Course · ~3.5 hrs hands-on

Your first PR

A guided mechanics lab: from a blank machine to a merged staging model

Hands-on, at your own machine. Assumes Git essentials and Understanding dbt (or equivalent experience). This course deliberately uses one missing staging model to teach the mechanics cleanly; most later work will discover, change and compose existing domain models. Best done with real access in your first week.

  1. 1Set up your development environment6 steps · ~30mWindows, macOS or Codespaces, ending with a green dbt debug
  2. 2Pick your table3 steps · ~12mChoose familiar data and state its grain
  3. 3Find your source3 steps · ~10m1,500+ models already exist — your input is almost certainly one of them
  4. 4Where does it go?3 steps · ~12mLayers × domains: choosing the folder (it chooses your config)
  5. 5Write the model3 steps · ~25mOne SELECT, project style, previewed as you go
  6. 6Describe and test it3 steps · ~20mEight lines of YAML, written by hand, that work forever
  7. 7Build it7 steps · ~35mrun, test, build and selectors — learned on your own model
  8. 8Open the PR3 steps · ~20mBranch, commit, push, propose — then watch the checks
  9. 9Merge — and what happens next3 steps · ~15mResponding to review, landing on main, and your model's new life

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