Snowflake common errors

Snowflake Common Errors

Overview

Quick reference for the most common Snowflake error codes, SQL compilation errors, and driver issues with real solutions.

Error Reference

002003 (42S02): Object Does Not Exist

SQL compilation error: Object 'MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.USERS' does not exist or not authorized.

Causes: Table doesn't exist, wrong database/schema context, or role lacks privileges.

Solutions:

-- Check current context
SELECT CURRENT_DATABASE(), CURRENT_SCHEMA(), CURRENT_ROLE();

-- Verify object exists
SHOW TABLES LIKE 'USERS' IN SCHEMA MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA;

-- Grant access if needed
GRANT SELECT ON TABLE MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.USERS TO ROLE MY_ROLE;

-- Use fully-qualified names to avoid context issues
SELECT * FROM MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.USERS;

000606: No Active Warehouse

SQL execution error: No active warehouse selected in the current session.

Solutions:

-- Set warehouse for session
USE WAREHOUSE COMPUTE_WH;

-- Or set in connection config
-- warehouse: 'COMPUTE_WH' in createConnection()

-- Check warehouse state
SHOW WAREHOUSES LIKE 'COMPUTE_WH';
-- If SUSPENDED, it auto-resumes if AUTO_RESUME = TRUE

390100: Incorrect Username or Password

Incorrect username or password was specified.

Solutions:

# Verify credentials are set
echo $SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT  # Should be 'orgname-accountname'
echo $SNOWFLAKE_USER

# Test with SnowSQL
snowsql -a $SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT -u $SNOWFLAKE_USER

# Check account format — common mistake:
# Wrong: myaccount.us-east-1.snowflakecomputing.com
# Right: myorg-myaccount

390144: JWT Token Invalid (Key Pair Auth)

JWT token is invalid.

Solutions:

# Verify public key is assigned
# Run in Snowflake:
# DESC USER my_user;
# Check RSA_PUBLIC_KEY column

# Regenerate if needed
openssl genrsa 2048 | openssl pkcs8 -topk8 -inform PEM -out rsa_key.p8 -nocrypt
openssl rsa -in rsa_key.p8 -pubout -out rsa_key.pub

# Re-assign (remove headers/newlines from pub key first)
# ALTER USER my_user SET RSA_PUBLIC_KEY='MIIBIj...';

001003: SQL Compilation Error

SQL compilation error: syntax error line X at position Y unexpected 'TOKEN'.

Common causes:

-- Missing semicolons in multi-statement mode
-- Wrong: SELECT 1 SELECT 2
-- Right: SELECT 1; SELECT 2;

-- Reserved word used as identifier
-- Wrong: SELECT order FROM orders
-- Right: SELECT "order" FROM orders

-- Wrong function syntax
-- Wrong: DATEADD('day', 1, col)
-- Right: DATEADD(day, 1, col)  -- no quotes on date part

100038: Statement Timeout

Statement reached its statement or warehouse timeout of X second(s).

Solutions:

-- Increase statement timeout (seconds)
ALTER SESSION SET STATEMENT_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS = 3600;

-- Or per-warehouse
ALTER WAREHOUSE COMPUTE_WH SET STATEMENT_TIMEOUT_IN_SECONDS = 3600;

-- Check if query needs optimization
SELECT query_id, query_text, execution_status, error_message,
       total_elapsed_time / 1000 AS seconds
FROM TABLE(INFORMATION_SCHEMA.QUERY_HISTORY())
WHERE execution_status = 'FAIL'
ORDER BY start_time DESC LIMIT 10;

100035: Out of Memory / Result Too Large

Results exceed the allowed data size.

Solutions:

// Use streaming in Node.js instead of fetching all rows
connection.execute({
  sqlText: 'SELECT * FROM large_table',
  streamResult: true,  // Don't buffer all rows in memory
  complete: (err, stmt) => {
    const stream = stmt.streamRows();
    stream.on('data', (row) => processRow(row));
    stream.on('end', () => console.log('Done'));
  },
});

# Use fetchmany() in Python
cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM large_table")
while True:
    rows = cursor.fetchmany(10000)
    if not rows:
        break
    process_batch(rows)

Node.js Driver: Network / Connection Errors

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED
Error: getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND

Solutions:

// Wrong account identifier format
// Wrong: 'myaccount.us-east-1.snowflakecomputing.com'
// Right: 'myorg-myaccount'

// Check for proxy/firewall
// Snowflake requires outbound HTTPS to *.snowflakecomputing.com

// Enable connection diagnostics
snowflake.configure({ logLevel: 'DEBUG' });

Python Connector: OperationalError

# Common: snowflake.connector.errors.OperationalError
# 250001: Could not connect to Snowflake backend

# Check connectivity
import snowflake.connector
snowflake.connector.connect(
    account='myorg-myaccount',
    user='test',
    password='test',
    login_timeout=10,  # Fail fast for testing
)

Quick Diagnostic Script

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Snowflake Diagnostic ==="
echo "Account: ${SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT:-NOT SET}"
echo "User: ${SNOWFLAKE_USER:-NOT SET}"
echo "Password: ${SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD:+SET (hidden)}"
echo "Warehouse: ${SNOWFLAKE_WAREHOUSE:-NOT SET}"
echo ""
echo "Connectivity test:"
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "HTTP %{http_code} in %{time_total}s" \
  "https://${SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT}.snowflakecomputing.com/session/v1/login-request" || echo "FAILED"
echo ""
echo "Driver versions:"
npm list snowflake-sdk 2>/dev/null || echo "Node.js driver: not installed"
pip show snowflake-connector-python 2>/dev/null | grep Version || echo "Python connector: not installed"

Error Handling

Error Code	Category	Quick Fix
002003	Object not found	Check context, grant access
000606	No warehouse	USE WAREHOUSE x;
390100	Auth failure	Check account format, credentials
390144	JWT invalid	Regenerate key pair
001003	SQL syntax	Check reserved words, function syntax
100038	Timeout	Increase timeout or optimize query
100035	Too large	Use streaming or pagination

Resources

• Error Messages
• Key Pair Troubleshooting
• Connection Troubleshooting

Next Steps

For comprehensive debugging, see snowflake-debug-bundle.