quote_columns

Definition

An optional seed configuration, used to determine whether column names in the seed file should be quoted when the table is created.

• When True, dbt will quote the column names defined in the seed file when building a table for the seed, preserving casing.
• When False, dbt will not quote the column names defined in the seed file.
• When not set, it will vary by adapter whether or not column names are quoted.

Usage

Globally quote all seed columns

dbt_project.yml

seeds:
  +quote_columns: true

Only quote seeds in the seeds/mappings directory.

For a project with:

• name: jaffle_shop in the dbt_project.yml file
• seed-paths: ["seeds"] in the dbt_project.yml file

dbt_project.yml

seeds:
  jaffle_shop:
    mappings:
      +quote_columns: true

Or (as of v0.21):

seeds/properties.yml

version: 2

seeds:
  - name: mappings
    config:
      quote_columns: true

Recommended configuration

• Explicitly set this value if using seed files.
• Apply the configuration globally rather than to individual projects/seeds.
• Set quote_columns: false unless your column names include a special character or casing needs to be preserved. In that case, consider renaming your seed columns (this will simplify code downstream)