dbt lineage

Lightweight visualizer for dbt core project's data lineage directly inside VS Code — no browser, no dbt Cloud, no context switching.

The extension renders an interactive upstream/downstream DAG for every model in your project, with one-click navigation between models, customizable colors, and live updates as you write SQL.

Features

Interactive lineage graph

Pan, zoom, and drag nodes freely. Double-click any model node to open the corresponding .sql file in the editor.

Focused and full-project views

Focused mode — when you open a .sql file, the graph automatically centers on that model and shows its lineage. Use the lock button in the bottom-right corner to stay focused.
Full project mode — click the unlock button to see the entire project graph at once.

Direction toggle

In focused mode, cycle through three views using the direction button:

Upstream & downstream — shows the full context of a model
Upstream only — shows everything a model depends on
Downstream only — shows everything that depends on a model

Node types

Each node shows its type, relative path, and materialization:

Node	Icon	Label
Model	Hexagon	`MDL`
Seed	File	`SED`
Source	Cylinder	`SRC`

Source nodes display the source schema and table name separately (e.g. Source: schema / table).

Materialization colors

The left strip of each node is color-coded by materialization type:

Materialization	Default color
Table	Blue
View	Purple
Incremental	Orange
Ephemeral	Grey
Materialized view	Red
Source	Green

All colors are fully customizable via VS Code settings.

Live parser (optional)

Enable dbtLineage.enableLiveParser to extract ref() and source() calls directly from your .sql files on every save — no need to run dbt parse first. Useful when iterating quickly on new models.

Requirements

A dbt project with a dbt_project.yml in the workspace root
A generated target/manifest.json (run dbt parse or dbt run)

The extension activates automatically when a dbt_project.yml is detected in the workspace.

Extension Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`dbtLineage.defaultDepth`	`0`	Number of hops to show from the focused model. `0` means unlimited.
`dbtLineage.enableLiveParser`	`false`	Parse `ref()`/`source()` calls from `.sql` files in real-time, without needing to run dbt.
`dbtLineage.manifestPath`	`""`	Override path to `manifest.json` (relative to workspace root). Leave empty to auto-detect from `target/manifest.json`.
`dbtLineage.colors.source`	`#1e8a65`	Color for source nodes.
`dbtLineage.colors.table`	`#216595`	Color for models materialized as tables.
`dbtLineage.colors.view`	`#9e94d5`	Color for models materialized as views.
`dbtLineage.colors.incremental`	`#db704b`	Color for incremental models.
`dbtLineage.colors.ephemeral`	`#6b7280`	Color for ephemeral models.
`dbtLineage.colors.materialized_view`	`#b3013f`	Color for materialized views.

Colors can be set in your settings.json:

{
  "dbtLineage.colors.table": "#0ea5e9",
  "dbtLineage.colors.view": "#8b5cf6",
  "dbtLineage.colors.incremental": "#f59e0b"
}

Color changes apply immediately without reloading the extension.

Commands

Command	Description
`dbt Lineage: Focus on Current Model`	Centers the graph on the active `.sql` file
`dbt Lineage: Show Full Project Graph`	Switches to the full project view
`dbt Lineage: Refresh`	Reloads `manifest.json` from disk

How it works

The extension reads your dbt project in two ways:

Manifest parser (default) — parses target/manifest.json generated by dbt. This gives full metadata: materialization, descriptions, tags, file paths, and pre-computed lineage. The graph updates automatically whenever the manifest changes.
Live parser (optional) — scans .sql files in models/ using regex to extract {{ ref() }} and {{ source() }} calls. Updates within 200 ms of a file save. Useful when actively developing new models that haven't been compiled yet.

When both are enabled, manifest metadata takes precedence and live-parsed edges are merged on top.

Tips

The graph panel can be dragged from the bottom panel to the secondary sidebar (right side) for a side-by-side view alongside your SQL editor.
Set dbtLineage.defaultDepth to 2 or 3 to limit the graph to the most relevant hops when working in large projects.
Enable the live parser during active development so new ref() connections appear instantly as you type, without waiting for dbt parse.

dbt Lineage

Alshakarti