Snowflake

Snowflake can extract structured data from documents natively with AI_EXTRACT. This guide routes that workload to Unsiloed by setting up two pieces, in order:

A UDF that extracts documents from a Snowflake stage in SQL. This is the foundation.
A Cortex Agent that extracts those same staged documents in natural language, by running the UDF through Snowflake’s Managed MCP server.

Set up the UDF first. Both paths stay inside Snowflake and run on that same UDF.

Why Call Unsiloed from Snowflake

Unsiloed adds schema-driven extraction with per-field confidence scores and source citations, so you can route uncertain values to a review queue instead of trusting every extracted value equally. Both pieces fit the Snowflake architecture you already have and keep the API key in a Snowflake-managed credential.

Extract in SQL with a UDF

A Python user-defined function (UDF) over an External Access Integration reads a staged file and sends it to Unsiloed’s /v2/extract, returning typed fields with confidence scores and citations. It works on any file in a stage. For an internal stage, create the stage with ENCRYPTION = (TYPE = 'SNOWFLAKE_SSE'). The UDF reads files through SnowflakeFile, which can’t open client-side-encrypted stages. A ready-to-run setup (network rule, secret, integration, and the UDF) is in the Unsiloed cookbook. To install it:

Open a SQL worksheet

In Snowsight, select + (Create) in the top left, then SQL File.

The Snowsight Create menu open with SQL File highlighted

Paste the setup script

Copy setup.sql from the cookbook into the worksheet. Set your database and schema at the top, and paste your Unsiloed API key into the secret’s SECRET_STRING.

Run it

Open the Run dropdown next to the Run button and choose Run All. This creates the network rule, secret, external access integration, and the unsiloed_extract function.

A SQL worksheet with the Run dropdown open and Run All highlighted

Then call the function with a scoped file URL, the file’s name, and a JSON Schema:

SELECT unsiloed_extract(
    BUILD_SCOPED_FILE_URL(@MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.PDF_STAGE, 'invoice.pdf'),
    'invoice.pdf',
    '{ "type": "object", "properties": {
         "vendor": { "type": "string" }, "total": { "type": "string" } } }'
) AS result;

Pass the name as well as the URL. Unsiloed decides how to decode the file from its extension, and a scoped file URL is encrypted, so the UDF can’t recover the name from it. Each field comes back as an object with a value, a confidence score, and a citation:

{
  "total": {
    "value": "4.11",
    "score": { "grounding_score": 0.998, "extraction_score": 0.989 },
    "citation": {
      "page": 1,
      "bbox": [548, 142, 573, 156],
      "page_width": 612.0,
      "page_height": 792.0
    }
  }
}

The bbox array holds [x0, y0, x1, y1] in points, measured against the page_width and page_height in the same object, so you can scale it to whatever size you render the page at. To process a whole stage in one query, join to DIRECTORY(@stage), which gives you relative_path for both the URL and the name:

SELECT relative_path,
       unsiloed_extract(
           BUILD_SCOPED_FILE_URL(@MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.PDF_STAGE, relative_path),
           relative_path,
           '{ "type": "object", "properties": { "total": { "type": "string" } } }'
       ) AS result
FROM DIRECTORY(@MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.PDF_STAGE);

Unsiloed also accepts an array-of-objects schema, so repeating rows (line items, holdings, table rows) need no columnar rewrite.

Extract with a Cortex Agent

With the UDF in place, a Snowflake Cortex Agent (the engine behind Snowflake CoWork) can extract your staged documents in natural language. The agent runs the UDF through Snowflake’s Managed MCP server: its execute_sql tool lets the agent call unsiloed_extract on any file in your stage, so it reaches documents inside Snowflake without a URL.

Prerequisites for the Cortex Agent

A Snowflake account with Cortex Agents and Snowflake CoWork available.
A role that can create MCP servers and agents (ACCOUNTADMIN works).
The unsiloed_extract UDF from the previous section.

Set Up the Agent

Create a Managed MCP server

Expose a read-only execute_sql tool through Snowflake’s Managed MCP. The server runs queries under your default warehouse, so make sure one is set (ALTER USER <you> SET DEFAULT_WAREHOUSE = '<warehouse>').

