Can I run an external file in a Snowflake stored procedure?

Question

if I have an R script that generates a table and I wanted to insert that into an existing datatable in Snowflake every day, could I automate that using a stored procedure?

Is there some functionality that could run my R script for me within the procedure? Could a javascript procedure do so?

Answer 1

If you want to run R scripts from Snowflake, the best you can set up is an external function:

• https://docs.snowflake.com/en/sql-reference/external-functions-introduction.html

Basically set up a web server (or so) that can run the R script, and then you can tell Snowflake to call that server on a schedule with a task:

• https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/tasks.html