Connecting Snowflake to Insight Cloud via MCP

Who this is for: Snowflake account admins adding Insight Cloud as an external MCP connector, and users connecting to it in Snowflake CoWork.

This feature is currently in beta.

Before you start

  • You need ACCOUNTADMIN to add an external MCP connector. Other roles won't have access.

  • External MCP support in Snowflake is in public preview. Some accounts require Snowflake to enable it before you can set up external connectors. If so, please reach out to your Snowflake contact.

  • Snowflake requires configuring the External MCP connector first and then adding it to a Cortex Agent's specification before it becomes available for users.

Step 1 — Add the external MCP connector (admin, once per account)

  1. Sign in to app.snowflake.com as an ACCOUNTADMIN.

  2. Navigate to AI & ML → Agents.

  3. Navigate to Agent Settings → Tools and connectors.

  4. Select Add custom.

  5. In the Add MCP Connector dialog, choose the database and schema where the connector object will be created.

  6. Enter a name — we recommend Insight_Cloud_MCP. Optionally, you can add a description.

  7. For the authentication method, choose DCR (dynamic client registration), not standard OAuth.

  8. Enter the MCP server URL: https://cloud.seekinsights.com/mcp

  9. Select Add.

With DCR, Snowflake discovers the server's configuration from the URL and registers the application for you. You don't need to create an OAuth application, and you don't need to supply a client ID, client secret, or scopes.

Step 2 — Configure an agent and add the connector (agent developer)

The connector isn't usable on its own. Snowflake CoWork requires an agent object, and the connector must be added to it.

  1. Create a new, or edit an existing agent in a database, following Snowflake's documentation on creating agents.

  2. Open the agent and go to Configuration → MCP.

  3. Find the Insight Cloud MCP connector from Step 1 and select Add to agent.

  4. Save the agent and publish.

  5. If you want to enable access to this agent in CoWork, make sure that you select Add to Snowflake CoWork.

Agent creation, instructions, semantic views, and Cortex Search configuration are standard Snowflake functionality — see Snowflake's own documentation for those. If you're using Insight Cloud alongside first-party data in Snowflake, your Seek contact can provide recommended agent instructions.

Step 3 — Connect your account (for each user)

After the MCP connector is added to an agent, users can authenticate with Insight Cloud and use the tools directly with Cortex Agents and in Snowflake CoWork.

  1. Sign in to ai.snowflake.com.

  2. Select an agent configured with access to the Insight Cloud MCP.

  3. Using the “+” button within the chat interface, Open Connectors → Insight_Cloud_MCP and select Connect.

  4. Authenticate the connection using your Insight Cloud credentials in the window that opens.

  5. Once connected, Insight Cloud intelligence should now be available for use in Snowflake CoWork.

You're authorizing with your own Insight Cloud credentials, so you'll only be able to query the subscriptions and semantic views available to your Insight Cloud account.

Helpful Tips

Agent instructions matter. Insight Cloud queries take several minutes to complete. Without agent instructions telling it to wait for long-running tool calls, Snowflake's agent may stop before the response returns. Ask your Seek contact for recommended agent instructions.