Formatting your fields

Formatting your fields in your .yml files

Sometimes the format of things in your dbt project is different to how you want it to look in Lightdash. That’s okay! We’ve built a bunch of features to help you to format the fields in your dbt project so that the data in your Lightdash project looks exactly like you want it to 🥸

The metrics and dimensions reference docs

We’re going to go through formatting your fields in more detail below, but you can see a list of these configurations and all of the other properties you can customize for your fields in the dimensions reference doc and metrics reference doc.

Hiding fields

Sometimes, we have a bunch of columns in our YAML files that we might not want to include in Lightdash. For example, columns with PII data, or the same date data, but at different levels of date granularity.

It’s easy to hide columns from Lightdash. All you need to do is add two words to your column: hidden: true.

In your dbt YAML file, it’ll look something like this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: first_name
        meta:
          dimension:
            hidden: true

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: first_name
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              hidden: true

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: users

dimensions:
  - name: first_name
    hidden: true

The same thing goes for metrics:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: first_name
        meta:
          metrics:
            count_unique_first_names:
              type: count_distinct
              hidden: true

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: first_name
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              count_unique_first_names:
                type: count_distinct
                hidden: true

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: users

dimensions:
  - name: first_name

metrics:
  count_unique_first_names:
    type: count_distinct
    sql: ${TABLE}.first_name
    hidden: true

By default, all of your dimensions and metrics have been set to hidden: false.

Grouping fields in the sidebar

You can group related metrics and dimensions together using the model meta group_details block in combination with the groups property in your .yaml files. You can as well add descriptions to your groups using the property description that will be displayed when hovering over the group label.

Max grouping levels.

There is a max of 2 levels of grouping in the sidebar.

For example you might want to group the percentile metrics into two sub categories one being for over 40 percentiles and the other for under 40 percentiles. You can do this by adding the group property to your metrics like so:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: events
    meta:
      group_details:
        events:
          label: Events
          description: Event-related fields.
        percentile:
          label: Percentiles
          description: Grouping of percentiles
        sub:
          label: Percentiles under 40
          description: Grouping of percentiles under 40
        over:
          label: Percentiles over 40
          description: Grouping percentiles over 40
    columns:
      - name: event_id
        description: ''
        meta:
          dimension:
            type: number
            groups: ['events']
          metrics:
            percentile_25:
              type: percentile
              percentile: 25
              groups: ['percentile', 'sub']
            percentile_50:
              type: percentile
              percentile: 50
              groups: ['percentile', 'over']
            percentile_75:
              type: percentile
              percentile: 75
              groups: ['percentile', 'over']

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: events
    config:
      meta:
        group_details:
          events:
            label: Events
            description: Event-related fields.
          percentile:
            label: Percentiles
            description: Grouping of percentiles
          sub:
            label: Percentiles under 40
            description: Grouping of percentiles under 40
          over:
            label: Percentiles over 40
            description: Grouping percentiles over 40
    columns:
      - name: event_id
        description: ''
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              type: number
              groups: ['events']
            metrics:
              percentile_25:
                type: percentile
                percentile: 25
                groups: ['percentile', 'sub']
              percentile_50:
                type: percentile
                percentile: 50
                groups: ['percentile', 'over']
              percentile_75:
                type: percentile
                percentile: 75
                groups: ['percentile', 'over']

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: events

group_details:
  events:
    label: Events
    description: Event-related fields.
  percentile:
    label: Percentiles
    description: Grouping of percentiles
  sub:
    label: Percentiles under 40
    description: Grouping of percentiles under 40
  over:
    label: Percentiles over 40
    description: Grouping percentiles over 40

dimensions:
  - name: event_id
    description: ''
    type: number
    groups: ['events']

metrics:
  percentile_25:
    type: percentile
    percentile: 25
    sql: ${TABLE}.event_id
    groups: ['percentile', 'sub']
  percentile_50:
    type: percentile
    percentile: 50
    sql: ${TABLE}.event_id
    groups: ['percentile', 'over']
  percentile_75:
    type: percentile
    percentile: 75
    sql: ${TABLE}.event_id
    groups: ['percentile', 'over']

You can use groups across metrics and dimensions. In the sidebar, your metrics will get grouped together under your label in the metrics section, and your dimensions will get grouped together under your label in the dimensions section.

