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tags

dbt_project.yml

Definition

Apply a tag (or list of tags) to a resource.

These tags can be used as part of the resource selection syntax, when running the following commands:

  • dbt run --select tag:my_tag
  • dbt build --select tag:my_tag
  • dbt seed --select tag:my_tag
  • dbt snapshot --select tag:my_tag
  • dbt test --select tag:my_tag (indirectly runs all tests associated with the models that are tagged)

Examples

Use tags to run parts of your project

Apply tags in your dbt_project.yml as a single value or a string:

dbt_project.yml
models:
jaffle_shop:
+tags: "contains_pii"

staging:
+tags:
- "hourly"

marts:
+tags:
- "hourly"
- "published"

metrics:
+tags:
- "daily"
- "published"

You can also apply tags to individual resources using a config block:

models/staging/stg_payments.sql
{{ config(
tags=["finance"]
) }}

select ...

Run resources with specific tags (or exclude resources with specific tags) using the following commands:

# Run all models tagged "daily"
dbt run --select tag:daily

# Run all models tagged "daily", except those that are tagged hourly
dbt run --select tag:daily --exclude tag:hourly

Apply tags to seeds

dbt_project.yml
seeds:
jaffle_shop:
utm_mappings:
+tags: marketing
dbt_project.yml
seeds:
jaffle_shop:
utm_mappings:
+tags:
- marketing
- hourly

Apply tags to saved queries

Usage notes

Tags are additive

Tags accumulate hierarchically. The earlier example would result in:

ModelTags
models/staging/stg_customers.sqlcontains_pii, hourly
models/staging/stg_payments.sqlcontains_pii, hourly, finance
models/marts/dim_customers.sqlcontains_pii, hourly, published
models/metrics/daily_metrics.sqlcontains_pii, daily, published

Other resource types

Tags can also be applied to sources, exposures, and even specific columns in a resource. These resources do not yet support the config property, so you'll need to specify the tags as a top-level key instead.

models/schema.yml
version: 2

exposures:
- name: my_exposure
tags: ['exposure_tag']
...

sources:
- name: source_name
tags: ['top_level']

tables:
- name: table_name
tags: ['table_level']

columns:
- name: column_name
tags: ['column_level']
tests:
- unique:
tags: ['test_level']

In the example above, the unique test would be selected by any of these four tags:

dbt test --select tag:top_level
dbt test --select tag:table_level
dbt test --select tag:column_level
dbt test --select tag:test_level
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