Troubleshoot Snowflake database connections

Learn how to resolve issues connecting your Snowflake database to Geckoboard.

June 3, 2025

Requirements for connecting Snowflake

To connect successfully to Snowflake, you must have a predefined default role with USAGE rights on the required databases and an associated default warehouse. This approach avoids potential complications from using nested roles or custom role selections. Here's how to do this:

• Select a pre-assigned default role. This role determines the user’s permissions in Snowflake. Snowflake offers an option to use a custom role during connection, but Geckoboard doesn’t support this feature.

• Assign USAGE privileges for the default role on the intended databases. USAGE privileges allow a user or role to access the specified database. Without it, the connection will fail.

• Avoid using nested roles in Snowflake. Snowflake supports hierarchical or nested roles. For instance, a higher-level role might have sub-roles with specific permissions. Geckoboard doesn’t use these nested roles. Instead, during the connection process, we utilize the default role assigned to the user.

• Assign a default warehouse. If not, the warehouse should be specified at the time of connection in the Geckoboard connection panel.

The requested database does not exist or is unauthorized error

If you're receiving the error "The requested database does not exist or is unauthorized", this either means that it doesn't exist or the user is not part of a role that has USAGE privileges on the specified database.

Verify that your Account URL is correct

If you cannot connect to your Snowflake database, it may be because of an incorrect account URL format.

In Snowflake, you can find your account URL by clicking your account name in the bottom left of the screen and then copying the account URL.