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Cortex Code (coco)

Cortex Code — informally coco — is Snowflake’s agentic AI coding assistant. It writes, modifies, explains, and reviews SQL and helps you build and operate on Snowflake. It comes in two forms: a desktop command-line tool and an integrated assistant inside Snowsight.

What it is

Cortex Code is an agentic assistant for development and operational work on Snowflake: authoring and refactoring SQL, exploring data assets, reviewing changes with a diff view, explaining existing code, and performing administrative tasks. It plans and executes multi-step tasks, selecting internal tools and relevant Snowflake context (your roles, privileges, schemas, and SQL syntax) to produce accurate responses.

It ships in two forms:

  • Desktop / CLI — the cortex command-line tool you install locally and connect to your Snowflake account.
  • On-platform in Snowsight — an integrated assistant panel inside Snowsight Workspaces, context-aware of the script you have open.

Cortex Code vs. the Cortex Intelligence Agent

Do not confuse Cortex Code with the Cortex Intelligence Agent (the CLINICOGENOMICS_AGENT, see that page). They solve different problems. Cortex Code is a coding assistant: you are still the author, and it helps you write, refactor, and explain SQL and build on the platform. The Cortex Intelligence Agent is natural-language Q&A over semantic views — you ask a question in plain English and it returns an answer, without you touching SQL.

ToolBest forInterface
Cortex Code (coco)Writing, refactoring, and explaining SQL; building on SnowflakeCLI (desktop) or assistant panel in Snowsight Workspaces
Cortex Intelligence AgentQuick natural-language questions over the curated semantic layerChat in Snowsight (AI & ML → Intelligence)

Rule of thumb: reach for Cortex Code when the output is code you own; reach for the Cortex Intelligence Agent when the output is an answer.

Desktop / CLI

Install the Cortex Code CLI with the official install script, then verify the install.

bash
# macOS, Linux, or Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)curl -LsS https://ai.snowflake.com/static/cc-scripts/install.sh | sh
# verifycortex --version

On native Windows, install from PowerShell instead:

PowerShell
irm https://ai.snowflake.com/static/cc-scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Connect to your account

Start cortex against your Snowflake account. You authenticate as a Snowflake user, so Cortex Code runs as your RWD role and sees only what that role can access (see Access).

bash
cortex -c <your-account>

On-platform in Snowsight

If you do not want a local install, use Cortex Code directly in Snowsight (app.snowflake.com). It appears as an integrated assistant panel in Workspaces, operating in the context of the script you have open.

  • Type prompts to generate, modify, or explain SQL inline.
  • Reference catalog objects with @ to pull tables, views, and schemas into context.
  • Review suggested code with a diff view before applying it.
  • Use quick actions to fix errors and refine SQL in place.

Because it shares your Snowsight session, it inherits your active role and warehouse automatically.

Access: roles & warehouse

Cortex Code is not a privilege escalation. It executes as your Snowflake role — e.g. RWD_ANALYST_PHI_ROLE — and can only read or operate on objects that role is already granted. If you cannot query something yourself, neither can coco on your behalf.

Running SQL needs a warehouse. Use an interactive warehouse such as RWD_PRODUCTION_QUERY_INTERACTIVE_WH for ad-hoc work. In Snowsight, it uses whatever role and warehouse are active in your session; from the CLI, set them on the connection.

Help

Stuck on install, auth, or a Cortex Code prompt? Ask in #rwd-snowflake-help.