snowflake-analytics-mcp-server

A Model Context Protocol server for Snowflake. It connects to Snowflake via the official snowflake-sdk driver (pure Node — no client binary needed) and exposes table-discovery, SQL query, and Cortex AI tools over stdio. Runnable directly with npx.

Install

npm install -g snowflake-analytics-mcp-server
# or run directly (no install):
npx -y snowflake-analytics-mcp-server

Configuration

All credentials come from environment variables.

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT`	✅	—	Account identifier, e.g. `xy12345.eu-central-1` or `orgname-account_name`
`SNOWFLAKE_USERNAME`	✅	—	Login name
`SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD`	✅ (password auth)	—	Password (required unless using key-pair/OAuth)
`SNOWFLAKE_WAREHOUSE`	—	—	Virtual warehouse to use
`SNOWFLAKE_DATABASE`	recommended	—	Default database (used by `list_tables`, and as the fallback when a caller passes an inaccessible database)
`SNOWFLAKE_SCHEMA`	recommended	—	Default schema
`SNOWFLAKE_ROLE`	—	—	Role to assume
`SNOWFLAKE_AUTHENTICATOR`	—	`SNOWFLAKE`	`SNOWFLAKE` (password), `SNOWFLAKE_JWT` (key-pair), `OAUTH`
`SNOWFLAKE_PRIVATE_KEY`	key-pair	—	PEM private key contents
`SNOWFLAKE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH`	key-pair	—	Path to a PEM private key file (alternative to above)
`SNOWFLAKE_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSPHRASE`	—	—	Passphrase, if the key is encrypted
`SNOWFLAKE_TOKEN`	OAuth	—	OAuth access token (with `SNOWFLAKE_AUTHENTICATOR=OAUTH`)
`SNOWFLAKE_READ_ONLY`	—	`true`	Blocks writes/DDL in `execute_query`. Set `false` to allow them
`SNOWFLAKE_ROW_LIMIT`	—	`1000`	Hard cap on returned rows
`QUERY_TIMEOUT_MS`	—	`60000`	Client-side query timeout
`SNOWFLAKE_CORTEX_ENABLED`	—	`true`	Register the Cortex AI tools. Set `false` to hide them
`SNOWFLAKE_CORTEX_MODEL`	—	`llama3.1-8b`	Default model for Cortex AI_COMPLETE / text-to-SQL

Account identifier tip

Use hyphens, not underscores, in the account identifier if a client has trouble connecting (e.g. orgname-account-name).

Claude Desktop config

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "snowflake": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "snowflake-analytics-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT": "xy12345.eu-central-1",
        "SNOWFLAKE_USERNAME": "ANALYTICS_USER",
        "SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD": "••••••••",
        "SNOWFLAKE_WAREHOUSE": "COMPUTE_WH",
        "SNOWFLAKE_DATABASE": "ANALYTICS_DB",
        "SNOWFLAKE_SCHEMA": "PUBLIC",
        "SNOWFLAKE_ROLE": "ANALYST"
      }
    }
  }
}

Key-pair auth example

"env": {
  "SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT": "xy12345.eu-central-1",
  "SNOWFLAKE_USERNAME": "ANALYTICS_USER",
  "SNOWFLAKE_AUTHENTICATOR": "SNOWFLAKE_JWT",
  "SNOWFLAKE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "/path/to/rsa_key.p8",
  "SNOWFLAKE_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSPHRASE": "••••••••",
  "SNOWFLAKE_DATABASE": "ANALYTICS_DB",
  "SNOWFLAKE_SCHEMA": "PUBLIC"
}

Tools

SQL & discovery

Tool	Args	Description
`list_tables`	`database?`, `schema?`, `include_views?`	Returns `{ table_name }[]` for table discovery
`test_connection`	—	Returns version, account, user, role, warehouse, database, schema
`list_databases`	—	Databases visible to the current role
`list_schemas`	`database?`	Schemas in a database
`list_warehouses`	—	Warehouses with size/state
`describe_table`	`table`, `database?`, `schema?`	Columns, types, nullability, defaults
`get_table_sample`	`table`, `database?`, `schema?`, `limit?`	Preview rows from a table
`execute_query`	`query`	Run SQL. Read-only unless `SNOWFLAKE_READ_ONLY=false`

Cortex AI

These are additive generative-AI tools (token-billed, higher latency than the SQL tools). Each is invoked as a SELECT, so they work with SNOWFLAKE_READ_ONLY=true. Disable them with SNOWFLAKE_CORTEX_ENABLED=false.

Tool	Args	Description
`cortex_ask`	`question`, `database?`, `schema?`, `model?`	Natural-language question → generated read-only SQL → answer. Best for analytics like "what is total revenue"
`cortex_complete`	`prompt`, `model?`	Free-form LLM completion via AI_COMPLETE
`cortex_sentiment`	`text`	Sentiment of a text via AI_SENTIMENT
`cortex_summarize`	`text`	Concise summary of a text
`cortex_classify`	`text`, `categories[]`	Classify text into your categories via AI_CLASSIFY
`cortex_translate`	`text`, `to_language`, `from_language?`	Translate text (source auto-detected when omitted)

cortex_ask generates SQL and always restricts it to read-only statements, regardless of SNOWFLAKE_READ_ONLY.

Cortex prerequisites: the account must be in a region that supports Cortex, and the connecting role needs the SNOWFLAKE.CORTEX_USER database role plus the USE AI FUNCTIONS privilege. If a Cortex call fails on region or privileges, the tool returns a hint explaining what to grant.

Database resolution

list_tables, describe_table, get_table_sample, list_schemas, and cortex_ask accept an optional database. If the value passed isn't an accessible database, the tool falls back to SNOWFLAKE_DATABASE instead of erroring — so a stray or wrong database name from an upstream caller doesn't cause a failed lookup.

License

MIT