# SQL parse

dbt uses the Python [`sqlparse`](https://pypi.org/project/sqlparse/) library when it parses SQL. For large or complex queries, you may need to adjust how `sqlparse` groups tokens to avoid performance issues or parsing limits.

You can use the `--sqlparse` flag to adjust how `sqlparse` groups tokens. This maps to the grouping limits described in the [sqlparse Security and Performance Considerations](https://sqlparse.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api.html#security-and-performance-considerations).

Supported keys:

| Key                   | What it does                                                  |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `MAX_GROUPING_DEPTH`  | Sets the maximum nesting depth when grouping tokens           |
| `MAX_GROUPING_TOKENS` | Sets the maximum number of tokens that can be grouped at once |

<br />

Each key accepts a single value: an integer or `null`. The default value for both keys is `null`, which means dbt does not apply a custom limit.

`sqlparse` enforces built-in limits (`MAX_GROUPING_DEPTH = 100` and `MAX_GROUPING_TOKENS = 10000`) to prevent excessive resource usage. Setting a value to `null` disables the limit entirely.

For example, the following command sets both grouping limits:

```bash
dbt compile --sqlparse '{"MAX_GROUPING_DEPTH": 200, "MAX_GROUPING_TOKENS": 20000}'
```

You can configure only one key to set a single limit. Any unspecified key defaults to `null`. In the following example, only the depth limit is raised to `500`; `MAX_GROUPING_TOKENS` is not set, so `sqlparse` does not apply a token limit for this run.

```bash
dbt compile --sqlparse '{"MAX_GROUPING_DEPTH": 500}'
```

If no keys are provided, both limits remain unset (`null`), and `sqlparse` does not apply any grouping limits.

You can use `--sqlparse` with the following commands:

* [`dbt compile`](../commands/compile.md)
* [`dbt run`](../commands/run.md)
* [`dbt build`](../commands/build.md)
* [`dbt test`](../commands/test.md)
* [`dbt seed`](../commands/seed.md)
* [`dbt snapshot`](../commands/snapshot.md)
* [`dbt source freshness`](../commands/source.md#dbt-source-freshness)
* [`dbt docs generate`](../commands/cmd-docs.md#dbt-docs-generate)
* [`dbt show`](../commands/show.md)

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