },
         test_types::PlainSqlLintTestCase {
             description: "recursive CTE",
             sql: "WITH RECURSIVE numbers AS (SELECT 1 UNION ALL SELECT 2) SELECT * FROM numbers",