dbt (Data Build Tool)

Build, test, and ship analytics-engineering projects with dbt. Scaffolds projects, generates models and sources, writes data tests and documentation, manages packages, and deploys to dbt Cloud or Core.

This skill guides complete dbt development: scaffolding projects, generating staging and mart models, defining sources and seeds, writing schema and data tests, building documentation, and managing packages. Covers incremental models, snapshots, macros, and deployment to dbt Cloud or Core against warehouses like Snowflake, BigQuery, and Redshift.

When to use

Use when building dbt models, writing data tests, structuring a staging/marts layer, configuring incremental models or snapshots, or deploying a dbt project to a warehouse.

Examples

Build a staging model

Generate dbt SQL with tests

Create a dbt staging model for raw Stripe charges with not_null and unique tests on the id, plus a yml doc block

Incremental mart

Set up incremental processing

Convert my daily_revenue model to an incremental dbt model partitioned by date so it only rebuilds new days

Project structure

Lay out staging and marts

Scaffold a dbt project with staging, intermediate, and marts layers for an e-commerce dataset and wire up sources.yml