documenting-dbt-models SKILL.md skillA
documenting-dbt-models from altimateai/data-engineering-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add altimateai/data-engineering-skills/documenting-dbt-models@git:20260121.476f750Pins git:20260121.476f750 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- altimateai/data-engineering-skills
- Path
skills/dbt/documenting-dbt-models/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260121.476f750, committed Jan 21, 2026
- Size
- 4,661 bytes
- Repository stars
- 129
- License
- MIT
Documents dbt models and columns in schema.yml. Use when working with dbt documentation for: (1) Adding model descriptions or column definitions to schema.yml (2) Task mentions "document", "describe", "description", "dbt docs", or "schema.yml" (3) Explaining business context, grain, meaning of data, or business rules (4) Preparing dbt docs generate or improving model discoverability Matches existing project documentation style and conventions before writing.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# dbt Documentation
**Document the WHY, not just the WHAT. Include grain, business rules, and caveats.**
## Workflow
### 1. Study Existing Documentation Patterns
**CRITICAL: Match the project's documentation style before adding new docs.**
```bash
# Find all schema.yml files with documentation
find . -name "schema.yml" | head -5
# Read well-documented models to learn patterns
cat models/marts/schema.yml | head -150
cat models/staging/schema.yml | head -150
```
**Extract from existing documentation:**
- Description length (brief vs detailed)
- Formatting style (plain text vs markdown with headers)
- Information included (grain? business rules? caveats?)
- Column description depth (all columns vs key columns)
- Use of meta tags or custom properties
### 2. Read Model SQL
```bash
cat models/<path>/<model_name>.sql
```
Understand: transformations, business logic, joins, filters.
### 3. Check Existing Documentation for This Model
```bash
# Find existing schema.yml
find . -name "schema.yml" -exec grep -l "<model_name>" {} \;
# Read existing docs
cat models/<path>/schema.yml | grep -A 100 "<model_name>"
```
### 4. Identify Documentation Needs
For each model, document:
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add altimateai/data-engineering-skills/documenting-dbt-models@sha256:128a222b1c0329bbThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260121.476f750, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_mjigkevrt6pslv7f)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jan 21, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (4661 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
altimateai/data-engineering-skills · 129 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-23 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_mjigkevrt6pslv7f GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=altimateai/data-engineering-skills/documenting-dbt-models GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/128a222b1c0329bb75eca720b8c3648172bac61bea4bfa3f3c3d9a80579f031c
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.