Cortex Code CLI reference¶

Command line reference for Cortex Code CLI.

Starting Cortex Code¶

CLI options¶

Connections must be defined in ~/.snowflake/connections.toml. See Cortex Code CLI for connection setup. Session IDs are shown at startup, at exit, and stored in ~/.snowflake/cortex/conversations/.

Examples¶

Start with working directory:

cortex -w /path/to/project

Resume last session with specific connection:

cortex --continue -c production

One-off prompt (JSON output):

cortex -p "List all Python files" --output-format stream-json

Commands¶

update¶

mcp¶

See for details.

Interactive mode¶

Keyboard shortcuts¶

Slash commands¶

Session management¶

Model and mode¶

Snowflake and data¶

Development tools¶

Configuration¶

Extensibility¶

Utilities¶

Session storage¶

See Cortex Code CLI Settings for configuration details.

Command details¶

/sql: Execute SQL examples¶

Basic query:

/sql SELECT * FROM users

With row limit:

/sql SELECT * FROM large_table --limit 1000

Multi-line queries (use Ctrl+J for newlines):

/sql SELECT
  customer_id,
  SUM(amount) as total
FROM orders
GROUP BY customer_id

Results open automatically in the table viewer (Ctrl+T).

/worktree: Git worktrees¶

/sandbox: Sandbox control¶

/mcp: MCP servers¶

Batch mode¶

Exit codes¶

Configuration and setup¶

Updating Cortex Code CLI¶

Cortex Code CLI updates itself when a new version is available. You can also manually update to the latest version by issuing cortex update. Issue cortex update <version> to install the specified version.

To disable automatic updates, edit ~/.snowflake/cortex/settings.json and add "autoUpdate": false.

Manually adding a connection¶

To manually create or edit the ~/.snowflake/connections.toml file to define your connection, follow the steps below:

1. Create the ~/.snowflake/connections.toml file if it doesn’t already exist.

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   mkdir -p ~/.snowflake
   touch ~/.snowflake/connections.toml

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2. Use the chmod command to set its permissions so that only you can read and write it.

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   chmod 600 ~/.snowflake/connections.toml

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3. Open the file in a text editor (here, nano).

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   nano ~/.snowflake/connections.toml

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4. Add lines like the following to define a connection. Enter the name of the connection in place of myaccount and replace the placeholder values with your Snowflake account details. Use browser-based SSO (external browser authentication) or PAT (programmatic access token). You can obtain a PAT from Snowsight (see Using programmatic access tokens for authentication). Include only the authenticator value or password value, depending on the authentication method you choose.

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   [myaccount]
   account       = "<ACCOUNT>"
   user          = "<USERNAME>"
   authenticator = "externalbrowser" # For browser-based SSO; omit for PAT
   password      = "<PAT>"           # For PAT authentication; omit for SSO
   warehouse     = "<WAREHOUSE>"
   role          = "<ROLE>"
   database      = "<DATABASE>"
   schema        = "<SCHEMA>"

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5. Save and close the file.

Setting up shell completions¶

To give your shell the ability to auto-complete Cortex Code CLI commands and options, follow the instructions below for your shell.

After running the appropriate command above for your shell, restart your shell with exec $SHELL.

Directory structure¶

Installing Cortex Code CLI creates the following directory structure in your home directory:

~/.snowflake/cortex/
   ├── settings.json          # Main configuration
   ├── mcp.json               # MCP server configs
   ├── conversations/         # Session history
   ├── skills/                # Global skills
   ├── commands/              # Custom commands
   ├── hooks/                 # Hook scripts
   ├── profiles/              # Team profiles
   └── cache/                 # Temporary cache

Troubleshooting¶

Following are common error messages you may encounter during installation and setup.

Command not found¶

Make sure that the installation directory ~/.local/bin is included in your PATH environment variable. For example, if you are using bash, issue the following commands:

export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"
echo 'export PATH="~/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

Permission denied¶

Make sure that the cortex executable has execute permissions. Issue the following command:

chmod +x ~/.local/bin/cortex

Connection errors¶

Make sure that the connection file ~/.snowflake/connections.toml exists and contains valid connection details.

cat ~/.snowflake/connections.toml

Try invoking the cortex command with a connection explicitly specified using the -c option. For example:

cortex -c myaccount

See also¶

Cortex Code CLI

Installation, setup, and first prompts

Cortex Code CLI Settings

Configuration file reference

Cortex Code CLI workflow examples

Capabilities and workflow examples