Model Selection Syntax

This document explains the dbt-style model selection syntax supported by the DBT Column Lineage Extractor tool.

Node Types

• Regular models: model_name or model.package.model_name
• Source nodes: source.schema.table

Graph Operators

• +model_name - Include the model and all its ancestors (upstream models)
• model_name+ - Include the model and all its descendants (downstream models)
• +model_name+ - Include the model, all its ancestors, and all its descendants (entire lineage)

Set Operators

• model1 model2 - Select models that match either selector (union)
• model1,model2 - Select models that match both selectors (intersection)

Resource Selectors

• tag:daily - Select models with the tag "daily"
• path:models/finance - Select models in the specified path
• package:marketing - Select models from the specified package

Examples

# Select all finance models and their dependencies
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "+tag:finance"

# Select order models and their downstream dependencies
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "orders+"

# Select models that are both daily and in the finance package
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "tag:daily,package:finance"

# Select models in the core package or downstream from customers
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "package:core customers+"

# Select a specific source
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "source.raw.customers"

# Select a source and its downstream dependencies
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "source.raw.customers+"

# Select a source and its entire lineage (both upstream and downstream)
dbt_column_lineage_direct --model "+source.raw.customers+"

You can also specify models from a JSON file using the --model-list-json parameter:

dbt_column_lineage_direct --manifest ./inputs/manifest.json --catalog ./inputs/catalog.json --model-list-json ./models.json

Where models.json is a JSON file containing a list of model names:

[
  "model.jaffle_shop.customers",
  "model.jaffle_shop.orders",
  "source.raw.customers"
]