# Do ref-able resource names need to be unique?

Within one project: yes! To build dependencies between resources (such as models, seeds, and snapshots), you need to use the `ref` function, and pass in the resource name as an argument. dbt uses that resource name to uniquely resolve the `ref` to a specific resource. As a result, these resource names need to be unique, *even if they are in distinct folders*.

A resource in one project can have the same name as a resource in another project (installed as a dependency). dbt uses the project name to uniquely identify each resource. We call this "namespacing." If you `ref` a resource with a duplicated name, it will resolve to the resource within the same namespace (package or project), or raise an error because of an ambiguous reference. Use [two-argument `ref`](../../reference/dbt-jinja-functions/ref.md#ref-project-specific-models) to disambiguate references by specifying the namespace.

Those resource will still need to land in distinct locations in the data warehouse. Read the docs on [custom aliases](../../docs/build/custom-aliases.md) and [custom schemas](../../docs/build/custom-schemas.md) for details on how to achieve this.

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