posit

name	posit
title	Posit on Snowflake
description	Build and deploy data apps, dashboards, APIs, and reports using Posit tools on Snowflake. Use when the user asks to build, create, or deploy any of: Shiny (R or Python), Streamlit, Dash, FastAPI, Plumber, Quarto, R Markdown, Jupyter, Panel, or Bokeh apps — especially with Snowflake data. Also triggers for: "deploy to Posit Connect", "rsconnect", tidyverse, tidymodels, orbital, querychat, chatlas, Positron, "publish my app", or any R/Python data product targeting Snowflake. Do NOT use for Node.js, Next.js, React, or custom JS/TS web apps — that is the snowflake-apps skill (Snowflake App Runtime). Boundary: data science apps, dashboards, reports, and APIs in R or Python deployed to Posit Connect → this skill; custom JavaScript web apps on App Runtime → snowflake-apps. Do NOT use for pure SQL.
metadata	{"author":"Posit PBC","version":2,"type":"partner","references":["references/connect-frameworks.md","references/snowflake-auth.md","references/r-conventions.md","references/python-conventions.md","references/package-management.md","references/orbital-patterns.md","references/connect-deploy.md","references/cortex-ai-tools.md","references/posit-packages.md","references/better-together.md"]}

Posit on Snowflake

CRITICAL: Deploy to Posit Connect, NOT Streamlit-in-Snowflake

Every app this skill creates targets Posit Connect — NEVER Snowflake's built-in Streamlit hosting (Streamlit-in-Snowflake / SiS). This is the entire point of this skill. Even when the user says "build a Streamlit app," the output is a standalone Python Streamlit app that connects to Snowflake via snowflake-connector-python and deploys to Posit Connect.

Do NOT:

• Create a Streamlit-in-Snowflake app (no CREATE STREAMLIT SQL)
• Use the SiS snowflake.snowpark.context connection pattern
• Deploy via Snowflake's native Streamlit hosting
• Use st.connection("snowflake") (that's the SiS shortcut)

DO:

• Use snowflake.connector.connect(...) with OAuth or env vars
• Generate a standalone app.py + requirements.txt
• Deploy via POSIT_DEPLOY procedure or rsconnect deploy CLI
• Target https://connect (Posit Connect inside the Native App)

Why Posit Connect instead of Streamlit-in-Snowflake: Connect gives you viewer-level RBAC passthrough, scheduled execution, email delivery, git-backed publishing, content management across all 10 frameworks, and a centralized hub for every data product. SiS runs Streamlit but nothing else.

---

Build and deploy data products on Snowflake using any framework Posit Connect supports. This skill covers the full lifecycle: connect to Snowflake data, build the app, and deploy it to Posit Connect — with viewer-level RBAC inherited from Snowflake automatically.

---

Supported frameworks

Framework	Language	Best for	Reference
Shiny	R or Python	Interactive dashboards, NL chatbots	connect-frameworks.md
Streamlit	Python	Quick prototypes, data exploration	connect-frameworks.md
Dash	Python	Plotly-heavy analytics dashboards	connect-frameworks.md
FastAPI	Python	REST APIs, model endpoints	connect-frameworks.md
Plumber	R	REST APIs from R code	connect-frameworks.md
Quarto	R or Python	Reports, docs, parameterised dashboards	connect-frameworks.md
Panel	Python	HoloViz/PyViz dashboards	connect-frameworks.md
Bokeh	Python	Interactive visualisations	connect-frameworks.md
Jupyter	Python	Notebooks as scheduled reports	connect-frameworks.md
R Markdown	R	Legacy reports (prefer Quarto for new)	connect-frameworks.md

---

Workflow

Step 1 — Identify the framework

If the user says "build an app" without specifying, ask which framework. If they say "Shiny", ask "R or Python?" Default to Python if unclear. If they describe a use case without naming a framework, recommend one:

• "Interactive dashboard" → Shiny (Python) or Streamlit
• "API endpoint" → FastAPI or Plumber
• "Scheduled report" → Quarto
• "ML model serving" → FastAPI + vetiver
• "NL chatbot over my data" → Shiny (R or Python) + querychat/chatlas

Step 1b — Detect needed Posit packages from the request

Map what the user is asking for to the Posit open-source package that does it, and include that package automatically. The user does NOT have to name the package — infer it from intent. See references/posit-packages.md for the connection patterns and full code for each.

