materialized

Project file

dbt_project.yml

config-version: 2

models:
  <resource-path>:
    +materialized: <materialization_name>

Property file

models/properties.yml

version: 2

models:
  - name: <model_name>
    config:
      materialized: <materialization_name>

Config block

models/<model_name>.sql

{{ config(
  materialized="<materialization_name>"
) }}

select ...

Definition

Materializations are strategies for persisting dbt models in a warehouse. These are the materialization types built into dbt:

• ephemeral — ephemeral models are not directly built into the database
• table — a model is rebuilt as a table on each run
• view — a model is rebuilt as a view on each run
• materialized_view — allows the creation and maintenance of materialized views in the target database
• incremental — incremental models allow dbt to insert or update records into a table since the last time that model was run

You can also configure custom materializations in dbt. Custom materializations are a powerful way to extend dbt's functionality to meet your specific needs.

Creation Precedence

Materializations are implemented following this "drop through" life cycle:

1. If a model does not exist with the provided path, create the new model.
2. If a model exists, but has a different type, drop the existing model and create the new model.
3. If --full-refresh is supplied, replace the existing model regardless of configuration changes and the on_configuration_change setting.
4. If there are no configuration changes, perform the default action for that type (e.g. apply refresh for a materialized view).
5. Determine whether to apply the configuration changes according to the on_configuration_change setting.