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Connect to Snowflake

Galaxy makes it easy to connect to your Snowflake data warehouse for cloud-native analytics at scale.

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Quick Start

  1. Click Add Source in Galaxy
  2. Select Snowflake from the list
  3. Fill in your connection details
  4. Test the connection
  5. Start querying!

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Connection Details

Create Snowflake Source When creating a Snowflake connection, you’ll need:
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name
string
required
A friendly name for your connection Example: Production Snowflake or Data Warehouse
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accountIdentifier
string
required
Your Snowflake account identifier Example: XXXXXXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX or myaccount.us-east-1
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username
string
required
Your Snowflake username
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password
string
required
Your Snowflake password
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database
string
required
The database name to connect to
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schema
string
The default schema to use (optional)
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warehouse
string
The warehouse to use for compute (optional)
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role
string
The role to use for the connection (optional)

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Testing Your Connection

Before saving, Galaxy will test your connection to make sure everything works. Click Test Connection to verify your settings.

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Success

Connection Successful When successful, you’ll see a green confirmation message and can save your connection.

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Error

Connection Error If there’s an issue, you’ll see an error message with details about what went wrong.

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Common Issues

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Connection Failed

  • Verify your account identifier format is correct
  • Check if your account is active and accessible
  • Ensure your network allows connections to Snowflake
  • Confirm the account region matches your identifier

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Authentication Error

  • Verify your username and password are correct
  • Check if multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required
  • Ensure your user has the necessary permissions
  • Confirm the role specified (if any) is granted to your user

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Account Identifier Format

Snowflake account identifiers can be in different formats:
  • Legacy format: XXXXXXXXXX
  • Organization format: ORGNAME-ACCOUNTNAME
  • Full format with region: myaccount.us-east-1

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Warehouse Issues

  • Ensure the specified warehouse exists
  • Verify your user has permission to use the warehouse
  • Check if the warehouse is suspended (it will auto-resume if configured)
  • Consider warehouse size for query performance

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Role and Permission Issues

  • If specifying a role, ensure it’s granted to your user
  • Check that the role has access to the specified database and schema
  • Verify the role has usage permissions on the warehouse
  • Consider using a default role if role-specific access isn’t needed

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Best Practices

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Security

  • Use strong passwords and consider enabling MFA
  • Create dedicated service accounts for Galaxy
  • Grant minimum necessary permissions
  • Use network policies to restrict access

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Performance

  • Choose appropriate warehouse size for your workload
  • Consider using dedicated warehouses for Galaxy
  • Enable auto-suspend and auto-resume for cost optimization
  • Use result caching when possible

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Cost Management

  • Monitor warehouse usage and costs
  • Set resource monitors for budget control
  • Use smaller warehouses for simple queries
  • Schedule larger warehouses for batch operations

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Next Steps

Once connected, you can:
  • Browse your databases, schemas, and tables in the sidebar
  • Write SQL queries with Snowflake-specific functions
  • Use the AI agent to help write complex analytical queries
  • Leverage Snowflake’s powerful data sharing capabilities
  • Save and share your queries with your team