User says / implies	Posit package(s)	Language
"ask questions about the data", "chat with", "natural language", "let users query"	querychat (NL→SQL over a table)	R or Python
"chatbot", "LLM", "AI assistant", "summarize", "generate text"	ellmer (R) / chatlas (Python)	R / Python
"complete LLM toolkit", "tool calling from R"	btw	R
"run an LLM over every row", "classify each record", "batch LLM"	mall	R or Python
"streaming chat UI in a Shiny app"	shinychat + ellmer/chatlas	R or Python
"RAG", "search my documents", "retrieval", "ground answers in a corpus"	ragnar (R) / raghilda (Python) + ellmer/chatlas	R / Python
"MCP server", "expose tools to an agent"	mcptools	R
"evaluate the LLM", "test prompt quality", "LLM evals"	vitals	R
"nice table", "formatted/publication table"	gt (R) / great_tables (Python)	R / Python
"interactive table", "sortable/filterable table"	reactable (R) / itables (Python)	R / Python
"interactive map", "geospatial"	leaflet	R or Python
"plots", "charts", "visualize"	ggplot2 (R) / plotnine or plotly (Python)	R / Python
"validate data", "data quality checks"	pointblank	R
"predict", "model", "classify", "score"	tidymodels + orbital (in-DB scoring)	R
"run predictions in the database"	orbital, tidypredict, modeldb	R
"serve a model", "model API", "monitor/version a model"

Full catalog: https://opensource.posit.co/software/ (365 projects). Default LLM backend for ellmer/chatlas/querychat/mall is Snowflake Cortex — no API key needed inside the Native App. Always add the chosen packages to requirements.txt (Python) or library() calls (R), plus posit-sdk.

Step 2 — Establish Snowflake connection

Load references/snowflake-auth.md and generate the appropriate connection code for the chosen language (R or Python).

Step 3 — Generate the app

Always create a dedicated project folder. Never write files to the workspace root. Name the folder after the app using kebab-case:

<descriptive-name>/
├── app.py (or app.R, plumber.R, report.qmd, etc.)
├── requirements.txt (Python) or renv.lock (R)
└── README.md (brief: what it does, how to deploy)

Examples: loan-risk-dashboard/, sales-api/, quarterly-revenue-report/, churn-streamlit-app/. Ask the user what they want to call it if it's not obvious from the prompt.

Load references/connect-frameworks.md and use the scaffold template for the chosen framework. Wire the Snowflake connection into the app. Use the user's specified tables/data.

Bake fully-qualified table names directly into the app. You know exactly which tables the user referenced at generation time — write FROM <db>.<schema>.<table> into the code. Do NOT route table locations through environment variables (the scaffold templates' DEMO_DATABASE / DEMO_SCHEMA pattern is for the demo kit only); env-var indirection forces manual per-content configuration in Connect and breaks the one-prompt deploy. Reserve env vars for genuine secrets or runtime config — and when those are needed, pass them in the deploy request's env_vars parameter so the watcher sets them on the content automatically:

CALL <bridge>.POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY(
  'streamlit', 'my-app', 'My App',
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT('app.py', '<code>', 'requirements.txt', '<deps>'),
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT('SOME_API_KEY', '<value>')   -- optional, omit if none
);

For R-specific conventions (tidyverse, ggplot2, dbplyr), also load references/r-conventions.md.

For Python-specific conventions (pandas/Snowpark, Streamlit/Shiny/Dash/FastAPI idioms, plotly/plotnine, requirements.txt essentials), also load references/python-conventions.md.

Always ship a lockfile for reproducible deploys. Load references/package-management.md. Python apps get a requirements.txt (pinned via uv if available); R apps get an renv.lock (via renv::snapshot() before delivery). Connect installs from Posit Package Manager using these — never hardcode a package source URL in the app. An R app without renv.lock, or a Python app without requirements.txt, is not deployable; generate the lockfile as part of the project.

Step 4 — Add AI features (if requested)

If the user wants NL querying, chatbot, or AI-assisted features, load references/cortex-ai-tools.md for querychat, chatlas, and Positron Assistant patterns.

Step 5 — Add ML scoring (if requested)

If the user needs in-database ML predictions, load references/orbital-patterns.md for the tidymodels/scikit-learn → SQL translation workflow.

Step 6 — Deliver the app

Don't assume git, a repo, or deploy access exists. Detect what the environment supports and use the highest-priority path that works. Ask the user only when a path needs a value you don't have (repo URL, deploy choice).

Always present the delivery choice as THREE explicit options (not two). When you elicit how to deliver the app, the choices the user sees must be:

1. Push to my Git repo — commit + push so I can pull into Workbench, iterate in Positron, and publish. (If no repo is detected, ask for the repo URL/branch.)
2. Deploy to Connect now — deploy via the POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY bridge, one SQL call, returns a live URL.
3. Write files locally — write the project folder so I can open/edit in Positron without git.

