SnowSQL (CLI client)¶
Note
Snowflake CLI is an open-source command-line tool explicitly designed for developer-centric workloads in addition to SQL operations. Snowflake CLI is a more modern, robust, and efficient CLI client than legacy SnowSQL. Snowflake CLI not only lets you execute SQL commands, but also lets you execute commands for other Snowflake products like Streamlit in Snowflake, Snowpark Container Services, and Snowflake Native App Framework. Snowflake will only add new features and enhancements to Snowflake CLI. Consequently, Snowflake recommends that you begin transitioning from SnowSQL to Snowflake CLI.
To help you with the transition from SnowSQL to Snowflake CLI, see Migrating from SnowSQL to Snowflake CLI.
As of July 2025, Snowflake will provide support based on the minor releases for SnowSQL, as follows:
SnowSQL version
Initial release date
Support end date
1.2.x
February 02, 2023
December 19, 2025
1.3.x
May 02, 2024
May 02, 2026
1.4.x
May 22, 2025
May 22, 2027
SnowSQL is a legacy command line client for connecting to Snowflake to execute SQL queries and perform all DDL and DML operations, including loading data into and unloading data out of database tables.
SnowSQL (snowsql executable) can be run as an interactive shell or in batch mode through stdin or using the -f option.
SnowSQL is an example of an application developed using the Snowflake Connector for Python; however, the connector is not a prerequisite for installing SnowSQL. All required software for installing SnowSQL is bundled in the installers.
Snowflake provides platform-specific versions of SnowSQL for download for the following platforms:
Operating System |
Supported Versions |
|---|---|
Linux |
CentOS 7, 8 |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7, 8 |
|
Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04, 20.04 or later |
|
macOS |
10.14 or later |
Microsoft Windows |
Microsoft Windows 8 or later |
Microsoft Windows Server 2012, 2016, 2019, 2022 |