Key pair auth to Snowflake

[nganesh]

cloud PowerBI seems to support key-pair auth for Snowflake. However this is not working though able to verify this programmatically. 

Also is it possible to set the key-pair details via PowerBI rest API. 

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @nganesh, Hope you are doing well. Kindly let us know if the issue has been resolved or if further assistance is needed. Your input could be helpful to others in the community.

[v-hashadapu]

Hi @nganesh , Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community Forum.

We find the answer shared by @mohit_sakhare  is appropriate. Can you please confirm if the solution worked for you. It will help others with similar issues find the answer easily.

Thank you @mohit_sakhare  for your valuable response.

[mohit_sakhare · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Yes, Power BI Service does support Snowflake Key Pair authentication, but it must be configured correctly in the Service (under Data source credentials / Manage connections and gateways). If it works programmatically but not in Power BI, it’s usually due to one of the following:

• The private key format is not what Power BI expects (typically PKCS#8 PEM format).

• The private key is encrypted and the passphrase is not entered correctly.

• The RSA public key registered in Snowflake does not match the private key being used.

• The account URL / user / role / warehouse differs from what was tested programmatically.

• If a gateway is involved, the credentials must be configured on the gateway datasource in the Service (not just in Desktop).

Regarding your second question:
At this time, setting Snowflake Key Pair credentials via Power BI REST API is not fully supported for automation scenarios. While there are REST APIs for updating gateway datasource credentials, Key Pair authentication for Snowflake generally still requires manual configuration in the Power BI Service UI.

If you can share the exact error message and whether you’re using a gateway or a cloud connection, it would help narrow down the issue further.