# How to connect to Snowflake using info from snowflake\_connector\_python
**URL:** https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/how-to-connect-to-snowflake-using-info-from-snowflake-connector-python/1550
**Category:** GX Core Support
**Tags:** how-to, help-wanted
**Created:** [January 3, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/how-to-connect-to-snowflake-using-info-from-snowflake-connector-python/1550 "2024-01-03T20:36:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dnikolic](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/dnikolic)
#### Post date: [January 3, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/how-to-connect-to-snowflake-using-info-from-snowflake-connector-python/1550/1 "2024-01-03T20:36:24Z")
I use following code to connect to Snowflake from python (using snowflake\_connector\_python version 3.0.1).
```auto
import snowflake.connector
snowflake.connector.connect(
authenticator='externalbrowser',
user=user,
role=role,
warehouse=warehouse,
account=account,
region=region)
```
Please note that my authenticator is ‘externalbrowser’. I’m using browser based SSO.
My question is how should I connect from GX? What should be my connection string and how do I provide ‘authenticator’ parameter?
I appreciate help, thanks a lot 🙂
---
### Author:  [@rachel.house](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/rachel.house)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/how-to-connect-to-snowflake-using-info-from-snowflake-connector-python/1550/2 "2024-01-04T16:12:43Z")
Hi @dnikolic, thanks for reaching out!
First, here’s a link to our docs page on connecting to Snowflake data if you haven’t yet seen it: [Connect to SQL database Data Assets](https://docs.greatexpectations.io/docs/oss/guides/connecting_to_your_data/fluent/database/connect_sql_source_data)
For browser-based SSO authentication, the connection string format that you want to use is below; note that you’ll have the additional query param `authenticator=externalbrowser` and you need to set your password to an empty string.
```python
snowflake://{USER_NAME}:{PASSWORD}@{ACCOUNT_NAME}/{DATABASE_NAME}/{SCHEMA_NAME}?warehouse={WAREHOUSE_NAME}&role={ROLE_NAME}&authenticator=externalbrowser
```
Here’s an example of creating a Snowflake Data Source with that connection string:
```python
import os
import great_expectations as gx
USER_NAME = os.getenv("SNOWFLAKE_USERNAME")
ACCOUNT_NAME = os.getenv("SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT")
PASSWORD = ""
ROLE_NAME = ""
DATABASE_NAME = ""
SCHEMA_NAME = ""
WAREHOUSE_NAME = ""
snowflake_connection_str = (
f"snowflake://{USER_NAME}:{PASSWORD}@{ACCOUNT_NAME}/{DATABASE_NAME}/{SCHEMA_NAME}?"
f"warehouse={WAREHOUSE_NAME}&role={ROLE_NAME}&authenticator=externalbrowser"
)
context = gx.get_context()
datasource = context.sources.add_snowflake(
name="snowflake_data_source",
connection_string=snowflake_connection_str
)
```
---
### Author:  [@dnikolic](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/dnikolic)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 11:44am UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/how-to-connect-to-snowflake-using-info-from-snowflake-connector-python/1550/3 "2024-01-08T11:44:53Z")
Hi @rachel.house , thanks a lot for prompt response.
It is now clear how to provide ‘authenticator’ parameter, thanks.
Unfortunaltely I’m still not able to connect. Getting following error:
```auto
raise TestConnectionError(
great_expectations.datasource.fluent.interfaces.TestConnectionError: Attempt to connect to datasource failed with the following error message:
(snowflake.connector.errors.OperationalError) 250003: Failed to get the response. Hanging? method: post,
url: https://myaccount.snowflakecomputing.com:443/session/authenticator-request?request_guid=2df584de-b8d1-4e8b-9087-d1a5ed6ea5c1
```
I noticed that in my python connection string (which works fine) I have also ‘region’ parameter. I tried using following connection string:
```auto
f"snowflake://{USER_NAME}:{PASSWORD}@{ACCOUNT_NAME}/{REGION}/{DATABASE_NAME}/{SCHEMA_NAME}?"
f"warehouse={WAREHOUSE_NAME}&role={ROLE_NAME}&authenticator=externalbrowser"
```
but that did not work. Error was ‘Invalid name space is specified: /\/\’.
Any suggestion?
Thanks a lot 🙂
---
### Author:  [@rachel.house](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/u/rachel.house)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://discourse.greatexpectations.io/t/how-to-connect-to-snowflake-using-info-from-snowflake-connector-python/1550/4 "2024-01-08T15:28:34Z")
Hi @dnikolic, the authenticator query param is the `&authenticator=externalbrowser` text at the end of the connection string - it’s provided just by including it in the connection string (as shown in my last message).
You don’t need to include region separately. I see now that calling it `ACCOUNT_NAME` in my example might have been confusing, since [Snowflake has two formats of account identifiers, the **account name** and the **account locator**](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/admin-account-identifier). You can use either the account name or account locator in the connection string.
- Note that if you [copy your account name using the Snowflake instructions](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/admin-account-identifier#finding-the-organization-and-account-name-for-an-account), it’ll be in format `.`. For the connection string, replace the period (`.`) with a hyphen (`-`). An example copied account name `WGECESQ.WBU94726` would be specified as `WGECESQ-WBU94726` in your connection string.
As an example, below are two connection strings, with fake values, that use the correct connection string format:
```bash
snowflake://{USER_NAME}:{PASSWORD}@{ACCOUNT_IDENTIFIER}/{DATABASE_NAME}/{SCHEMA_NAME}?warehouse={WAREHOUSE_NAME}&role={ROLE_NAME}&authenticator=externalbrowser
```
With **account name** :
```bash
snowflake://snowflakeuser1:@WGECESQ-WBU94726/SNOWFLAKEDB/MYTABLE?warehouse=DEFAULT_WAREHOUSE&role=PUBLIC&authenticator=externalbrowser
```
With **account locator** :
```bash
snowflake://snowflakeuser1:@wbu94726.us-east-1/SNOWFLAKEDB/MYTABLE?warehouse=DEFAULT_WAREHOUSE&role=PUBLIC&authenticator=externalbrowser
```