Adding custom descriptions

Dimensions

By default, Lightdash pulls in the descriptions you’ve included for your dimensions. But, you can override the description you see in Lightdash using the description property.

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Id generated by the Lightdash API on user's first login. On legacy systems, SHA64. On new systems since 2012, FARM_FINGERPRINT()"
        meta:
          dimension:
            description: 'Unique identifier for a user'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Id generated by the Lightdash API on user's first login. On legacy systems, SHA64. On new systems since 2012, FARM_FINGERPRINT()"
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              description: 'Unique identifier for a user'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: users

dimensions:
  - name: user_id
    description: 'Unique identifier for a user'

You can see the descriptions of your dimensions when you hover over the fields in Lightdash.

Metrics

If you don’t add a custom description for your metric, Lightdash will show a description for you in the app, by default. To override this default description, you can use the description property.

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Id generated by the Lightdash API on user's first login. On legacy systems, SHA64. On new systems since 2012, FARM_FINGERPRINT()"
        meta:
          metrics:
            count_unique_users:
              type: count_distinct
              description: 'Count the unique number of user IDs'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Id generated by the Lightdash API on user's first login. On legacy systems, SHA64. On new systems since 2012, FARM_FINGERPRINT()"
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              count_unique_users:
                type: count_distinct
                description: 'Count the unique number of user IDs'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: users

dimensions:
  - name: user_id

metrics:
  count_unique_users:
    type: count_distinct
    sql: ${TABLE}.user_id
    description: 'Count the unique number of user IDs'

Check out this doc to see all of the other properties you can customize for metrics.

Renaming fields

Sometimes, the labels we use for the fields in our dbt project aren’t very user friendly. We might want to change these in Lightdash, and we can!

To change the name you’ll see for your field in Lightdash, you just use the label property.

So, if I had a field user_id_sha64, I could relabel it to User ID.

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id_sha64
        meta:
          dimension:
            label: 'User ID'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id_sha64
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              label: 'User ID'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: users

dimensions:
  - name: user_id_sha64
    label: 'User ID'

Same thing goes for metrics!

Relabelling a metric will not break any saved charts that use the old metric name. Instead, your saved charts will just use the new metric name in their results tables.

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id_sha64
        meta:
          metrics:
            count_unique_user_ids:
              type: count_distinct
              label: 'Total users'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: users
    columns:
      - name: user_id_sha64
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              count_unique_user_ids:
                type: count_distinct
                label: 'Total users'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: users

dimensions:
  - name: user_id_sha64

metrics:
  count_unique_user_ids:
    type: count_distinct
    sql: ${TABLE}.user_id_sha64
    label: 'Total users'

Check out this doc to see all of the other properties you can customize for dimensions, and this one for all of the other properties you can customize for your metrics.

Rounding

Rounding your metrics is easy to do using the format property in your YAML file.

Here’s an example of how different rounding will affect your numbers:

Original number	Format value	How it will appear in Lightdash
121.854	’0.00’	121.85
121.854	’0.0’	121.9
121.854	’0’	123

Rounding dimensions

Like this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          dimension:
            format: '0.00'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              format: '0.00'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue
    format: '0.00'

Rounding metrics

Like this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              type: sum
              format: '0.00'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              total_revenue:
                type: sum
                format: '0.00'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue

metrics:
  total_revenue:
    type: sum
    sql: ${TABLE}.revenue
    format: '0.00'

Check out this doc to see all of the other properties you can customize for metrics.

