Set up Snowflake Notebooks¶

Location¶

The location is where a notebook object is stored. The end user can query any database and schema their role has access to.

• To change the context to a different database or schema, use the USE DATABASE or USE SCHEMA commands in a SQL cell.

In the container runtime, the role creating the notebook also requires the CREATE SERVICE privilege on the schema.

Roles that own a schema automatically have the privilege to create notebooks within that schema, because owners can create any type of object, including notebooks.

Allow everyone to create notebooks in a specific location¶

The following steps outline how to configure access for creating notebooks in a specific location by granting usage on a database and schema. Alternatively, you can enable private notebooks, which do not require these access grants. For more information about private notebooks, see Private notebooks.

Replace <database> and <database.schema> with the specific database and schema where you want to create your notebooks:

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--       Location Setup         --
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GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE <database> TO ROLE PUBLIC;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA <database.schema> TO ROLE PUBLIC;
GRANT CREATE NOTEBOOK ON SCHEMA <database.schema> TO ROLE PUBLIC;

-- For Notebooks on Container runtime, run the following:
GRANT CREATE SERVICE ON SCHEMA <database.schema> TO ROLE PUBLIC;

----------------------------------
--    Compute Resource Setup    --
----------------------------------
GRANT USAGE ON WAREHOUSE <warehouse> TO ROLE PUBLIC;

-- For Notebooks on Container runtime:
CREATE COMPUTE POOL CPU_XS
  MIN_NODES = 1
  MAX_NODES = 15
  INSTANCE_FAMILY = CPU_X64_XS;

CREATE COMPUTE POOL GPU_S
  MIN_NODES = 1
  MAX_NODES = 5
  INSTANCE_FAMILY = GPU_NV_S;

GRANT USAGE ON COMPUTE POOL CPU_XS TO ROLE PUBLIC;
GRANT USAGE ON COMPUTE POOL GPU_S TO ROLE PUBLIC;

-------------------------------------
-- Optional: External Access --
-------------------------------------

-- Example EAI
CREATE OR REPLACE NETWORK RULE allow_all_rule
MODE = 'EGRESS'
TYPE = 'HOST_PORT'
VALUE_LIST = ('0.0.0.0:443','0.0.0.0:80');

CREATE OR REPLACE EXTERNAL ACCESS INTEGRATION allow_all_integration
ALLOWED_NETWORK_RULES = (allow_all_rule)
ENABLED = true;

GRANT USAGE ON INTEGRATION allow_all_integration TO ROLE PUBLIC;

Create a dedicated role¶

If you only want specific users to create notebooks (assuming they do not already OWN any schemas), you can create a dedicated role for controlling access. For example:

CREATE ROLE notebooks_rl;

Grant the ROLE notebook_rl to specific users. Then, use the above script to create resources and grant permissions to this role (replace ROLE PUBLIC with ROLE notebook_rl).

Notebook engine¶

The notebook engine (“kernel”) and Python processes run on the Notebook warehouse. Snowflake recommends that you start with an X-Small warehouse to minimize credit consumption.

While you are using the notebook (for example, editing code, running, reordering, or deleting cells), or if the notebook remains active within its idle timeout setting, an EXECUTE NOTEBOOK query will run continuously to indicate that the notebook engine is active and a notebook session is in use. You can check the status of this query in Query history. While EXECUTE NOTEBOOK is running, the Notebook warehouse is also running. When EXECUTE NOTEBOOK finishes, if there are no other queries or jobs running on the warehouse, it will shut down according to its auto-suspend policy.

To end the EXECUTE NOTEBOOK query (end the notebook session), follow these steps:

1. Select Active or select End session from the Active drop-down menu.

2. In Query history, find the corresponding EXECUTE NOTEBOOK query and select Cancel query.

3. Let the notebook time out due to inactivity based on its idle time setting. If the STATEMENT_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS and STATEMENT_QUEUED_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS parameters on the Notebook warehouse are set to a small value, the notebook could shut down quickly or fail to start, regardless of user activity.

Queries¶

SQL and Snowpark queries (for example, session.sql) are pushed down to the Query warehouse, which is used on demand. When the SQL and Snowpark queries finish running, the Query warehouse suspends if no other jobs are running on it outside the notebook. Select a warehouse size that best fits your query performance needs. For example, you might want to run large SQL queries or perform compute-intensive operations using Snowpark Python that require a larger warehouse. For operations that require high memory usage, consider using a Snowpark-optimized warehouse.

You can change the Query warehouse in Notebook Settings. Alternatively, you can run the following command in any SQL cell in the notebook to change the Query warehouse for all subsequent queries in the current notebook session:

USE WAREHOUSE <warehouse_name>;

Idle time and reconnection¶

Each notebook has an idle time property called IDLE_AUTO_SHUTDOWN_TIME_SECONDS with a default value of 30 minutes. You can configure the idle time for each notebook in Snowsight.

1. Sign in to Snowsight.

2. Select Projects » Notebooks.

3. Select the vertical ellipsis menu to configure a new time.

4. Select Notebook settings.

5. Manually restart the session for the new idle time to take effect.

Idle time accumulates whenever there is no user activity, such as editing code, running cells, reordering cells, or deleting cells. Each time you resume activity, the idle time resets. Once the idle time reaches the timeout setting, the notebook session automatically shuts down.

Before idle timeout, your notebook session will remain active until the idle timeout period is reached, even if you refresh the page, visit other parts of Snowsight, or shut down or sleep your computer. When you reopen the same notebook, you reconnect to the same session, with all session states and variables preserved, allowing you to continue working seamlessly. Note, however, that the state of your Streamlit widgets will not be retained.

Each individual user running the same notebook has their own independent session. They do not interfere with one another.

Recommendations for optimizing cost¶

As an account administrator, consider the following recommendations to control the cost of running notebooks:

• Ask your teams to use the same warehouse (X-Small is recommended) as a dedicated “Notebook warehouse” for running the notebook sessions to increase concurrency. Note that this might lead to slower session starts (queued on warehouse) or out-of-memory errors if too many notebooks are to be executed simultaneously.

• Allow your teams to use a warehouse with a lower STATEMENT_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS value to run notebooks. This warehouse parameter controls how long any queries can last, including notebook sessions. For example, if the parameter is set to 10 minutes, the notebook session can run for a maximum of 10 minutes, regardless of whether the user is active in the notebook session during that time.

• Ask your teams to end their notebook sessions when they do not intend to actively work in the session.

• Ask your teams to minimize the idle timeout setting (for example, to 15 minutes) if they do not need the session to run for an extended period of time.

• Alternatively, raise a support ticket to set a default value for idle time that applies to your entire account. This value can still be overridden at the notebook level by the notebook owner.