snowflake-rate-limits

name	snowflake-rate-limits
description	Handle Snowflake concurrency limits, warehouse queuing, and query throttling. Use when queries are queuing, hitting concurrency limits, or needing to optimize warehouse sizing for throughput. Trigger with phrases like "snowflake rate limit", "snowflake throttling", "snowflake queuing", "snowflake concurrency", "snowflake warehouse sizing".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit
version	1.5.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","data-warehouse","analytics","snowflake"]
compatibility	Designed for Claude Code

Snowflake Rate Limits & Concurrency

Overview

Snowflake doesn't use traditional API rate limits. Instead, concurrency is governed by warehouse size, multi-cluster configuration, and per-session/account limits.

Key Limits

Resource	Limit	Notes
Concurrent queries per warehouse	8 (XS) to 64+ (4XL)	Depends on warehouse size
Queued queries per warehouse	Unlimited (queued, not rejected)	But users experience latency
SQL API requests	10 concurrent per user	Via REST /api/v2/statements
Snowpipe file notifications	10,000/sec per pipe	Per-pipe limit
Login rate	Throttled per account	Avoid rapid connect/disconnect
COPY INTO files per command	1,000 files recommended	Performance degrades beyond

Instructions

Step 1: Detect Queuing Issues

-- Check warehouse load — avg_queued_load > 0 means queries are waiting
SELECT warehouse_name, start_time,
       avg_running, avg_queued_load, avg_blocked
FROM TABLE(INFORMATION_SCHEMA.WAREHOUSE_LOAD_HISTORY(
  DATE_RANGE_START => DATEADD(hours, -4, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP())
))
WHERE avg_queued_load > 0
ORDER BY start_time DESC;

-- Find queries that waited in queue
SELECT query_id, query_text, queued_overload_time / 1000 AS queue_seconds,
       total_elapsed_time / 1000 AS total_seconds, warehouse_name
FROM SNOWFLAKE.ACCOUNT_USAGE.QUERY_HISTORY
 queued_overload_time  
   start_time  DATEADD(hours, , ())
  queued_overload_time 
LIMIT ;