CREATE OR REPLACE MCP SERVER unsiloed_sql_mcp FROM SPECIFICATION $$
tools:
  - name: "execute_sql"
    type: "SYSTEM_EXECUTE_SQL"
    title: "Execute SQL"
    description: "Run read-only SQL, including the unsiloed_extract UDF"
$$;

Create the agent

Reference the Managed MCP server in a top-level mcp_servers block, and tell the agent how to call the UDF. Fully-qualify unsiloed_extract, since execute_sql runs without a database or schema context. The orchestration model must be on the agent allowlist (for example claude-sonnet-4-5, claude-sonnet-5, or auto).

CREATE OR REPLACE AGENT invoice_agent FROM SPECIFICATION $$
{
  "models": { "orchestration": "claude-sonnet-4-5" },
  "instructions": {
    "response": "You extract structured data from documents in Snowflake stages, then report each value with its confidence score.",
    "orchestration": "When the user names a document in a stage, call execute_sql with SELECT MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.unsiloed_extract(BUILD_SCOPED_FILE_URL(@MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.PDF_STAGE, '<filename>'), '<filename>', '<json_schema>'), passing the same filename twice and building <json_schema> from the requested fields."
  },
  "mcp_servers": [
    { "server_spec": { "name": "MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.unsiloed_sql_mcp" } }
  ]
}
$$;

Use the Agent

Select the agent

Open Snowflake CoWork at ai.snowflake.com, start a new chat, and pick your agent from the selector in the message box.

The Snowflake CoWork message box with the agent selector open and the invoice agent chosen

Name a staged document

Ask in natural language, naming a file in your stage:

Extract the vendor, invoice number, and total from AmazonWebServices.pdf
in the PDF_STAGE.

The agent runs the UDF through execute_sql and reports the fields, each with a confidence score:

Snowflake CoWork chat: the agent extracts the vendor Amazon Web Services, invoice number 42183017, and 4.11 total from AmazonWebServices.pdf in the PDF_STAGE

Troubleshoot the Cortex Agent

'Unknown function UNSILOED_EXTRACT'

execute_sql runs without a database or schema context. Fully-qualify the function in the agent’s instructions: MY_DB.MY_SCHEMA.unsiloed_extract(...).

'Tool type mcp_server is not valid' when creating the agent

Reference the MCP server in a top-level mcp_servers block, not under tools/tool_spec. Also confirm the orchestration model is on the agent allowlist (for example claude-sonnet-4-5, claude-sonnet-5, or auto; claude-4-sonnet is not valid).

The agent doesn't call the UDF, or picks the wrong file

Make the orchestration instruction explicit: give the exact SELECT unsiloed_extract(BUILD_SCOPED_FILE_URL(@stage, '<filename>'), '<filename>', '<schema>') template and the stage name, so the agent maps the document name to a stage path.

'Invalid argument types for function UNSILOED_EXTRACT'

The agent dropped an argument, usually the file name. The function takes the scoped URL, the file name, and the schema, so the filename appears twice in the template. Restate it in the orchestration instruction.

The agent's query returns no warehouse error

The Managed MCP runs queries under your default warehouse. Set one with ALTER USER <you> SET DEFAULT_WAREHOUSE = '<warehouse>' and make sure it can resume.

Snowflake UDF recipe

Ready-to-run setup.sql for the in-SQL UDF path.

Extraction API Reference

The /v2/extract endpoint, schema options, and response format.

Getting Started

Document Processing

Integrations

FAQ

Why Call Unsiloed from Snowflake

Extract in SQL with a UDF

Extract with a Cortex Agent

Prerequisites for the Cortex Agent

Set Up the Agent

Use the Agent

Troubleshoot the Cortex Agent

See Also

Snowflake UDF recipe

Extraction API Reference

​Why Call Unsiloed from Snowflake

​Extract in SQL with a UDF

​Extract with a Cortex Agent

​Prerequisites for the Cortex Agent

​Set Up the Agent

​Use the Agent

​Troubleshoot the Cortex Agent

​See Also

Snowflake UDF recipe

Extraction API Reference

Why Call Unsiloed from Snowflake

Extract in SQL with a UDF

Extract with a Cortex Agent

Prerequisites for the Cortex Agent

Set Up the Agent

Use the Agent

Troubleshoot the Cortex Agent

See Also