Git must ALWAYS appear as its own option — never fold it into "write locally." If the user picks Git and no repo is configured, ask for the repo URL and branch, then init/commit/push. Then:

If the user chose GIT → deliver code via the repo. Try in order:

1. Git (preferred) — commit + push so the user pulls into Workbench and opens in Positron. Version-controlled and clean.
   • First detect a repo: is there a git remote configured (CLI/Desktop) or a git-backed Snowsight Workspace?
   • If a repo IS detected: commit and push.
     • CLI/Desktop: git add . && git commit -m "..." && git push
     • Snowsight: commit through the Workspace's git integration
   • If NO repo is detected: STOP and ASK the user before doing anything else. Do not silently fall through to a local folder. Ask: "I don't see a Git repository connected. Where would you like this?
     1. Push to a GitHub repo — give me the repo URL (and branch), and I'll initialize, commit, and push. (If pushing fails on credentials, I'll tell you what to set up.)
     2. Just write the files locally so you can open them in Positron." Wait for the answer. Only fall through to option 2 below if the user explicitly chooses local, or says they have no repo.
   • If the user gives a repo URL: git init (if needed), set the remote, git add . && git commit && git push -u origin <branch>. If the push fails on auth, tell the user to authenticate the machine (gh CLI login, PAT, or SSH key) and that you'll retry — do NOT silently drop to local.
2. Workbench home dir — if CoCo is running in a Workbench terminal (CLI inside SPCS): write the project folder straight to the home directory. No transfer needed; files are already where Positron sees them.
3. Files in chat / local folder — only after the user has declined git. Output or write the project files so they can open them in Positron.

For the ITERATE path, ALWAYS include a README.md in the project folder with the exact local-setup commands, so pulling into Workbench → running locally is one step. Use uv if available, venv otherwise. The README body:

# <App Title>

Snowflake data: <DATABASE.SCHEMA.TABLE the app reads>

## Run locally in Posit Workbench / Positron

Using uv (fast, recommended):

    uv venv
    source .venv/bin/activate
    uv pip install -r requirements.txt

Or with the standard library venv:

    python -m venv .venv
    source .venv/bin/activate
    pip install -r requirements.txt

Then run:

    streamlit run app.py        # (or: shiny run app.py / python app.py)

**Viewing the app:** In Posit Workbench, open it in the Positron **Viewer
pane** (or the Workbench-proxied URL) — NOT `localhost:<port>` in your laptop
browser, which can't reach the container and shows "localhost refused to
connect."

**Authenticating to Snowflake locally** — set environment variables for your
context before running:

In Posit Workbench (recommended — no browser needed):

    export SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT=<your-account>      # e.g. ORG-ACCOUNT
    export SNOWFLAKE_USER=<your-login>           # e.g. [e-mail]
    export SNOWFLAKE_PASSWORD=<a PAT>            # Programmatic Access Token

On a local laptop (Cortex Desktop — opens a browser to sign in):

    export SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT=<your-account>
    export SNOWFLAKE_USER=<your-login>
    # no password; a browser SSO window opens

When deployed to Connect, none of these are needed — the OAuth integration
provides the token automatically. No secrets file, ever. NOTE: browser SSO
(externalbrowser) does NOT work inside Workbench — use a PAT there.

## Deploy to Connect

Click Publish in Positron, or: rsconnect deploy <framework> .

Adjust the run command and "data" line to the actual framework and table. The .venv/ is for LOCAL iteration only — never commit it or include it in what deploys. Connect builds its own environment from requirements.txt.

Also include a .gitignore in the project so the local environment never gets committed or bundled:

.venv/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
.Rproj.user/
.Rhistory
rsconnect-python/
.streamlit/secrets.toml

If the user wants to DEPLOY now → use the bridge. Try in order:

1. POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY (the stage-deploy bridge) if it exists — works from any surface, no privileges.
2. rsconnect from a Workbench terminal if CoCo has shell access there.
3. If neither is set up, tell the user the one-time bridge setup, OR fall back to the ITERATE path above so they at least get the code and can Publish from Positron.

Never dead-end. If the preferred path isn't available, silently fall to the next one and tell the user what you did. The worst case is always "here are the files" — never "I can't help."

Load references/connect-deploy.md for detailed patterns.

