diff --git a/dbt/adapters/duckdb/plugins/glue.py b/dbt/adapters/duckdb/plugins/glue.py
index cf447dde..1735bf1b 100644
--- a/dbt/adapters/duckdb/plugins/glue.py
+++ b/dbt/adapters/duckdb/plugins/glue.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import re
 from typing import Any
 from typing import Dict
 from typing import List
@@ -65,6 +66,16 @@ def _dbt2glue(dtype: str, ignore_null: bool = False) -> str:  # pragma: no cover
         return "date"
     if data_type.lower() in ["blob", "bytea", "binary", "varbinary"]:
         return "binary"
+    if data_type.lower() in ["struct"]:
+        struct_fields = re.findall(r"(\w+)\s+(\w+)", dtype[dtype.find("(") + 1 : dtype.rfind(")")])
+        glue_fields = []
+        for field_name, field_type in struct_fields:
+            glue_field_type = _dbt2glue(field_type)
+            glue_fields.append(f"{field_name}:{glue_field_type}")
+        struct_schema = f"struct<{','.join(glue_fields)}>"
+        if dtype.strip().endswith("[]"):
+            return f"array<{struct_schema}>"
+        return struct_schema
     if data_type is None:
         if ignore_null:
             return ""
@@ -267,6 +278,7 @@ def _get_table_def(
 def _get_glue_client(
     settings: Dict[str, Any], secrets: Optional[List[Dict[str, Any]]]
 ) -> "GlueClient":
+    client = None
     if secrets is not None:
         for secret in secrets:
             if isinstance(secret, Secret) and "config" == str(secret.provider).lower():
@@ -279,16 +291,17 @@ def _get_glue_client(
                     region_name=secret_kwargs.get("region"),
                 )
                 break
-    elif settings:
-        client = boto3.client(
-            "glue",
-            aws_access_key_id=settings.get("s3_access_key_id"),
-            aws_secret_access_key=settings.get("s3_secret_access_key"),
-            aws_session_token=settings.get("s3_session_token"),
-            region_name=settings.get("s3_region"),
-        )
-    else:
-        client = boto3.client("glue")
+    if client is None:
+        if settings:
+            client = boto3.client(
+                "glue",
+                aws_access_key_id=settings.get("s3_access_key_id"),
+                aws_secret_access_key=settings.get("s3_secret_access_key"),
+                aws_session_token=settings.get("s3_session_token"),
+                region_name=settings.get("s3_region"),
+            )
+        else:
+            client = boto3.client("glue")
     return client
 
 
diff --git a/dbt/include/duckdb/macros/materializations/external.sql b/dbt/include/duckdb/macros/materializations/external.sql
index 91e9b5ab..70d7dae9 100644
--- a/dbt/include/duckdb/macros/materializations/external.sql
+++ b/dbt/include/duckdb/macros/materializations/external.sql
@@ -2,9 +2,23 @@
 
   {%- set location = render(config.get('location', default=external_location(this, config))) -%})
   {%- set rendered_options = render_write_options(config) -%}
-  {%- set format = config.get('format', 'parquet') -%}
+
+  {%- set format = config.get('format') -%}
+  {%- set allowed_formats = ['csv', 'parquet', 'json'] -%}
+  {%- if format -%}
+      {%- if format not in allowed_formats -%}
+          {{ exceptions.raise_compiler_error("Invalid format: " ~ format ~ ". Allowed formats are: " ~ allowed_formats | join(', ')) }}
+      {%- endif -%}
+  {%- else -%}
+    {%- set format = location.split('.')[-1].lower() if '.' in location else 'parquet' -%}
+    {%- set format = format if format in allowed_formats else 'parquet' -%}
+  {%- endif -%}
+
   {%- set write_options = adapter.external_write_options(location, rendered_options) -%}
   {%- set read_location = adapter.external_read_location(location, rendered_options) -%}
+  {%- set parquet_read_options = config.get('parquet_read_options', {'union_by_name': False}) -%}
+  {%- set json_read_options = config.get('json_read_options', {'auto_detect': True}) -%}
+  {%- set csv_read_options = config.get('csv_read_options', {'auto_detect': True}) -%}
 
   -- set language - python or sql
   {%- set language = model['language'] -%}
@@ -45,13 +59,51 @@
     {{- create_table_as(False, temp_relation, compiled_code, language) }}
   {%- endcall %}
 
-  -- write an temp relation into file
+  -- write a temp relation into file
   {{ write_to_file(temp_relation, location, write_options) }}
-  -- create a view on top of the location
+
+-- create a view on top of the location
   {% call statement('main', language='sql') -%}
+    {% if format == 'json' %}
+      create or replace view {{ intermediate_relation }} as (
+        select * from read_json('{{ read_location }}'
+        {%- for key, value in json_read_options.items() -%}
+          , {{ key }}=
+          {%- if value is string -%}
+            '{{ value }}'
+          {%- else -%}
+            {{ value }}
+          {%- endif -%}
+        {%- endfor -%}
+        )
+      );
+    {% elif format == 'parquet' %}
+      create or replace view {{ intermediate_relation }} as (
+        select * from read_parquet('{{ read_location }}'
+        {%- for key, value in parquet_read_options.items() -%}
+          , {{ key }}=
+          {%- if value is string -%}
+            '{{ value }}'
+          {%- else -%}
+            {{ value }}
+          {%- endif -%}
+        {%- endfor -%}
+        )
+      );
+    {% elif format == 'csv' %}
     create or replace view {{ intermediate_relation }} as (
-        select * from '{{ read_location }}'
+      select * from read_csv('{{ read_location }}'
+      {%- for key, value in csv_read_options.items() -%}
+        , {{ key }}=
+        {%- if value is string -%}
+          '{{ value }}'
+        {%- else -%}
+          {{ value }}
+        {%- endif -%}
+      {%- endfor -%}
+      )
     );
+    {% endif %}
   {%- endcall %}
 
   -- cleanup