Agent skill · data analytics · wshobson
dbt-transformation-patterns
Master dbt (data build tool) for analytics engineering with model organization, testing, documentation, and incremental strategies. Use when building data transformations, creating data models, or implementing analytics engineering best practices.
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific dbt patterns and best practices for data transformation that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
About 2k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-05. 38,570 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
dbt Transformation Patterns Production-ready patterns for dbt (data build tool) including model organization, testing strategies, documentation, and incremental processing. When to Use This Skill Building data transformation pipelines with dbt Organizing models into staging, intermediate, and marts layers Implementing data quality tests Creating incremental models for large datasets Documenting data models and lineage Setting up dbt project structure Core Concepts 1. Model Layers (Medallion Architecture) 2. Naming Conventions Layer Prefix Example ------------ -------------- ----------------------------- Staging stg stgstripepayments Intermediate int intpaymentspivoted Marts dim, fct dimcustomers, fctorders Quick Start Detailed patterns and worked examples Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient. Best Practices Do's Use staging layer - Clean data once, use everywhere Test aggressively - Not null, unique, relationships Document everything - Column descriptions, model descriptions Use incremental - For tables > 1M rows Version control - dbt project in Git Don'ts Don't skip staging - Raw → mart is tech debt Don't hardcode dates - Use {{ var('startdate') }} Don't repeat logic - Extract to macros Don't test in prod - Use dev target Don't ignore freshness - Monitor source data
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills wshobson/dbt-transformation-patterns