Procedure preference order (check in THIS order, stop at the first match):

1. POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY — always prefer this. Pure SQL, cannot fail on network. It lives in ONE central bridge location per account (often <db>.POSIT_BRIDGE); call it FULLY QUALIFIED from anywhere: CALL <bridge_db>.<bridge_schema>.POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY(...). Find it with: SHOW PROCEDURES LIKE 'POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY' IN ACCOUNT
2. POSIT_DEPLOY — ONLY if the user confirms the External Access Integration is configured. If a call to POSIT_DEPLOY or POSIT_PUSH fails with an error mentioning "External Access Integration" or "secrets", do NOT retry it and do NOT try POSIT_PUSH (it has the same dependency and will fail identically). Fall through to POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY, or if that doesn't exist, tell the user the one-time bridge setup below.
3. Bash rsconnect deploy — only from a Workbench terminal.

Deploy decision tree:

What does the user want?
├── Deploy to Connect (default)
│   → Is the deploy watcher set up? (check: SHOW TABLES LIKE 'POSIT_DEPLOY_REQUESTS')
│     ├── YES → CALL POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY(framework, app_name, title, files)
│     │         Then poll via SQL every ~10s until status changes:
│     │           SELECT status, result FROM POSIT_DEPLOY_REQUESTS
│     │           WHERE request_id = '<id>'
│     │         Report the URL from result when COMPLETE. This path needs
│     │         NO network access and NO admin — it works from every
│     │         CoCo surface (Snowsight, Desktop, CLI).
│     └── NO  → Is POSIT_DEPLOY (direct EAI path) available?
│               ├── YES → CALL POSIT_DEPLOY(framework, app_name, title, files)
│               └── NO  → Can CoCo run bash inside a Workbench terminal?
│                         ├── YES → rsconnect deploy directly
│                         └── NO  → One-time setup: tell the user to run
│                                   scripts/stage-deploy-bridge.sql and deploy
│                                   scripts/deploy-watcher/ to Connect once.
│                                   Then this path works forever.
│
├── Code in Workbench IDE only (no deploy yet)
│   → CALL POSIT_STAGE_FILES(folder_name, files)
│     Then: snowsql -q "GET @POSIT_FILE_STAGE/<folder>/ file://~/<folder>/"
│
└── Both → CALL POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY (deploys) + give the GET command (files)

How the bridge works (so you can explain it to the user): CoCo can't reach Connect directly \u2014 stored procedures run outside SPCS, and PUT-to-stage is unavailable inside a stored procedure. The bridge sidesteps both: POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY is a pure SQL INSERT that carries the app files in the request row itself (a VARIANT column). A watcher agent deployed ON Connect (inside SPCS, where https://connect resolves) polls the POSIT_DEPLOY_REQUESTS table, reads the files straight from the row, and deploys. No stage, no PUT, no network from CoCo. Deploy latency is the watcher's schedule interval (typically ~1 minute).

To check if procedures exist:

SHOW PROCEDURES LIKE 'POSIT_%' IN SCHEMA <schema>;

If they don't exist, tell the user the one-time setup (in order of preference):

Setup	What it enables	Privileges needed
scripts/stage-deploy-bridge.sql + deploy scripts/deploy-watcher/ to Connect once	POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY — deploy from any CoCo surface, no network access needed	CREATE TABLE/PROCEDURE only. No admin.
scripts/deploy-procedure.sql + an External Access Integration	POSIT_DEPLOY — direct synchronous deploy	SYSADMIN + ACCOUNTADMIN for the EAI

Procedure	What it does
POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY	Stage files + queue a deploy request. The Connect watcher fulfills it. Primary path.
POSIT_DEPLOY	Direct deploy via Connect API (requires EAI)
POSIT_STAGE_FILES	Stage files for Workbench pickup only
POSIT_PUSH	Stage + direct deploy (requires EAI)

How to call them with the generated app: After generating the app code in Step 3, pass ALL files as OBJECT_CONSTRUCT:

-- Deploy only
CALL POSIT_DEPLOY(
  'streamlit', 'loan-risk-dashboard', 'Loan Risk Dashboard',
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT(
    'app.py', '<full app code>',
    'requirements.txt', 'streamlit>=1.36.0\nsnowflake-connector-python>=3.12.0'
  )
);

-- Stage to Workbench only (user wants to edit in Positron first)
CALL POSIT_STAGE_FILES(
  'loan-risk-dashboard',
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT(
    'app.py', '<full app code>',
    'requirements.txt', 'streamlit>=1.36.0\nsnowflake-connector-python>=3.12.0'
  )
);
-- Then tell user: snowsql -q "GET @POSIT_FILE_STAGE/loan-risk-dashboard/ file://~/loan-risk-dashboard/"

-- Both at once
CALL POSIT_PUSH(
  'streamlit', 'loan-risk-dashboard', 'Loan Risk Dashboard',
  OBJECT_CONSTRUCT(
    'app.py', '<full app code>',
    'requirements.txt', 'streamlit>=1.36.0\nsnowflake-connector-python>=3.12.0'
  )
);

