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DBT Challenge

Overview​

DBT Challenges evaluate a candidate's proficiency in building, managing, and testing data transformation pipelines using dbt (data build tool) models. These challenges focus on modern analytics engineering workflows.

Configuration Process​

Creating a DBT challenge follows a guided workflow to define the data environment and technical parameters.

Step 1: Define Purpose​

Determine the primary objective of the challenge:

  • Hiring Purpose: Used in Assessments and Contests to evaluate external candidates.
  • Learning Purpose: Used in Courses for internal employee upskilling and knowledge validation.

Select Purpose

Step 2: Basic Details & Evaluation Criteria​

In this step, you define the core properties of the DBT challenge:

  • Challenge Metadata: Provide a clear Name, Description, Difficulty, Duration, and Tags to help candidates and library users identify the task.
  • Database Connection (Mandatory): Select the source Database that will provide the raw data for the transformation workflows.
  • Evaluation Type: Select how the candidate's work will be validated:
    • DBT Test: Automatically evaluate the candidate's models using defined dbt tests.
    • None: For manual review and evaluation.

DBT Basic Details

Step 3: Technology Selection​

Select the orchestration framework for the challenge. Currently, DBT is the supported technology, providing a standardized environment for transformation tasks.

Choose DBT Technology

Step 4: Technology Runtime Details​

Review the technical configuration for the dbt environment.

DBT Technology Details

Post-Creation: Environment & Boilerplate Setup​

Once the challenge is created, you will be redirected to the Challenge General Details Page. Navigate to the Code tab to finalize the technical setup.

Preparing the DBT Project​

The Edit Code interface provides a full-featured workspace to prepare the dbt project:

  • Boilerplate Code: Upload or initialize the starting dbt project structure, including models, schemas, and properties files.
  • Integrated Tools: The right-hand panel provides essential utilities:
    • Instructions: Review the problem statement and requirements.
    • DBT Console: Execute dbt commands (e.g., dbt run, dbt test) to verify the environment.
    • Database Tab: Browse the schema of the linked database and execute SQL queries to validate data states.

DBT Edit Code

Next steps​