Snowflake Cortex Agents

Connect the Alation-hosted MCP server to Snowflake as an MCP connector, then attach it to a Cortex Agent so the agent can ground its answers in your catalog.

Prerequisites

Permission in Snowflake to create an MCP connector.
Server Admin access to your Alation instance to create the OAuth client.

Creating the OAuth client

The connector authenticates with user-initiated OAuth. Snowflake needs two redirect URIs registered on the client:

The static URI: https://identity.snowflake.com/oauth2/callback
Your deployment’s Snowsight URI: run SELECT SYSTEM$ALLOWLIST(); in Snowflake and find the SNOWSIGHT_DEPLOYMENT entry that starts with apps-api. Prefix it with https://.

Create the OAuth client in the Alation UI following the user-initiated OAuth guide, add both redirect URIs, and copy the Client ID and Client Secret.

Adding the MCP connector in Snowsight

Open Tools and Connectors

Log into Snowsight, select AI & ML » Agents from the left navigation, click Settings, and choose Tools and Connectors.
Add a custom connector

Click Add Custom to open the Add MCP Connector modal.

Fill in the connector

Field	Value
Location	The database and schema where the connector should be available
Name / Description	A clear name and a description that tells the agent what the server provides
API Integration	Standard OAuth
Server URL	`https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/ai/mcp/` — the trailing slash is required
OAuth Client ID / Secret	From the OAuth client you created
Authorization endpoint	`https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/authorize/`
Token endpoint	`https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/token/`
Scopes	`openid`

Add it

Click Add. The connector appears under Connectors with status Enabled — authentication happens later, per user, when the connector is first used.

Alternative: create the connector with SQL

An MCP connector is an API integration linked to an external MCP server object:

-- Create the API integration with the OAuth configuration
CREATE API INTEGRATION alation_mcp_integration
  API_PROVIDER = external_mcp
  API_ALLOWED_PREFIXES = ('https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/ai/mcp/')
  API_USER_AUTHENTICATION = (
    TYPE = OAUTH2
    OAUTH_CLIENT_ID = '<client-id>'
    OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET = '<client-secret>'
    OAUTH_TOKEN_ENDPOINT = 'https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/token'
    OAUTH_CLIENT_AUTH_METHOD = CLIENT_SECRET_BASIC
    OAUTH_AUTHORIZATION_ENDPOINT = 'https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/oauth/v1/authorize'
    OAUTH_ALLOWED_SCOPES = ('openid')
    OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN_VALIDITY = 86400
  )
  ENABLED = TRUE;

-- Create the external MCP server in the target database
USE DATABASE <your-database>;
CREATE EXTERNAL MCP SERVER alation_mcp_server
  WITH DISPLAY_NAME = 'Alation MCP server'
  URL = 'https://your-alation-instance.alationcloud.com/ai/mcp/'
  API_INTEGRATION = alation_mcp_integration;

The connector then shows up in Settings » Tools and Connectors like one created in the UI.

Adding the connector to a Cortex Agent

Open your agent

From AI & ML » Agents, create a new agent or select an existing one and click Edit.
Attach the connector

On the MCP Connectors tab, find the Alation connector and click Add to agent.
Connect as yourself

In the agent’s chat window, click the + button; the Alation connector appears in the Connectors list. Click Connect and sign in to your Alation instance in the browser window that opens (username/password or SSO).
Verify

A green check appears against the connector once authentication succeeds. Because each user connects individually, every request to Alation runs with that user’s own permissions.

Using the MCP server — what the connector exposes, example prompts, and custom MCP servers with curated tool sets.
Query Agent Studio from Snowflake — the reverse direction, calling agents from SQL over REST.