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arguments (for functions)

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Available from dbt v1.11 or with the dbt "Latest" release track.
functions/<filename>.yml

functions:
  - name: <function name>
    arguments:
      - name: <arg name>
        data_type: <string> # warehouse-specific
        description: <markdown_string>
        default_value: <string | boolean | integer> # available in Snowflake and Postgres

Definition​

The arguments property is used to define the parameters that a resource can accept. Each argument can have a name, a type field, and optional properties such as description and default_value.

For functions, you can add arguments to a function property, which defines the parameters for user-defined functions (UDFs) in your warehouse. The data_type for function arguments is warehouse-specific (for example, STRING, VARCHAR, INTEGER) and should match the data types supported by your data platform.

Properties​

name​

The name of the argument. This is a required field if arguments is specified.

data_type​

The data type that the warehouse expects for this parameter. This is a required field if arguments is specified and must match the data types supported by your specific data platform.

Warehouse-specific data types

The data_type values are warehouse-specific. Use the data type syntax that your warehouse requires:

  • Snowflake: STRING, NUMBER, BOOLEAN, TIMESTAMP_NTZ, etc.
  • BigQuery: STRING, INT64, BOOL, TIMESTAMP, ARRAY<STRING>, etc.
  • Redshift: VARCHAR, INTEGER, BOOLEAN, TIMESTAMP, etc.
  • Postgres: TEXT, INTEGER, BOOLEAN, TIMESTAMP, etc.

Refer to your warehouse documentation for the complete list of supported data types.

description​

An optional markdown string describing the argument. This is helpful for documentation purposes.

default_value​

The default_value is an optional property that you can use to define a default value for a function argument. If no value is provided for that argument, the warehouse uses the default. Setting a default_value makes the argument optional. This property is supported in Snowflake and Postgres.

When using this property, note that the order of your argument definitions is important. Arguments without default values should not come after arguments with default values. For example:

functions/schema.yml
functions:
  - name: sum_2_values
    description: Add two values together
    arguments:
      - name: val1 # this argument comes first because it has no default value
        data_type: integer
        description: The first value
      - name: val2
        data_type: integer
        description: The second value
        default_value: 0 
    returns:
      data_type: integer

Examples​

Simple function arguments​

functions/schema.yml

functions:
  - name: is_positive_int
    arguments:
      - name: a_string
        data_type: string
        description: "The string that I want to check if it's representing a positive integer (like '10')"
    returns:
      data_type: boolean

Complex data types​

functions/schema.yml

functions:
  - name: calculate_discount
    arguments:
      - name: original_price
        data_type: DECIMAL(10,2)
        description: "The original price before discount"
      - name: discount_percent
        data_type: INTEGER
        description: "The discount percentage to apply"
    returns:
      data_type: DECIMAL(10,2)
      description: "The discounted price"

Array data types (BigQuery example)​

functions/schema.yml

functions:
  - name: get_tags
    arguments:
      - name: tag_string
        data_type: STRING
        description: "Comma-separated string of tags"
    returns:
      data_type: ARRAY<STRING>
      description: "An array of individual tag strings"

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