Compacting big numbers

Here’s an example of how different compacting will affect your numbers:

Original number	Format value	How it will appear in Lightdash
1000000000	’0’	1000000000
1000000000	’0,” K“‘	1000000K
1000000000	’0,,” M“‘	1000M

Compact dimensions

Like this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          dimension:
            format: '0," K"'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              format: '0," K"'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue
    format: '0," K"'

As an example, this option will compact the number value from 1,500 to 1.50K.

Check out this doc to see all the other compact values. to see all the other formatting options.

Compact metrics

Like this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              type: sum
              format: '0.00,,," B"'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              total_revenue:
                type: sum
                format: '0.00,,," B"'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue

metrics:
  total_revenue:
    type: sum
    sql: ${TABLE}.revenue
    format: '0.00,,," B"'

As an example, this option will compact the number value from 1,500,000,000 to 1.50B.

Check out this doc to see all the other formatting options.

Add units to your values

Some columns need a special format to convey what units they’re in. For example, if you’re a global company, and you have a revenue field. Is that in GBP? USD?

In Lightdash, you can use the format label to add units to your fields.

Here’s an example of how different formats will affect your values:

Original value	Format value	How it will appear in Lightdash
121.854	’[$£]#,##0.00’	£121.85
121.854	’$#,##0.00’	$121.90

Add units to dimensions

You can add a format to your dimensions this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          dimension:
            format: '[$£]#,##0.00'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            dimension:
              format: '[$£]#,##0.00'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue
    format: '[$£]#,##0.00'

To see which format types are available for dimensions, check the reference docs here.. Check out this doc to see all of the other properties you can customize for dimensions.

Add units to metrics

You can add a format to your metrics this:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              type: sum
              format: '[$£]#,##0.00'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              total_revenue:
                type: sum
                format: '[$£]#,##0.00'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue

metrics:
  total_revenue:
    type: sum
    sql: ${TABLE}.revenue
    format: '[$£]#,##0.00'

To see which format types are available for metrics, check the reference docs here.Check out this doc to see all of the other properties you can customize for metrics.

Conditional formatting using parameters

You can make your field formatting dynamic by using parameters in your format strings. This allows the format to change based on user selections without needing to reconfigure your charts.

Simple parameter substitution

You can reference parameter values directly in your format strings using the syntax ${ld.parameters.parameterName}.

For example, if you have a parameter called currency_symbol, you can use it in your format like this:

Step 1: Define your parameter

In your lightdash.config.yml file:

parameters:
  currency_symbol:
    label: "Currency symbol"
    description: "Conditional formatting for currency symbol"
    default: "$"
    options:
      - "$"
      - "€"

Step 2: Use the parameter in your format string

In your model YAML file:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              type: sum
              format: '${ld.parameters.currency_symbol}0,0.00'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              total_revenue:
                type: sum
                format: '${ld.parameters.currency_symbol}0,0.00'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue

metrics:
  total_revenue:
    type: sum
    sql: ${TABLE}.revenue
    format: '${ld.parameters.currency_symbol}0,0.00'

The format '${ld.parameters.currency_symbol}0,0.00' will substitute the selected currency symbol value directly into the format.

When users select $ from the parameter dropdown, numbers will display as $1,234.56. When they select €, numbers will display as €1,234.56.

Conditional formatting with ternary expressions

For more complex formatting logic, you can use ternary expressions in your format strings. The syntax is:

${ld.parameters.parameterName=="value"?"format_if_true":"format_if_false"}

Here’s an example that displays different currency symbols based on a currency parameter:

Step 1: Define your parameter

In your lightdash.config.yml file:

parameters:
  currency:
    label: "Currency"
    description: "Conditional formatting for currency"
    default: "usd"
    options:
      - "usd"
      - "eur"
      - "gbp"

