Connect SQL Server, Snowflake, and Databricks

Connect SQL Server, Snowflake, or Databricks to query your own data from Unity. A connection stores the source configuration. A report attaches that connection, and a semantic model describes the entities and fields available for analysis.

For file-based analysis, use CSV imports. For FRED, World Bank, or US Census data, use public-data connections.

Connect a database

Open a report and its data connection controls, or open Data to manage its connections.
Add a connection and choose SQL Server, Snowflake, or Databricks.
Enter the source location and the authentication details required by the selected method.
Complete the connection setup, then configure the Model Builder.
Select the tables you want to expose, review entity SQL and relationships, and click Save Changes.
Attach the connection to the report and make it active when you want to browse its fields or start a new analysis.

Creating the connection and configuring its model are separate steps. A source that connects successfully can still need table selection or model corrections before the assistant can query it.

Connection settings

Source	Location and scope	Authentication choices in Unity
SQL Server	Server and database	SQL Server and supported Microsoft Entra authentication options in the connection form.
Snowflake	Account identifier, database, warehouse, schema, and optional role	Username/password, key pair, or OAuth client credentials.
Databricks	Workspace host, SQL warehouse HTTP path, catalog, and schema	Microsoft Entra service principal with secret or certificate, or a supplied Entra user access token.

The form changes with the selected authentication method. For example, a Snowflake key-pair connection needs the user and private key; a Databricks service-principal connection needs the tenant and client details. Use the exact warehouse and catalog identifiers provided by your data administrator.

Authentication settings must also be enabled by the source. Selecting an option in Unity does not configure database permissions, network rules, identity-provider consent, or warehouse availability.

Understand attached and active connections

State	Meaning
Available connection	A saved connection your account can use. It is not necessarily attached to this report.
Attached connection	A source associated with this report and available through its authorized workflows.
Active connection	The source currently selected in the workspace for browsing and new work.
Saved visual or dataset connection	The specific source that an existing query uses.

Changing the active connection does not silently move existing visuals to a different database. A report can contain visuals from multiple attached connections; each query still runs against its own source.

Inspect the connections attached to this report. Use the sales connection
for a revenue trend and the support connection for a ticket-volume chart.
Create separate visuals and identify the source of each.

Multiple connections do not create a federated SQL engine. Cross-connection joins and relationship-based filtering are not inferred automatically. Prepare combined data in a suitable source when one calculation requires it.

Model the source

Open Model Builder to select tables, edit entity SQL, define relationships, and add reusable data definitions. Logical entity names can differ from physical table names. Queries must use identifiers exposed by the relevant model and the SQL dialect of that source.

A connection model can support more than one report. Before changing a shared definition, inspect its usage and consider the other reports that depend on it. See Semantic models.

Manage a connection

The data connection lists provide controls to rename connections, attach available ones, remove report attachments, and open the model. Removing a report attachment and deleting the saved connection are different operations.

Connection ownership is separate from report ownership. A report collaborator can use an attached source through authorized report operations without receiving its stored credential. An organization member does not automatically gain access to all connections.

Unity protects connections that are still attached to company reports from deletion. Transfer report responsibility and resolve source dependencies before removing an account or connection.

Troubleshoot setup

Problem	Check
Authentication fails	The selected method, account identifiers, credentials, token lifetime, and source-side permissions.
Server cannot be reached	Network access from the Unity backend, firewall rules, host, port, and warehouse state.
No useful fields appear	Complete table selection and save the connection model.
A query cannot resolve an entity	Use exact model identifiers and the right connection.
Existing charts still query the old source	Inspect each visual's saved connection; changing the active source is insufficient.

See Live data for refresh behavior and Data and AI for the data path.