Bootstrapping a project from a template¶

To make it easier for you to instantiate projects, Snowflake CLI implements project templating. You can create your own project templates or use samples provided by Snowflake in the Snowflake CLI templates public Git repository.

The snow init command creates a project directory and populates it with file structure defined in the specified template.

If you don’t provide the --no-interactive option, the command prompts for each variable specified by the template (template.yml) that you don’t provide with the -D (or --variable) option.
If you do provide the --no-interactive option, the command uses the default values of variables (defined by the template). If the template does not define a default value for a variable and you don’t use the -D option to provide it, the command exits with an error.

The snow init command uses the following syntax:

snow init PATH [--template-source SOURCE] [--template NAME] [-D key1=value1 -D key2=value2...] [--no-interactive]

Copy

where:

PATH is a new directory where the command initializes the project. If you specify an existing directory, the command exits with an error.
[--template-source SOURCE] is one of the following:
- A local file path of the template directory.
- A valid Git URL to the directory containing the project template. If not specified, the command defaults to the Snowflake CLI templates Git repository.
[--template NAME] specifies which subdirectory of SOURCE to use as a template (useful for remote sources). If not provided, SOURCE is treated as a single template.
[-D key1=value1 -D key2=value2...] is a list of one or more name-value pairs, providing values for variables defined in the template (in template.yml). The command does not prompt for variables you provide with this option.
[--no-interactive] disables prompts for user input. If you use this option, you must provide all of the required values with the [-D key1=value1 -D key2=value2...] options; otherwise, the command exists with an error.

For more information, see the snow init command reference.

Examples¶

Initialize project from example_snowpark template from default repository:

snow init my_snowpark_test_app --template example_snowpark

Copy

The command prompts for (default values are shown in square brackets):

Project identifier (used to determine artifacts stage path) [my_snowpark_project]:
What stage should the procedures and functions be deployed to? [dev_deployment]: snowpark
Initialized the new project in my_snowpark_test_app

Initialize the project from the local template.

snow init new_streamlit_project --template-source ../local_templates/example_streamlit -D query_warehouse=dev_wareshouse -D stage=testing

Copy

In this example, query_warehouse and stage variables are specified with the -D option, so the command only prompts for the following:

Name of the streamlit app [streamlit_app]:
Initialized the new project in new_streamlit_project

Creating custom templates¶

Template layout¶

A project template requires a template.yml file that contains data that explains how the snow init command should render the template. If the file is not present in the template’s root directory, snow init finishes with an error. For more information, see template.yml syntax.

Template syntax¶

Template variables and expressions should be enclosed in <! ... !>. Snowflake CLI also supports basic jinja2 expressions and filters, for example:

some_file_spec:
  filename: <! file_name !>
  size: "<! [ max_file_size_mb, 4 ] | max !> MB"

Copy

Snowflake CLI project templates also support the following reserved variable and filter:

project_dir_name variable, which automatically resolves to the root directory of the created project.

For example, suppose your snowflake.yml file contains the following:
```
definition_version: "1.1"
snowpark:
  project_name: <! project_dir_name !>
  ...
```
Copy
If you then execute the following command to initialize the project from your custom template:
```
snow init examples/new_snowpark_project --template-source my_example_template/
```
Copy
The snow init command renders the snowflake.yml file as follows:
```
definition_version: "1.1"
snowpark:
  project_name: new_snowpark_project
  ...
```
Copy

to_snowflake_identifier filter, which formats user-provided strings into to correctly-formatted Snowflake identifiers.

Snowflake strongly recommends using this filter when a variable references a Snowflake object.

For example, suppose your snowflake.yml file contains the following:

definition_version: "1.1"
streamlit:
  name: <! name | to_snowflake_identifier !>
  ...

Copy

If you then execute the following command to initialize a project from your custom template:

snow init examples/streamlit --template-source my_example_template2/ -D name='My test streamlit'

Copy

The snow init command renders the snowflake.yml file as follows:

definition_version: "1.1"
streamlit:
  name: My_test_streamlit
  ...

Copy

If a string cannot be converted into a valid Snowlake identifier, the snow init command exits with an error, as shown:

snow init examples/streamlit --template-source my_example_template2/ -D name=1234567890

Copy

╭─ Error ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Value '123456789' cannot be converted to valid Snowflake identifier.         │
│ Consider enclosing it in double quotes: ""                                   │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

About the `template.yml` project template file¶

The template.yml project template file stores all of the data needed to render the project. For example:

minimum_cli_version: "2.7.0"
files_to_render:
  - snowflake.yml
variables:
  - name: name
    default: streamlit_app
    prompt: "Name of the streamlit app"
    type: string
  - name: stage
    default: my_streamlit_stage
    prompt: "What stage should the app be deployed to?"
    type: string
  - name: query_warehouse
    default: my_streamlit_warehouse
    prompt: "On which warehouse SQL queries issued by the application are run"
    type: string

Copy

The following table lists the properties in a template.yml project template file.

Template properties¶
Property	Definition
minimum_cli_version optional, string (default:None)	Minimum Snowflake CLI version. If specified, the `snow init` command checks the version of Snowflake CLI installed and exits with an error if the installed version is lower than the specified version.
files_to_render optional, string list (default: `[]`)	List of files to be rendered by the `snow init` command. Each path should be relative to the templates root. Note Template files not included in this list are added to the new project, but their content remains unchanged.
variables optional, variable list (default: `[]`)	List of template variables. It supports customizing prompts, providing default values for optional variables and basic type checking. See the Variables property parameters table below for more details. Variable values are determined in order from this list. If you omit any variable used in the `snowflake.yml` file from this list, the `snow init` command exits with the following error. ╭─ Error ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮ │ Cannot determine value of variable undefinded_variable │ ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

The following table lists the parameters of a variable property.

Variable property parameters¶
Property	Definition
name required, string	Name of the variable. It is used in the template files, such as `<! name !>` and in `-D` option, such as `-D name=value`.
prompt optional, string	Prompt to display to the user to get a value. If you don’t set this parameter, the command displays the name of the parameter as the prompt text. If you define the prompt as follows: variables: - name: project_id prompt: The identifier for the project Copy `snow init` displays this prompt for the `project_id` variable. The identifier for the project:
default optional, string/int/float	Default value of the variable. If not provided, the variable is treated as required, so a user needs to provide the value after a prompt or by specifying it with the `-D` command line option. The following example defines two variables with default values: variables: - name: max_file_size_mb default: 16 - name: file_name default: 'default_file_name.zip' Copy When executed, the `snow init` command displays the following prompts for these two variables: file_name [default_file_name.zip]: max_file_size_mb [16]: 5 Copy In this example, the command uses the default value (`default_file_name.zip`) for the `file_name` variable has a default value, and sets `max_file_size_mb` to the value provided by the user (5).
type optional, string	Data type of the variable. Valid values include: `string`, `int`, and `float`. If not specified, the command assumes the value is a `string`. The following example defines a variable as an `int` data type: variables: - name: max_file_size_mb type: int Copy When executed, the snow init command displays the following errors if the user enters a value of the wrong data type: max_file_size_mb: not an int Error: 'not an int' is not a valid integer. max_file_size_mb: 14.5 Error: '14.5' is not a valid integer. max_file_size_mb: 6 Initialized the new project in example_dir

Bootstrapping a project from a template¶

Examples¶

Creating custom templates¶

Template layout¶

Template syntax¶

About the template.yml project template file¶

About the `template.yml` project template file¶