Snowflake Cortex Analyst
by Snowflake · Menlo Park, USA · Founded 2012
Managed text-to-SQL API for business questions on Snowflake data
Reviewed by the the30top research team · Last reviewed 2026-10-27
Overview
Cortex Analyst is an LLM-powered Snowflake feature that lets developers build apps where business users ask questions in natural language and get answers without writing SQL. It is delivered as a REST API and relies on a semantic model, defined in YAML or Semantic Views, to map business terms to tables. Snowflake documents clear limits: it only handles questions answerable with SQL, cannot access results of earlier queries in a multi-turn chat, and may struggle when conversations shift intent often.
Our verdict
Cortex Analyst is a solid building block for teams that live in Snowflake and have developers to wire it up. Business users cannot use it directly without an app on top.
Best for
Snowflake customers whose developers want to embed governed Q and A in their own apps.
Avoid if
Your data is not in Snowflake or you want a ready-made chat interface.
Pros
- Managed service inside Snowflake
- Semantic model keeps answers on defined terms
- Usage billed per message
Cons
- Only answers questions that SQL can resolve
- Multi-turn chats cannot reuse earlier query results
- Requires developers to build the user interface
Key capabilities
Frequently asked questions
How is Cortex Analyst billed?
Snowflake bills credits based on messages processed, and only successful responses count. Warehouse costs apply when the generated SQL runs.
How do I use Cortex Analyst?
It is available as a REST API and uses a semantic model, in YAML or Semantic Views, to map business terms to your data.
What can Cortex Analyst not do?
Snowflake says it is limited to questions answerable with SQL and does not provide general business insights.