diff --git a/website/docs/reference/configs-and-properties.md b/website/docs/reference/configs-and-properties.md index 9464faf719d..f1a5e140b78 100644 --- a/website/docs/reference/configs-and-properties.md +++ b/website/docs/reference/configs-and-properties.md @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Configs, properties, what are they? --- Resources in your project—models, snapshots, seeds, tests, and the rest—can have a number of declared **properties**. Resources can also define **configurations**, which are a special kind of property that bring extra abilities. What's the distinction? -- Properties are declared for resources one-by-one in `.yml` files. Configs can be defined there, nested under a `config` property. They can also be set one-by-one via a `config()` macro (right within `.sql` files), and for many resources at once in `dbt_project.yml`. +- Properties are declared for resources one-by-one in `properties.yml` files. Configs can be defined there, nested under a `config` property. They can also be set one-by-one via a `config()` macro (right within `.sql` files), and for many resources at once in `dbt_project.yml`. - Because configs can be set in multiple places, they are also applied hierarchically. An individual resource might _inherit_ or _override_ configs set elsewhere. - You can select resources based on their config values using the `config:` selection method, but not the values of non-config properties @@ -46,9 +46,7 @@ Most configurations are "clobbered" when applied hierarchically. Whenever a more ## Where can I define properties? -In dbt, properties are declared in `.yml` files, in the same directory as your resources. - -You can name these files `whatever_you_want.yml` and nest them arbitrarily deeply in subfolders within each directory. +In dbt, you can use `properties.yml` files to define properties for resources. You can declare properties in `.yml` files, in the same directory as your resources. You can name these files `whatever_you_want.yml` and nest them arbitrarily in sub-folders within each directory. We highly recommend that you define properties in dedicated paths alongside the resources they're describing. @@ -58,13 +56,13 @@ We highly recommend that you define properties in dedicated paths alongside the Previous versions of the docs referred to these as `schema.yml` files — we've moved away from that terminology since the word `schema` is used to mean other things when talking about databases, and people often thought that you _had_ to name these files `schema.yml`. -(Of course, you're still free to name your files `schema.yml`) +Instead, we now refer to these files as `properties.yml` files. (Of course, you're still free to name your files `schema.yml`) ::: ### Which properties are _not_ also configs? -dbt has the ability to define node configs in `.yml` files, in addition to `config()` blocks and `dbt_project.yml`. But the reverse isn't always true: there are some things in `.yml` files that can _only_ be defined there. +In dbt, you can define node configs in `properties.yml` files, in addition to `config()` blocks and `dbt_project.yml`. However, some special properties can only be defined in the `.yml` file and you cannot configure them using `config()` blocks or the `dbt_project.yml` file: Certain properties are special, because: diff --git a/website/docs/reference/dbt_project.yml.md b/website/docs/reference/dbt_project.yml.md index 7b5d54c3e03..a5ad601f78b 100644 --- a/website/docs/reference/dbt_project.yml.md +++ b/website/docs/reference/dbt_project.yml.md @@ -15,13 +15,15 @@ Starting from dbt v1.5 and higher, you can specify your dbt Cloud project ID in -The following is a list of all available configurations in the `dbt_project.yml` file. - :::info YAML syntax -dbt uses YAML in a few different places. If you're new to YAML, it would be worth taking the time to learn how arrays, dictionaries and strings are represented. +dbt uses YAML in a few different places. If you're new to YAML, it would be worth taking the time to learn how arrays, dictionaries, and strings are represented. ::: +Something to note, you can't set up a "property" in the `dbt_project.yml` file if it's not a config (an example is [macros](/reference/macro-properties)). This applies to all types of resources. Refer to [Configs and properties](/reference/configs-and-properties) for more detail. + +The following example is a list of all available configurations in the `dbt_project.yml` file: +