dashboarddbt: a central application for all your dbt packages from Coalesce 2023

“It's easy to use, as you have seen: you have just a simple menu, and after you can switch from different dashboards and you can have access directly to these different KPIs."

Adrien Boutreau, Head of Analytics Engineers at Infinite Lambda, describes the benefits of dashboardbt, a central application you can use to manage your dbt packages and monitor your data stack.

dbt packages are transforming data management and strategy

dbt packages are revolutionizing data management by providing a range of tools for analytics engineers. These packages can help leverage features like the dbt Semantic Layer, the dbt Cloud API, and more, providing a rich set of resources for data strategists.

However, Adrien highlights the common challenges users face with dbt packages. Engineers often install packages after reading about them but may abandon them due to the difficulty of accessing the generated information. Creating and maintaining dashboards for these packages can be time-consuming, and using multiple third-party tools can lead to fragmented data quality metrics, making it hard to get a unified view.

Creating a centralized application using Sreamlit

To address these challenges, Infinite Lambda developed a central application, dashboardbt, using the Streamlit framework. This application uses the dbt semantic layer to automate the generation of dashboards, integrating data from various packages into a single, user-friendly interface. Key features include:

• Predefined dashboards: Users can quickly access dashboards for packages like the dbt project evaluator and Snowflake cost monitoring without additional configuration.
• Real-time data access: The application can display real-time data using the dbt semantic API.
• Customizable homepage: Users can add links to relevant documentation and tools, creating a centralized resource hub for new team members.

dashboarddbt is open-source and Adrien’s team is currently pursuing community feedback. Adrien also expresses plans to add more predefined dashboards and an alerting system for notifications about any broken parts within the system.

Adrien’s key insights

• dbt packages can be challenging to use due to the amount of information they generate and the difficulty of accessing this information
• dashboarddbt helps users monitor their data stack by reading the metadata generated by dbt packages and visualizing it in a user-friendly way
• dashboarddbt uses the dbt semantic layer to access information from the cloud data warehouse
• dashboard is an open-source tool and the developers are seeking feedback from the community for future improvements
• The dashboarddbt will include more chart customizations and predefined dashboards in future updates