Verify your setup
Every connection in Data Workers is in exactly one of three states, and the state is earned, not assumed:
| State | What it means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Evaluation (sample data) | The agent works out of the box on built-in sample data so you can try it before connecting anything. | Nothing — this is the default. |
| 🟢 Connected | The agent is wired to your real system and a live test has passed to confirm it works. | Provide credentials, then verify. |
| 🔴 Needs attention | It was connected, but the connection is now failing — expired token, changed permissions, network. | Re-check the credential. |
Setting a credential is not the same as a working connection. A system with credentials configured but no passing test stays out of the 🟢 state on every surface — terminal and console alike. This verify-before-trust step is deliberate: it’s how you (and we) can honestly say an agent is running on production data rather than assuming it because a variable was set.
How to verify
Section titled “How to verify”From your coding agent — ask for a live test, per system:
Test the connection to my Snowflake catalog.
The agent makes a real call with your credential and reports 🟢 or 🔴 with the failing step named. To see everything at once:
What’s the status of my data connectors?
From the Spellbook console (Scale) — press Test connection on the connector card. Same rule: the card only turns green on a passing live check.
When something goes 🔴
Section titled “When something goes 🔴”🔴 always names a cause — the most common are an expired token, a permission that was tightened, or a network path that changed. Fix the credential or grant, then re-run the test. The Troubleshooting page maps the frequent failure messages to fixes, and each connector page lists the minimum grants the test needs.
Why we built it this way
Section titled “Why we built it this way”Sample-data mode isn’t a limitation to apologize for — it’s how you evaluate a fleet of agents without handing credentials to a vendor on day one. And the hard line between “credential set” and “verified live” is how a platform that writes to production systems stays trustworthy: if the state says 🟢, a real test passed, full stop.