> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.withampersand.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Snowflake destinations

For more information on destinations, see the [Destinations](/destinations) page.

When new data is read from a SaaS instance via a [Read Action](/read-actions) or [Subscribe Action](/subscribe-actions), Ampersand inserts the payload as rows into your Snowflake table.

## Prerequisites

Before setting up a Snowflake destination, ensure that you have:

* A Snowflake account
* A user configured for [key-pair authentication](https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/key-pair-auth) (Ampersand authenticates with an RSA private key, not a password)
* A target database, schema, and table (see [Data format and table setup](#data-format-and-table-setup)), with `INSERT` privileges granted to that user

## Data format and table setup

Ampersand delivers each read or subscribe message as a JSON object. The full payload schema is defined in [webhook.yaml](https://github.com/amp-labs/openapi/blob/main/webhook/webhook.yaml).

The Snowflake destination writes each message into three columns: `id` (a generated identifier), `created_at` (the insert time), and `payload` (the full message JSON, written as text). Create the table with exactly these columns:

```sql theme={null}
CREATE TABLE my_db.my_schema.my_table (
  id         TEXT,
  created_at TIMESTAMP,
  payload    TEXT
);
```

## Create a Snowflake destination

Go to the [Destinations page](https://dashboard.withampersand.com/projects/_/destinations) in the Ampersand Dashboard and create a new Snowflake destination.

You'll need to provide:

| Field                  | Type    | Required | Example              | Description                                                  |
| ---------------------- | ------- | -------- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Destination name**   | string  | Yes      | `ampersandSnowflake` | Alias to reference in your `amp.yaml` file                   |
| **Account identifier** | string  | Yes      | `myorg-myaccount`    | Your Snowflake account identifier                            |
| **User ID**            | string  | Yes      | `SVC_AMPERSAND`      | Snowflake user configured for key-pair auth                  |
| **Private key**        | string  | Yes      |                      | PEM-encoded RSA private key for that user                    |
| **Database**           | string  | Yes      | `ANALYTICS`          | Target database                                              |
| **Schema**             | string  | Yes      | `PUBLIC`             | Target schema                                                |
| **Table name**         | string  | Yes      | `ampersand_events`   | Target table                                                 |
| **Batch size**         | integer | No       | `1000`               | Rows to buffer before flushing a batch (defaults to 1000)    |
| **Max wait (seconds)** | integer | No       | `30`                 | Max seconds to wait before flushing a batch (defaults to 30) |

## Refer to the destination in your integration

After creating your Snowflake destination, reference it in your `amp.yaml` file:

```yaml theme={null}
specVersion: 1.0.0
integrations:
  - name: salesforceToSnowflake
    displayName: Salesforce to Snowflake
    provider: salesforce
    read:
      objects:
        - objectName: account
          destination: ampersandSnowflake
        - objectName: contact
          destination: ampersandSnowflake
```