dbt Core Tools

A VS Code extension that wraps dbt Core CLI. No language server — just direct CLI integration with six focused features.

Publisher: TEAMSchools
Activation: Opens automatically when a workspace contains a dbt_project.yml file.

Requires: YAML (Red Hat)

Installation

Install from the VS Code Marketplace by searching for dbt Core Tools (publisher: TEAMSchools), or install the .vsix directly:

Extensions: Install from VSIX...

dbt Core must be installed and accessible from your shell. By default the extension calls dbt; adjust dbtCoreTools.dbtCommand if you use a wrapper like uv run dbt.

Features

Command Runner

Run, build, test, and show models from the editor title bar or the command palette. Each action also has an "Options" variant that lets you pick upstream (+model), downstream (model+), and full-refresh before executing.

Lifecycle commands available from the command palette:

Command	Description
Setup Project	`dbt deps` + `dbt parse` for the current project
Setup All Projects	Same for every discovered project
Install Dependencies	`dbt deps`
Parse Project	`dbt parse`
Clean Project	`dbt clean`
Debug	`dbt debug`
Retry	Re-run the last failed command
Stage External Sources	Run `dbt-external-tables` stage macro

Compiled SQL Viewer

Opens compiled SQL from the manifest in a side-by-side diff view. Stays current when parse-on-save is enabled.

Command: dbt Core Tools: Show Compiled SQL

Lineage Viewer

DAG visualization using D3 and dagre. Nodes expand and collapse; right-click for context actions. A lock toggle keeps the view pinned to a specific model.

Command: dbt Core Tools: Show Lineage

Jump to Properties / Model

Toggle between a .sql model file and its corresponding .yml properties file. If no properties file exists it can scaffold one. Also provides a Sync Columns command to write column names from the manifest into the YAML.

Commands: dbt Core Tools: Toggle SQL/Properties, dbt Core Tools: Sync Columns

Model Preview

Run dbt show and display results in a sortable HTML table inside VS Code.

Command: dbt Core Tools: Show Model
Row limit controlled by dbtCoreTools.showLimit.

Code Intelligence

Go to definition — jump to the model or source referenced by ref() or source()
Hover — show column descriptions from the manifest
Autocomplete — suggestions for ref(), source(), macro(), and config() arguments

Settings

All settings are under the dbtCoreTools namespace.

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`dbtCoreTools.dbtCommand`	string	`"dbt"`	Command used to invoke dbt. Use `"uv run dbt"` or similar if needed.
`dbtCoreTools.projectDirectories`	array	`[]`	Explicit project paths. When empty, projects are auto-discovered from the workspace.
`dbtCoreTools.profilesDir`	string	`""`	Path to the directory containing `profiles.yml`.
`dbtCoreTools.target`	object	`{}`	Per-project target override. Keys are project names, values are target names.
`dbtCoreTools.parseOnSave`	boolean	`true`	Run `dbt parse` automatically when a `.sql` file is saved.
`dbtCoreTools.deferManifestPath`	object	`{}`	Per-project path to a manifest used for `--defer`. Keys are project names.
`dbtCoreTools.stageExternalSourcesVars`	object	`{}`	Vars passed to `stage_external_sources`. Supports `${projectName}` interpolation.
`dbtCoreTools.showLimit`	integer	`5`	Row limit passed to `dbt show`.

Example workspace settings

{
  "dbtCoreTools.dbtCommand": "uv run dbt",
  "dbtCoreTools.profilesDir": "/home/user/.dbt",
  "dbtCoreTools.target": {
    "my_project": "dev"
  },
  "dbtCoreTools.parseOnSave": true,
  "dbtCoreTools.deferManifestPath": {
    "my_project": "/ci/target/manifest.json"
  },
  "dbtCoreTools.showLimit": 10
}

Multi-project workspaces

Projects are discovered automatically by locating dbt_project.yml files (excluding dbt_packages/ and dbt_modules/). To pin specific directories instead of relying on auto-discovery, set dbtCoreTools.projectDirectories.

Per-project settings (target, deferManifestPath, stageExternalSourcesVars) use the project name as the key, matching the name field in dbt_project.yml.

YAML validation

The extension registers JSON schema validation for dbt_project.yml, selectors.yml, and packages.yml via the Red Hat YAML extension (schemas sourced from dbt-labs/dbt-jsonschema).

License

MIT