What Is Target In Dbt? | dbt Guide

What Is Target In Dbt?

In dbt, a “target” typically refers to the destination database or data warehouse where the transformed and modeled data is ultimately stored. The target is where the results of dbt transformations, such as models and tables, are materialized.

When running dbt commands, we often specify a target database, and dbt will execute the SQL queries to transform and load the data into that target. Targets are specified in your dbt profiles file, which contains configuration details for connecting to databases.

Here’s a brief overview of how it works

Configuring a Target in Profiles

In profiles.yml file, define configurations for different databases, including connection details and target configurations. A target can be associated with a specific data warehouse or database where the transformed data will be stored.

Example profiles.yml entry

my_target:
  target: dev
  outputs:
    dev:
      type: snowflake
      account: my_account
      warehouse: my_warehouse
      database: my_database
      schema: my_schema
      user: my_user
      password: my_password
Running dbt Commands:
When running dbt commands, specify the target using the --target flag. For example:
dbt run --target dev

This tells dbt to execute the transformations and load the results into the specified target, which in this case is the dev target.

Materialization in the Target

The final transformed and modelled data will be materialized (created or updated) in the specified target’s database and schema.

By having separate targets, you can easily switch between development, staging, and production environments, ensuring that your dbt transformations are applied to the appropriate destination. This separation of environments helps in testing and maintaining the quality of your data transformations before promoting them to production.

We at Helical have more than 10 years of experience in providing solutions and services in the domain of data and have served more than 85+ clients. We are also DBT partners, hence in case if you are looking for certain assistance, consulting, services please do reach out on nikhilesh@Helicaltech.com