Framework names for POSIT_DEPLOY: streamlit | shiny-python | dash | fastapi | bokeh | panel | quarto | shiny-r | plumber

Fallback — rsconnect CLI commands (if no procedure):

rsconnect deploy streamlit <folder>/ --name <app-name> --server https://connect
rsconnect deploy shiny <folder>/ --name <app-name> --server https://connect
rsconnect deploy dash <folder>/ --name <app-name> --server https://connect
rsconnect deploy fastapi <folder>/ --name <app-name> --server https://connect
rsconnect deploy bokeh <folder>/ --name <app-name> --server https://connect
rsconnect deploy quarto <folder>/ --name <app-name> --server https://connect

Never end a conversation with "go deploy this yourself." Either call POSIT_DEPLOY, run rsconnect, or give a single copy-paste command.

---

Common Mistakes

• Wrapping the Snowflake connection in @st.cache_resource — The Connect OAuth token is resolved per session; caching the connection at app startup captures an empty token and every request fails with "251005: User is empty". Never cache the connection. Build it per query and cache the DATA with @st.cache_data (keyed on the SQL) instead.
• Reading os.environ["SNOWFLAKE_ACCOUNT"] before auth — Using bracket access at the top of get_connection() crashes deployed content with a KeyError before the OAuth integration ever runs, even though the integration could supply what's needed. Always read with .get(), try the integration's account first, and only require the env var on the off-Connect (local) path.
• Escaping quotes inside app source when building the deploy call — When passing files to POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY, the code is the VALUE of a JSON/ VARIANT field; let the SQL/JSON layer handle escaping ONCE. Do not backslash-escape quotes inside the Python/R source itself. A leaked \' or \" in source causes SyntaxError: unexpected character after line continuation character in the deployed app. Pass raw source; escape only for the SQL string literal, never inside the code text.
• Using st.secrets / secrets.toml / st.connection for Snowflake — A deployed app has no secrets file; this throws StreamlitSecretNotFoundError at runtime. On Connect, get the Snowflake token from the OAuth integration via posit-sdk (PositAuthenticator). See the CRITICAL connection section in references/connect-frameworks.md and use that get_connection() verbatim. Always add posit-sdk to requirements.txt.
• Retrying POSIT_DEPLOY / POSIT_PUSH after an EAI error — If either fails mentioning "External Access Integration" or "secrets", both will always fail in this environment. Switch to POSIT_REQUEST_DEPLOY immediately. Suggest the user DROP the broken procedures so they stop appearing as options.
• Deploying to Streamlit-in-Snowflake instead of Posit Connect — This is the #1 mistake. CoCo's default is to create SiS apps. This skill ALWAYS targets Posit Connect. Never use CREATE STREAMLIT, never use st.connection("snowflake"), never use snowflake.snowpark.context. Always use snowflake.connector.connect(...) with explicit auth.
• https://connect not resolving — This internal URL only works from inside SPCS. If in CoCo Snowsight, give a single paste-able terminal command — don't make the user figure out the deploy themselves.
• Dumping files in the workspace root — Always create a named project folder for each app (e.g., ). Never write or to the root — it gets unmanageable after two demos.

---

Demo mode (for Snowflake SEs)

When the user asks to see a demo, show a demo app, or run through a demo scenario, use the assets in assets/:

• assets/DEMO-RUNBOOK.md — Four scripted demos (3-5 min each) with exact CoCo prompts and talking points. Load this when the user asks: "show me the demo script", "what demos are available", or "walk me through a demo".

• assets/rbac-streamlit-app/app.py — Streamlit app with zero data-filtering logic demonstrating Snowflake RBAC via Posit Connect viewer OAuth. Show this when the user asks about RBAC, row-level security, or the Streamlit demo. Deploy command: rsconnect deploy streamlit assets/rbac-streamlit-app/ --name rbac-demo

• assets/loan-dashboard/app.R — Shiny dashboard reading from the orbital predictions view (2.2M rows). Show this when the user asks about the loan demo, orbital demo, or ML scoring demo. Deploy command: rsconnect::deployApp(appDir = "assets/loan-dashboard", appName = "loan-dashboard")

• assets/example-nl-dashboard.R — Shiny app with querychat + chatlas for natural language querying via Cortex. Show this when the user asks about the NL demo, chatbot demo, or Cortex integration.

All demo apps read DEMO_DATABASE, DEMO_SCHEMA, and SNOWFLAKE_WAREHOUSE from environment variables. Defaults: SOL_ENG_DEMO, COCO_DEMO, DEFAULT_WH.