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title Installation
description Installation guide to get started with LocalStack for Snowflake.
template doc
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import { Code, LinkButton, Tabs, TabItem } from '@astrojs/starlight/components'; import { LOCALSTACK_VERSION } from "astro:env/server";

LocalStack CLI for Snowflake

The easiest way to get started with LocalStack for Snowflake is by using the LocalStack CLI. It automatically pulls the correct Docker image, manages the container, and supports additional features like image updates and debugging.

Installing the LocalStack CLI

The LocalStack CLI can be installed using Python, Brew (macOS), or Windows executables.

If you prefer to install LocalStack via Python (recommended for most Snowflake users), follow the steps below.

Please ensure the following are installed:

Then install the LocalStack CLI:

python3 -m pip install --upgrade localstack

:::note To download a specific version of LocalStack, replace <version> with the required version from release page.

python3 -m pip install localstack==<version>

:::

:::tip[MacOS Sierra?] If you have problems with permissions in MacOS X Sierra, install with:

python3 -m pip install --user localstack

:::

:::danger Do not use sudo or the root user when starting LocalStack. It should be installed and started entirely under a local non-root user. :::

You can install the LocalStack CLI using Homebrew:

brew install localstack/tap/localstack-cli
Alternative: Binary Download

Download the binary for your architecture:

<LinkButton href={https://github.com/localstack/localstack-cli/releases/download/v${LOCALSTACK_VERSION}/localstack-cli-${LOCALSTACK_VERSION}-darwin-amd64-onefile.tar.gz} icon="download" variant="minimal">Intel (AMD64)

Then extract it:

<Code code={sudo tar xvzf localstack-cli-${LOCALSTACK_VERSION}-darwin-*-onefile.tar.gz -C /usr/local/bin} lang="bash" />

You can download the pre-built binary below:

<LinkButton href={https://github.com/localstack/localstack-cli/releases/download/v${LOCALSTACK_VERSION}/localstack-cli-${LOCALSTACK_VERSION}-windows-amd64-onefile.zip} icon="download" variant="minimal">Intel (AMD64)

Then extract the archive and run the binary in PowerShell.

:::note You can download and install the Windows executable from our GitHub Releases. :::

Need more options? See our alternative installation instructions.

Starting the Snowflake Emulator

Once the CLI is installed and your Auth Token is set, start the Snowflake Emulator with:

localstack start --stack snowflake

This will pull the LocalStack for Snowfalke image and run the Docker image automatically.

:::note You may also start the LocalStack container using Docker Compose. :::

Check if the emulator is running

Run the following command:

curl -d '{}' snowflake.localhost.localstack.cloud:4566/session

Expected response:

{"success": true}

Updating LocalStack

To keep both the CLI and emulator images up to date, run:

localstack update all

If you only want to update the Snowflake image manually (e.g. to pick up a recent fix), you can run:

docker pull localstack/snowflake:latest

Starting with the end-of-March 2026 release, versioned Snowflake image tags follow calendar versioning in the YYYY.MM.patch format (for example, 2026.03.0). Refer to the available tags on Docker Hub for the latest releases.

Alternatives

If you prefer Docker Compose, you can start the emulator using the configuration below:

version: "3.8"

services:
  localstack:
    container_name: "localstack-snowflake"
    image: localstack/snowflake
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:4566:4566"
      - "127.0.0.1:4510-4559:4510-4559"
      - "127.0.0.1:443:443"
    environment:
      - LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN=${LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN:?}
    volumes:
      - "./volume:/var/lib/localstack"

Start the container with:

docker-compose up

Next steps

Now that the Snowflake emulator is installed, you can use it for developing and testing your Snowflake data pipelines. Refer to our Quickstart guide to get started.