Updating dbt models

Introduction to dbt

Mike Metzger

Data Engineer

Why update?

• Iterative work
• Fixing bugs with queries / models
• Migrating to different sources / destinations

¹ Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash

Update workflow

1. Check out from source control
   • git clone dbt_project
2. Find the model in question
3. Update query contents
4. Regenerate with
   • dbt run or
   • dbt run -f (Force full refresh)
5. Check changes back to source control

YAML files

• Some updates may require changes to YAML / .yml files
• Typically would require changes in:
  • dbt_project.yml
  • model_properties.yml

dbt_project.yml

• Contains mostly contents related to full project
  • Project name / version
  • Directory locations
• Model materialization settings (global)
• One dbt_project.yml file per project

model_properties.yml

• Contain settings that reference models
  • Description
  • Documentation details
  • Much more
• Can actually be named anything (with .yml) in models/ subdirectory
• Can have as many files as needed

Let's practice!

Introduction to dbt