Model naming conventions in dbt - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Model Naming Conventions in dbt

📖 Scenario: You are working on a data project using dbt (data build tool). To keep your project organized and easy to understand, you need to follow clear naming rules for your models. This helps your team quickly find and use the right data tables.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to create dbt models with proper names following common naming conventions. You will create model files with specific names and write simple SQL inside them.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create dbt model files with correct names

Write simple SQL SELECT statements inside models

Understand the difference between staging and final models by naming

Use lowercase letters and underscores in model names

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

In real data projects, following naming conventions helps teams understand the role of each model quickly and avoid confusion.

💼 Career

Data analysts and engineers use dbt model naming conventions to build maintainable and scalable data pipelines.

1

Create a staging model file

Create a dbt model file named stg_customers.sql with a simple SQL query that selects all columns from the raw_customers table.

dbt

-- Write a SQL SELECT statement to select all columns from raw_customers
-- Your code here

Need a hint?

Use select * from raw_customers inside the stg_customers.sql file.

2

Create a final model file

Create a dbt model file named customers.sql that selects all columns from the staging model stg_customers.

dbt

-- Write a SQL SELECT statement to select all columns from stg_customers
-- Your code here

Need a hint?

Use the {{ ref('stg_customers') }} function to refer to the staging model inside customers.sql.

3

Add a configuration for materialization

In the customers.sql model file, add a config block at the top to set the materialization to table.

dbt

-- Add a config block to set materialized='table'

select * from {{ ref('stg_customers') }}
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use {{ config(materialized='table') }} at the top of the model file.

4

Print the final model name and materialization

Print the final model name customers and its materialization table as a Python dictionary.

dbt

{{ config(materialized='table') }}

select * from {{ ref('stg_customers') }}

# Print the model info below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print({'model_name': 'customers', 'materialization': 'table'}) to show the info.