dbt-develop

dbt Model Development

Requirements

Agent: builder or migrator (requires file write access) Tools used: bash (runs altimate-dbt commands), read, glob, write, edit, schema_search, dbt_profiles, sql_analyze, altimate_core_validate, altimate_core_column_lineage

When to Use This Skill

Use when the user wants to:

• Create a new dbt model (staging, intermediate, mart, OBT)
• Add or modify SQL logic in an existing model
• Generate sources.yml or schema.yml from warehouse metadata
• Reorganize models into layers (staging/intermediate/mart or bronze/silver/gold)
• Convert a model to incremental materialization
• Scaffold a new dbt project structure

Do NOT use for:

• Adding tests to models → use dbt-test
• Writing model/column descriptions → use dbt-docs
• Debugging build failures → use dbt-troubleshoot
• Analyzing change impact → use dbt-analyze

Core Workflow: Plan → Discover → Write → Validate

1. Plan — Understand Before Writing

Before writing any SQL:

• Read the task requirements carefully
• Enumerate every concrete deliverable the task asks for — write down each model name, every column/test/config change mentioned, and any "create N models" count. This list becomes the checklist you verify against in step 4. A task asking for four models is not done if only three exist on disk. If the task references a schema.yml, _models.yml, or similar spec file, every entry there is a deliverable.
• Identify which layer this model belongs to (staging, intermediate, mart)
• Check existing models for naming conventions and patterns
• Check dependencies: If packages.yml exists, check for dbt_packages/ or package-lock.yml. Only run dbt deps if packages are declared but not yet installed.

altimate-dbt info                           # project name, adapter type
altimate-dbt parents --model <upstream>     # understand what feeds this model
altimate-dbt children --model <downstream>  # understand what consumes it