diff --git a/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.test.ts
index a321e289..6b847887 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ vi.mock('snowflake-sdk', () => ({
 }));
 
 import { createSnowflakeLiveDatabaseIntrospection } from '../../connectors/snowflake/live-database-introspection.js';
-import { isKtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig, KtxSnowflakeScanConnector, snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig, type KtxSnowflakeDriver, type KtxSnowflakeDriverFactory } from '../../connectors/snowflake/connector.js';
+import { isKtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig, KtxSnowflakeScanConnector, snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig, type KtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig, type KtxSnowflakeDriver, type KtxSnowflakeDriverFactory } from '../../connectors/snowflake/connector.js';
 import { tableRefSet } from '../../context/scan/table-ref.js';
 
 function fakeDriverFactory(): KtxSnowflakeDriverFactory {
@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ describe('KtxSnowflakeScanConnector', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it('defaults and validates Snowflake maxSessions', () => {
-    const baseConnection = {
+  it('defaults and validates Snowflake maxConnections', () => {
+    const baseConnection: KtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig = {
       driver: 'snowflake',
       authMethod: 'password',
       account: 'acct',
@@ -150,32 +150,59 @@ describe('KtxSnowflakeScanConnector', () => {
       schema_name: 'PUBLIC',
       username: 'reader',
       password: 'fixture-pass', // pragma: allowlist secret
-    } as const;
+    };
 
     expect(
       snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig({
         connectionId: 'warehouse',
         connection: baseConnection,
       }),
-    ).toMatchObject({ maxSessions: 4 });
+    ).toMatchObject({ maxConnections: 4 });
 
     expect(
       snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig({
         connectionId: 'warehouse',
-        connection: { ...baseConnection, maxSessions: 8 },
+        connection: { ...baseConnection, maxConnections: 8 },
       }),
-    ).toMatchObject({ maxSessions: 8 });
+    ).toMatchObject({ maxConnections: 8 });
 
-    for (const maxSessions of [0, -1, 1.5, Number.NaN]) {
+    expect(
+      snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig({
+        connectionId: 'warehouse',
+        connection: { ...baseConnection, maxConnections: '12' as never },
+      }),
+    ).toMatchObject({ maxConnections: 12 });
+
+    for (const maxConnections of [0, -1, 1.5, Number.NaN, 'abc' as never]) {
       expect(() =>
         snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig({
           connectionId: 'warehouse',
-          connection: { ...baseConnection, maxSessions },
+          connection: { ...baseConnection, maxConnections },
         }),
-      ).toThrow('connections.warehouse.maxSessions must be a positive integer');
+      ).toThrow('connections.warehouse.maxConnections must be a positive integer');
     }
   });
 
+  it('rejects stale Snowflake maxSessions config', () => {
+    const baseConnection: KtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig = {
+      driver: 'snowflake',
+      authMethod: 'password',
+      account: 'acct',
+      warehouse: 'WH',
+      database: 'ANALYTICS',
+      schema_name: 'PUBLIC',
+      username: 'reader',
+      password: 'fixture-pass', // pragma: allowlist secret
+    };
+
+    expect(() =>
+      snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig({
+        connectionId: 'warehouse',
+        connection: { ...baseConnection, maxSessions: 8 },
+      }),
+    ).toThrow('connections.warehouse.maxSessions has been renamed to maxConnections');
+  });
+
   it('uses one lazy Snowflake pool and drains it during cleanup', async () => {
     const { pool, executedSql } = installSnowflakePoolMock();
     const close = vi.fn(async () => undefined);
@@ -191,7 +218,7 @@ describe('KtxSnowflakeScanConnector', () => {
         username: 'reader',
         password: 'fixture-pass', // pragma: allowlist secret
         role: 'ANALYST',
-        maxSessions: 3,
+        maxConnections: 3,
       },
       sdkOptionsProvider: {
         resolve: vi.fn(async () => ({ sdkOptions: { application: 'ktx-test' }, close })),
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.ts b/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.ts
index 0281b298..d84ea002 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/connectors/snowflake/connector.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export interface KtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig {
   privateKey?: string;
   passphrase?: string;
   role?: string;
-  maxSessions?: number;
+  maxConnections?: number;
   [key: string]: unknown;
 }
 
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export interface KtxSnowflakeResolvedConnectionConfig {
   privateKey?: string;
   passphrase?: string;
   role?: string;
-  maxSessions: number;
+  maxConnections: number;
 }
 
 export interface KtxSnowflakeRawColumnMetadata {
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@ export function snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig(input: {
   if (!isKtxSnowflakeConnectionConfig(input.connection)) {
     throw new Error(`Native Snowflake connector cannot run driver "${inputDriver}"`);
   }
+  if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(input.connection, 'maxSessions')) {
+    throw new Error(`connections.${input.connectionId}.maxSessions has been renamed to maxConnections`);
+  }
   const env = input.env ?? process.env;
   const authMethod = input.connection?.authMethod ?? 'password';
   const account = stringConfigValue(input.connection, 'account', env);
@@ -249,9 +252,9 @@ export function snowflakeConnectionConfigFromConfig(input: {
     database,
     schemas: resolvedSchemas,
     username,
-    maxSessions: positiveIntegerConfigValue({
+    maxConnections: positiveIntegerConfigValue({
       connection: input.connection,
-      key: 'maxSessions',
+      key: 'maxConnections',
       connectionId: input.connectionId,
       defaultValue: 4,
     }),
@@ -322,7 +325,7 @@ class SnowflakeSdkDriver implements KtxSnowflakeDriver {
       const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error);
       if (/timeout/i.test(message) && /pool|acquire/i.test(message)) {
         throw new Error(
-          "Snowflake session pool exhausted after 60s - consider lowering maxSessions or increasing your account's concurrent-statement limit.",
+          "Snowflake session pool exhausted after 60s - consider lowering maxConnections or increasing your account's concurrent-statement limit.",
         );
       }
       throw error;
@@ -432,7 +435,7 @@ class SnowflakeSdkDriver implements KtxSnowflakeDriver {
     if (!this.pool) {
       this.pool = snowflake.createPool(await this.resolveConnectionOptions(), {
         min: 0,
-        max: this.resolved.maxSessions,
+        max: this.resolved.maxConnections,
         evictionRunIntervalMillis: 30_000,
         acquireTimeoutMillis: 60_000,
       });