Getting Started: Local Installation#

IMPORTANT

Before you can use relationalai, ensure that your Snowflake account administrator has:

Installed the RelationalAI Native App from the Snowflake Marketplace.
Granted your Snowflake user the app_user application role.

See the Native App Installation guide for details.

Install Python and the `relationalai` Package#

Follow the steps for your operating system to install Python and the relationalai package.

NOTE

The relationalai Python package requires Python 3.9, 3.10, or 3.11. If you have an existing compatible Python installation, skip to the last step below.

Navigate to the Python 3.11 download page, scroll down to the Files section, and download the macOS 64-bit universal2 installer.
Open the installer and follow the prompts to install Python 3.11. Use the default installation options. When the installation is complete, double click the Install Certificates command in the Finder window.
Open a terminal and verify that Python 3.11 is installed by running:
```
#python3.11 --version
```
The output should be similar to Python 3.11.9.
Create a new project directory and virtual environment and use pip to install the relationalai package:
```
#mkdir rai-getting-started && cd rai-getting-started

# Replace `python3.11` with `python3.9` or `python3.10`
# if you're using a different version.
python3.11 -m venv .venv  # Create a virtual environment.
source .venv/bin/activate  # Activate the virtual environment.

python -m pip install relationalai
```
Activating your virtual environment adds .venv/bin to your PATH, so you can use its Python executable as python.

TIP
Activate your virtual environment each time you open a new terminal to use the correct Python version and access the relationalai package.

Navigate to the Python 3.11 download page, scroll down to the Files section, and download the Windows installer (64-bit).
Open the installer and follow the prompts to install Python 3.11. Check the box to add Python to your PATH.
Open a terminal and verify that Python 3.11 is installed by running:
```
#python3.11 --version
```
The output should be similar to Python 3.11.9.
Create a new project directory and virtual environment and use pip to install the relationalai package:
```
#mkdir rai-getting-started && cd rai-getting-started

# Replace `python3.11` with `python3.9` or `python3.10`
# if you're using a different version.
python3.11 -m venv .venv  # Create a virtual environment.
.venv\Scripts\activate  # Activate the virtual environment.

python -m pip install relationalai
```
Activating your virtual environment adds .venv/bin to your PATH, so you can use its Python executable as python.

TIP
Activate your virtual environment each time you open a new terminal to use the correct Python version and access the relationalai package.

Use your distribution’s package manager to install Python 3.11. Alternatively, navigate to the Python 3.11 download page, scroll down to the Files section, download the Gzipped source tarball and compile it yourself. See the Python documentation for details.
Open a terminal and verify that Python 3.11 is installed by running:
```
#python3.11 --version
```
The output should be similar to Python 3.11.9.
Create a new project directory and virtual environment and use pip to install the relationalai package:
```
#mkdir rai-getting-started && cd rai-getting-started

# Replace `python3.11` with `python3.9` or `python3.10`
# if you're using a different version.
python3.11 -m venv .venv  # Create a virtual environment.
source .venv/bin/activate  # Activate the virtual environment.

python -m pip install relationalai
```
Activating your virtual environment adds .venv/bin to your PATH, so you can use its Python executable as python.

TIP
Activate your virtual environment each time you open a new terminal to use the correct Python version and access the relationalai package.

Configure Your Project#

Run rai init to connect to your Snowflake account and configure your project:

#rai init

Follow the interactive prompts to enter your Snowflake credentials and choose the:

Snowflake role: Must have SELECT privileges on the Snowflake tables you’ll be accessing as well as the eng_admin and all_schema_all RAI application roles.
Snowflake warehouse: May be any warehouse.
RAI native app: The default is relationalai, but yours may differ.

IMPORTANT

rai init saves your model’s configuration to a file named raiconfig.toml in the current directory. This file contains sensitive information, so be sure to exclude it from version control!

Test Your Installation#

Verify that the relationalai package is installed and working correctly by running the following code:

#import relationalai as rai

# Create a model named "MyFirstModel".
model = rai.Model("MyFirstModel")

# Send a test query.
with model.query() as select:
    response = select(1 + 1)

# The results are stored as a pandas DataFrame in the response.results attribute.
print(response.results)
#    v
# 0  2

NOTE

The first time you query a model, a RAI engine is created for you. Engines are RAI Native App compute resources similar to Snowflake warehouses that evaluate queries from RAI models. Note that it may take several minutes to create your engine.

Next Steps#

Check out the Tutorial to learn how to create a model step-by-step using the RAI Python API.

← Install the RAI Native App

Tutorial
→