Cortex Code CLI is Snowflake's AI-powered command-line assistant. It lets you query data, build applications, and manage Snowflake resources using plain English directly from your terminal. Behind the scenes it writes and runs SQL, orchestrates Snowflake-native skills, and connects to external tools through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

In this guide you will install the CLI, connect it to a Snowflake account, and run a handful of queries to see what it can do.

A working Cortex Code CLI environment connected to your Snowflake account, ready for day-to-day use.

Open a terminal and run the installer:

The script installs the cortex executable to ~/.local/bin and adds it to your PATH.

Open PowerShell and run:

The executable installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\cortex and is added to your PATH automatically.

You should see the installed version number printed to the terminal.

Launch Cortex Code CLI by typing cortex in your terminal. A setup wizard walks you through connecting to Snowflake.

The wizard presents two options:

Cortex Code CLI supports two authentication methods:

You can generate a PAT from Snowsight under your user menu. See Using programmatic access tokens for authentication for details.

Once connected, Cortex Code CLI drops you into an interactive session. Type:

This prints your active connection, role, warehouse, database, and schema.

With the session running, type a plain-English question:

Cortex Code CLI translates your request into SQL, runs it against Snowflake, and returns the results directly in the terminal.

Try a few more requests to get a feel for what is possible:

Cortex Code CLI displays its reasoning steps as it works. If it needs more information it will ask you a follow-up question.

When a query returns tabular data, press Ctrl+T to open the built-in table viewer. Inside the viewer you can scroll, sort, and copy data.

You can also run SQL directly using the /sql slash command:

To limit the number of rows displayed:

Prefix a fully qualified table name with # to pull its schema and sample rows into the conversation automatically:

Cortex Code CLI fetches the column definitions and a sample of rows so it can answer questions about the table without you having to describe it.

Every conversation is saved automatically. You can pick up exactly where you left off.

This opens a list of previous sessions. Select one and press Enter, or use cortex --continue when launching to jump straight into the most recent session.

Made a wrong turn? Roll back to an earlier point in the conversation:

Want to try a different approach without losing your current progress? Fork the session:

This creates a new session branched from the current point.

Congratulations! You've successfully installed Cortex Code CLI, connected it to your Snowflake account, and run your first natural-language queries from the terminal.

From here you can explore slash commands (/help), enable plan mode for step-by-step approval (/plan), connect MCP servers for external tools, and add custom skills to tailor the assistant to your workflow.

Documentation:

Additional Reading: