Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Ingest custom property values from manifest.json file to enrich table metadata with organization-specific attributes in OpenMetadata. Custom properties allow you to extend the standard metadata model with additional fields specific to your organization’s needs, such as SLA hours, data classification levels, or refresh frequencies.

Requirements

For dbt Custom Properties, the custom properties must be pre-defined on the Table entity type in OpenMetadata before ingestion. If a custom property is not defined, a warning will be logged and that property will be skipped.

Steps for ingesting dbt Custom Properties

1. Define Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

Before ingesting custom properties from dbt, you need to define them on the Table entity type in OpenMetadata.

Navigate to Settings > Custom Properties > Tables
Click Add Property
Define the property name and type

For detailed instructions, refer to the Custom Properties documentation.

2. Add Custom Properties in schema.yml file

To set custom property values for a table in your dbt model, add them under model->name->meta->openmetadata->customProperties in your schema.yml file. For more details on dbt meta field follow the link here.

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          sla_hours: 24
          data_steward: "John Doe"
          refresh_frequency: "daily"
    description: This table has basic information about a customer

    columns:
      - name: customer_id
        description: This is a unique identifier for a customer
        tests:
          - unique
          - not_null

3. Supported Custom Property Types

OpenMetadata supports various custom property types. The following table shows all supported types and their expected formats:

Type	Description	Example Value
`string`	Plain text value	`"value"`
`integer`	Whole number	`42`
`number`	Decimal number	`3.14`
`markdown`	Markdown formatted text	`"# Header\nContent"`
`sqlQuery`	SQL query string	`"SELECT * FROM table"`
`email`	Valid email address	`"user@example.com"`
`date-cp`	Date string	`"2024-01-15"`
`dateTime-cp`	DateTime string	`"2024-01-15T10:30:00"`
`time-cp`	Time string	`"10:30:00"`
`timestamp`	Milliseconds since epoch	`1705315200000`
`duration`	ISO 8601 duration format	`"P23DT23H"`
`enum`	Single or multi-select value	`"High"` or `["High", "Critical"]`
`entityReference`	Reference to another entity	See example below
`entityReferenceList`	List of entity references	See example below
`timeInterval`	Time interval with start/end	See example below
`table-cp`	Tabular data with rows	See example below

4. Advanced Examples

Entity Reference

Reference another entity (user, team, dashboard, etc.) in OpenMetadata:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          data_owner:
            type: "user"
            fqn: "john.doe"
          related_dashboard:
            type: "dashboard"
            fqn: "service.dashboard_name"

Entity Reference List

Reference multiple entities:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          stakeholders:
            - type: "user"
              fqn: "john.doe"
            - type: "user"
              fqn: "jane.smith"

Time Interval

Specify a time range with start and end timestamps:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          valid_period:
            start: 1705315200000
            end: 1705401600000

Table Custom Property

For table-type custom properties with rows and columns:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          data_quality_rules:
            - rule_name: "not_null_check"
              threshold: 99.5
              severity: "high"
            - rule_name: "unique_check"
              threshold: 100
              severity: "critical"

5. Resulting manifest.json structure

After running your dbt workflow, the generated manifest.json file will include the custom properties under node_name->config->meta->openmetadata->customProperties:

"model.jaffle_shop.customers": {
  "raw_sql": "sample_raw_sql",
  "compiled": true,
  "resource_type": "model",
  "depends_on": {},
  "database": "dev",
  "schema": "dbt_jaffle",
  "config": {
    "enabled": true,
    "alias": null,
    "meta": {
      "openmetadata": {
        "customProperties": {
          "sla_hours": 24,
          "data_steward": "John Doe",
          "refresh_frequency": "daily"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

6. Viewing Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

Custom properties ingested from dbt can be viewed on the table details page under the Custom Properties section.

Validation and Error Handling

The ingestion process validates custom property values against their defined types:

Scenario	Behavior
Custom property not defined on Table entity	Warning logged, property skipped
Invalid value for property type	Warning logged with details, property skipped
Invalid enum value (single-select)	Warning logged, property skipped
Invalid enum value (multi-select)	Invalid values filtered out, valid values applied with warning
Missing required fields for complex types	Warning logged, property skipped

Example warning message:

Validation failed for custom property 'sla_hours' (type: integer): Expected integer value. Provided value: "24 hours"

Complete Example

Here’s a comprehensive example showing multiple custom property types:

version: 2

models:
  - name: customers
    description: "Customer master data table"
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        domain: "Sales"
        tier: "Tier.Tier2"
        customProperties:
          sla_hours: 24
          data_classification: "Confidential"
          refresh_frequency: "hourly"
          last_certified: "2024-01-15"
          data_owner:
            type: "user"
            fqn: "john.doe"
          data_quality_rules:
            - rule_name: "completeness"
              threshold: 99.9
              severity: "high"
        owner:
          - "john_doe"
          - "data_engineering_team"

    columns:
      - name: customer_id
        description: "Unique customer identifier"

Connectors

Connector

Connector Ingestion

Ingest Custom Properties from dbt | OpenMetadata Custom Metadata Guide

Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Requirements

Steps for ingesting dbt Custom Properties

1. Define Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

2. Add Custom Properties in schema.yml file

3. Supported Custom Property Types

4. Advanced Examples

Entity Reference

Entity Reference List

Time Interval

Table Custom Property

5. Resulting manifest.json structure

6. Viewing Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

Validation and Error Handling

Complete Example

​Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

​Requirements

​Steps for ingesting dbt Custom Properties

​1. Define Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

​2. Add Custom Properties in schema.yml file

​3. Supported Custom Property Types

​4. Advanced Examples

​Entity Reference

​Entity Reference List

​Time Interval

​Table Custom Property

​5. Resulting manifest.json structure

​6. Viewing Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

​Validation and Error Handling

​Complete Example

Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Requirements

Steps for ingesting dbt Custom Properties

1. Define Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

2. Add Custom Properties in schema.yml file

3. Supported Custom Property Types

4. Advanced Examples

Entity Reference

Entity Reference List

Time Interval

Table Custom Property

5. Resulting manifest.json structure

6. Viewing Custom Properties in OpenMetadata

Validation and Error Handling

Complete Example