dbt-adapters

Common errors

Warnings

Install

Install compatibility verified last tested: 2026-05-12

Imports

• BaseAdapter

  from dbt.adapters.base.impl import BaseAdapter

  For developers extending the base adapter functionality. End-users typically do not directly import from dbt-adapters Python modules.

• SQLAdapter

  from dbt.adapters.sql.impl import SQLAdapter

  For developers building SQL-based adapters, inheriting from BaseAdapter. End-users typically do not directly import from dbt-adapters Python modules.

• adapter (Jinja context variable)

  {% do adapter.dispatch('macro_name', 'package_name')(arg1, arg2) %}

  The primary way dbt users interact with adapter functionality within dbt models (via Jinja macros).

Quickstart stale last tested: 2026-04-24

dbt-adapters is a low-level library for building dbt adapters. End-users interact with adapter functionality through dbt-core and specific database adapters. The quickstart below illustrates how a dbt user sets up a project and uses adapter-specific logic via Jinja macros in a SQL model, which leverages the interfaces provided by `dbt-adapters`.

# 1. Install dbt-core and your specific database adapter (e.g., dbt-postgres)
# pip install dbt-core dbt-postgres

# 2. Initialize a dbt project
# dbt init my_dbt_project
# cd my_dbt_project

# 3. Configure your profiles.yml (typically in ~/.dbt/profiles.yml)
# Example profiles.yml content (replace with your database details):
# my_dbt_project:
#   target: dev
#   outputs:
#     dev:
#       type: postgres
#       host: localhost
#       user: myuser
#       password: "{{ env_var('DB_PASSWORD') }}"
#       port: 5432
#       dbname: mydatabase
#       schema: public

# 4. Create a dbt model (e.g., models/my_model.sql)
# Use the 'adapter' object in Jinja to call adapter-specific functionality.
# For instance, to get the current timestamp, which might vary by database dialect:
-- my_model.sql
SELECT
    {{ adapter.dispatch('current_timestamp', 'dbt')() }} as current_time,
    1 as id