> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sdf.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with Snowflake and SDF

> SDF as a best-in-class transformation layer for Snowflake

## Overview

SDF can hydrate table schemas and execute queries against a Snowflake DB. This guide will walk you through the steps of creating a Snowflake integration. By the end, you will be able to reference tables in your snowflake instance in SDF.

SDF will use remote Snowflake schema information to do type bindings and other static analysis checks on your workspace.

## Prerequisites

In order to connect to Snowflake, you will need to have on hand the following:

1. A Snowflake account to connect to.
2. Valid credentials with read access to materialize tables in your Snowflake account.

## Guide

<Steps>
  <Step title="Collect Required Information">
    To connect to Snowflake, you need the following materials:

    * Account ID - the 8 digit organization identifier
    * Username - your Snowflake username
    * Password - your Snowflake password
    * Role - a role with appropriate permissions
    * Warehouse - The warehouse you are connecting to.

    Log in to your [Snowflake](https://app.snowflake.com/) account to find the relevant information.

    <img src="https://cdn.sdf.com/img/snowflake-account-id.png" />

    <Note>
      Run `sdf auth login snowflake --help` to see all login options.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect SDF to Snowflake">
    Running the following command will prompt you to choose authentication method.

    ```shell theme={null}
    sdf auth login snowflake --account-id <ACCOUNT_ID> --username <USERNAME> --role <ROLE> --warehouse <WAREHOUSE_NAME>
    ```

    <Accordion title="Password Authentication" description="Connect using username and password">
      Choose the `password` option and enter your password when prompted.

      Alternatively include the password directly inline:

      ```shell theme={null}
      sdf auth login snowflake --account-id <ACCOUNT_ID> --username <USERNAME> --role <ROLE> --warehouse <WAREHOUSE_NAME> --password <PASSWORD>
      ```
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="Key Pair Authentication" description="Connect using key pair authentication">
      Choose `private key path` or `private key pem` option and enter the path or pem content to your private key when prompted.

      * Supported key formats: PKCS#1, PKCS#8

      <Tip>
        If you have a PEM file, opt to use the `--private-key-path` flag to pass the path to the file.

        * If you are determined to paste the pem directly or choose to parameterize `private-key-pem` in a `credential.sdf.yml` file with an environment variable, replace newlines with `\n` and include key delimiters.
        * In both cases, ensure the PEM is a single line with `\n` as newline characters and no extra whitespace.
      </Tip>

      Alternatively, you can provide the private key information directly inline:

      ```shell theme={null}
      sdf auth login snowflake --account-id <ACCOUNT_ID> --username <USERNAME> --role <ROLE> --warehouse <WAREHOUSE_NAME> --private-key-path <PATH_TO_PRIVATE_KEY> --private-key-passphrase <PASSPHRASE>
      ```

      <Note>
        Ensure you have generated and registered your key pair with Snowflake before using this method. Please refer to the [Snowflake documentation](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/key-pair-auth) for more information on setting up key pair authentication.
      </Note>
    </Accordion>

    <Info>
      This will create a new credential in a `~/.sdf/` directory in the root of your system. This credential will be used to authenticate with Snowflake.
    </Info>

    <Note>
      SDF supports Duo push notifications for Snowflake Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). When MFA is enabled for your Snowflake account, you'll be prompted to complete the MFA step during authentication using Duo push.

      <Tip>
        To minimize MFA prompts during authentication, Snowflake allows MFA token caching. For detailed instructions on setting this up, refer to the [Snowflake documentation on MFA token caching](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/security-mfa#label-mfa-token-caching).
      </Tip>
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add Snowflake Provider in Workspace">
    Once authenticated, add an integration block to your `workspace.sdf.yml`. This tells SDF to use Snowflake to hydrate missing table schemas.

    ```yml theme={null}
    workspace:
        ...
        integrations:
            - provider: snowflake
              type: database
              sources: 
                - pattern: <DATABASE>.*.*
    ```

    Replace `<DATABASE>` with the name of the database you want to hydrate. Note this is configurable and can be changed to any database you have access to. For example, if I wanted SDF to pull from two databases, called `db1` and `db2`, I would write:

    ```yml theme={null}
    workspace:
        ...
        integrations:
            - provider: snowflake
              type: database
              sources: 
                - pattern: db1.*.*
                - pattern: db2.*.*
    ```

    Integrations can also be configured to use specific credentials by referencing the credential name in the integration block. For example, if you wanted to use a credential called `snowflake-creds`, you would write:

    ```yml theme={null}
    workspace:
        ...
        integrations:
            - provider: snowflake
              type: database
              credential: snowflake-creds
              sources: 
                - pattern: db1.schema1.mytable
                - pattern: db2.schema2.*
    ```

    For more information on integration configuration, see the [integration documentation](/guide/setup/integrations).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Try it out!">
    Now that you're connected, let's make sure SDF can pull the schema information it needs.

    Run `sdf compile -q "select * from <DATABASE>.<SCHEMA>.<TABLE>" --show all`

    If the connection is successful, you will see the schema for the table you selected.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  The term 'DATABASE' in Snowflake is interchangeable with the term 'CATALOG' in SDF.
</Info>

## Next Steps

Now that you have connected to Snowflake, you can start materializing tables in Snowflake. Check out the [Snowflake materialization](/integrations/snowflake/basic-materialization) guide to get started.