SnowPro Specialty: Gen AI Question 222
Single answerCORTEX_MODELS_ALLOWLIST parameterA Snowflake administrator is preparing a production environment where analysts can use Snowflake Cortex AISQL functions, but the security team requires that only approved models be available. The team wants to allow access to a small set of models and prevent use of all others without changing application SQL. Which action best meets this requirement?
- A
Set the CORTEX_MODELS_ALLOWLIST parameter to the approved model names at the appropriate account, user, or session scope.
- B
Grant USAGE on the approved models to analyst roles and revoke USAGE on all other models.
- C
Create a network policy that permits requests only to approved model endpoints.
- D
Set the CORTEX_MODELS_ALLOWLIST parameter to an empty value and rely on role-based access control to infer the allowed models.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best answer is to use the CORTEX_MODELS_ALLOWLIST parameter to explicitly define which Cortex models are permitted for use. This is the Snowflake control intended for governance scenarios where organizations want to restrict users to an approved set of models while leaving application logic unchanged. In practice, administrators should set the parameter at the narrowest scope that satisfies the requirement, such as account-wide for centralized governance or user/session scope for more targeted control. This aligns with Snowflake documentation and best practices for using parameters to govern Cortex model availability rather than trying to manage model access through unrelated mechanisms such as network policies or object grants.
- A. Correct.
Correct. CORTEX_MODELS_ALLOWLIST is the parameter used to restrict which Cortex models can be used. By setting it to a defined list of approved model identifiers, an administrator can constrain model usage without requiring application code changes. Because Snowflake parameters can be set at different scopes such as account, user, or session, the administrator can apply the control in a way that fits governance requirements.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Cortex model access is not controlled by granting USAGE directly on individual models in the same way as securable database objects. This option reflects a common misconception that every consumable service in Snowflake is managed through object-level grants. The allowlist parameter, not model-level USAGE grants, is the mechanism described for restricting available Cortex models.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Network policies control network access patterns to Snowflake, such as allowed IP addresses, not which Cortex models can be invoked from SQL. This is a plausible distractor because both are governance controls, but they operate at different layers.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. An empty or unset allowlist does not implement a curated approved-model policy. The purpose of CORTEX_MODELS_ALLOWLIST is to explicitly specify which models are permitted. Relying on RBAC alone does not provide the model-level restriction requested in the scenario.