Step 2: Use the parameter in your format string with conditional logic

In your model YAML file:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              type: sum
              format: '${ld.parameters.currency=="usd"?"$":""}${ld.parameters.currency=="eur"?"€":""}${ld.parameters.currency=="eur"?"£":""}0,0.00'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              total_revenue:
                type: sum
                format: '${ld.parameters.currency=="usd"?"$":""}${ld.parameters.currency=="eur"?"€":""}${ld.parameters.currency=="eur"?"£":""}0,0.00'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue

metrics:
  total_revenue:
    type: sum
    sql: ${TABLE}.revenue
    format: '${ld.parameters.currency=="usd"?"$":""}${ld.parameters.currency=="eur"?"€":""}${ld.parameters.currency=="eur"?"£":""}0,0.00'

The format uses multiple ternary expressions to check the parameter value:

• When currency is "usd", displays $1,234.56
• When currency is "eur", displays €1,234.56
• When currency is "gbp", displays £1,234.56

Another example: Controlling decimal places

You can use conditional formatting to toggle between different precision levels.

Define your parameter in lightdash.config.yml:

parameters:
  decimals:
    label: "Decimals"
    description: "Conditional formatting for decimals"
    default: "true"
    options:
      - "true"
      - "false"

Then use it in your model YAML file:

dbt v1.9 and earlier

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              type: sum
              format: '0,0${ld.parameters.decimals=="true"?".00":""}'

dbt v1.10+ and Fusion

models:
  - name: sales
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        config:
          meta:
            metrics:
              total_revenue:
                type: sum
                format: '0,0${ld.parameters.decimals=="true"?".00":""}'

Lightdash YAML

type: model
name: sales

dimensions:
  - name: revenue

metrics:
  total_revenue:
    type: sum
    sql: ${TABLE}.revenue
    format: '0,0${ld.parameters.decimals=="true"?".00":""}'

When decimals is "true", numbers display as $1,234.56. When decimals is "false", numbers display as $1,235.

Formatting your fields in the Lightdash UI

You can also format your fields in the Lightdash UI. This is useful if you want to format your fields quickly without having to change your YAML files.

Currently you can format 2 types of fields in the Lightdash UI:

• Custom metrics (reference)
• Table calculations (reference)

Formatting metrics

Metrics formatting is currently only available for numeric metric types.

You can adjust the formatting of your pre-defined metrics from the results table.

You can customize the formatting of your custom metrics when you create them, and later on from the results table.

These are the formatting options available:

• percent: Formats your metric as a percentage, with the following options:

  • round value to your metric to round it to a certain number of decimal places
  • separator, e.g. from . to ,

• currency: Formats your metric as a currency

  • round value to your metric to round it to a certain number of decimal places
  • separator, e.g. from . to ,
  • currency symbol, e.g. from $ to £
  • compact value to compact your metric to a certain unit, e.g. from 1,000,000 to 1M

• number: Formats your metric as a number

  • round value to your metric to round it to a certain number of decimal places
  • separator, e.g. from . to ,
  • compact value to compact your metric to a certain unit, e.g. from 1,000,000 to 1M
  • prefix value to add a prefix to your metric, e.g. + or -
  • suffix value to add a suffix to your metric, e.g. %

Formatting table calculations

On the results table, you can add a table calculation by clicking on the button on the right hand side of the section.

Once you’ve created your table calculation, you can format it by clicking on the Format tab:

You can then choose from the following formatting types:

• percent: Formats your metric as a percentage, with the following options:

  • round value to your metric to round it to a certain number of decimal places
  • separator, e.g. from . to ,

• currency: Formats your metric as a currency

  • round value to your metric to round it to a certain number of decimal places
  • separator, e.g. from . to ,
  • currency symbol, e.g. from $ to £
  • compact value to compact your metric to a certain unit, e.g. from 1,000,000 to 1M

• number: Formats your metric as a number

  • round value to your metric to round it to a certain number of decimal places
  • separator, e.g. from . to ,
  • compact value to compact your metric to a certain unit, e.g. from 1,000,000 to 1M
  • prefix value to add a prefix to your metric, e.g. + or -
  • suffix value to add a suffix to your metric, e.g. %