Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Collate reads custom property values from your dbt manifest.json file and applies them to the matching tables in Collate. Custom properties let you extend the standard metadata model with fields specific to your organization — such as SLA hours, data classification levels, or refresh frequencies.

Note: The custom properties must be pre-defined on the Table entity type in Collate before ingestion runs. If a property isn’t defined, Collate logs a warning and skips it.

How to Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Follow these steps to assign custom property values from dbt to your tables in Collate.

Step 1: Define Custom Properties in Collate

Set up the custom properties in Collate before running ingestion — Collate won’t create them automatically. Go to Settings > Custom Properties > Tables, click Add Property, and define the property name and type. For detailed instructions, see the Custom Properties documentation.

Step 2: Add Custom Properties to Your dbt `schema.yml`

Tell dbt which custom property values to assign by adding them under model → meta → openmetadata → customProperties in your schema.yml. For more details on the dbt meta field, see the dbt meta configuration reference.

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          sla_hours: 24
          data_steward: "John Doe"
          refresh_frequency: "daily"
    description: This table has basic information about a customer
    columns:
      - name: customer_id
        description: This is a unique identifier for a customer
        tests:
          - unique
          - not_null

After you save and run your dbt workflow, the generated manifest.json will include the custom properties under node_name → config → meta → openmetadata → customProperties:

"model.jaffle_shop.customers": {
  "raw_sql": "sample_raw_sql",
  "compiled": true,
  "resource_type": "model",
  "depends_on": {},
  "database": "dev",
  "schema": "dbt_jaffle",
  "config": {
    "enabled": true,
    "alias": null,
    "meta": {
      "openmetadata": {
        "customProperties": {
          "sla_hours": 24,
          "data_steward": "John Doe",
          "refresh_frequency": "daily"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Verify

Confirm the custom properties appear on the table details page after ingestion completes. Open the table in Collate and scroll to the Custom Properties section — the values from dbt will appear there.

Supported Property Types

Use these types when defining custom properties in Collate and setting values in your schema.yml.

Type	Description	Example Value
`string`	Plain text value	`"value"`
`integer`	Whole number	`42`
`number`	Decimal number	`3.14`
`markdown`	Markdown formatted text	`"# Header\nContent"`
`sqlQuery`	SQL query string	`"SELECT * FROM table"`
`email`	Valid email address	`"user@example.com"`
`date-cp`	Date string	`"2024-01-15"`
`dateTime-cp`	DateTime string	`"2024-01-15T10:30:00"`
`time-cp`	Time string	`"10:30:00"`
`timestamp`	Milliseconds since epoch	`1705315200000`
`duration`	ISO 8601 duration format	`"P23DT23H"`
`enum`	Single or multi-select value	`"High"` or `["High", "Critical"]`
`entityReference`	Reference to another entity	See Advanced Examples
`entityReferenceList`	List of entity references	See Advanced Examples
`timeInterval`	Time interval with start/end	See Advanced Examples
`table-cp`	Tabular data with rows	See Advanced Examples

Advanced Examples

YAML examples for complex custom property types that need structured values.

Entity Reference

Reference another entity (user, team, dashboard, etc.) in Collate:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          data_owner:
            type: "user"
            fqn: "john.doe"
          related_dashboard:
            type: "dashboard"
            fqn: "service.dashboard_name"

Entity Reference List

Reference multiple entities:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          stakeholders:
            - type: "user"
              fqn: "john.doe"
            - type: "user"
              fqn: "jane.smith"

Time Interval

Specify a time range with start and end timestamps:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          valid_period:
            start: 1705315200000
            end: 1705401600000

Table Custom Property

For table-type custom properties with rows and columns:

models:
  - name: customers
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        customProperties:
          data_quality_rules:
            - rule_name: "not_null_check"
              threshold: 99.5
              severity: "high"
            - rule_name: "unique_check"
              threshold: 100
              severity: "critical"

Validation and Error Handling

What Collate does when a custom property value can’t be applied.

Scenario	Behavior
Custom property not defined on Table entity	Warning logged, property skipped
Invalid value for property type	Warning logged with details, property skipped
Invalid enum value (single-select)	Warning logged, property skipped
Invalid enum value (multi-select)	Invalid values filtered out, valid values applied with warning
Missing required fields for complex types	Warning logged, property skipped

Example warning message:

Validation failed for custom property 'sla_hours' (type: integer): Expected integer value. Provided value: "24 hours"

Complete Example

A full schema.yml showing multiple custom property types used together.

version: 2

models:
  - name: customers
    description: "Customer master data table"
    meta:
      openmetadata:
        domain: "Sales"
        tier: "Tier.Tier2"
        customProperties:
          sla_hours: 24
          data_classification: "Confidential"
          refresh_frequency: "hourly"
          last_certified: "2024-01-15"
          data_owner:
            type: "user"
            fqn: "john.doe"
          data_quality_rules:
            - rule_name: "completeness"
              threshold: 99.9
              severity: "high"
        owner:
          - "john_doe"
          - "data_engineering_team"
    columns:
      - name: customer_id
        description: "Unique customer identifier"

Connectors

Connectors

Ingest Custom Properties from dbt | Custom Metadata Guide

Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

How to Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Step 1: Define Custom Properties in Collate

Step 2: Add Custom Properties to Your dbt `schema.yml`

Step 3: Verify

Supported Property Types

Advanced Examples

Entity Reference

Entity Reference List

Time Interval

Table Custom Property

Validation and Error Handling

Complete Example

​Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

​How to Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

​Step 1: Define Custom Properties in Collate

​Step 2: Add Custom Properties to Your dbt schema.yml

​Step 3: Verify

​Supported Property Types

​Advanced Examples

​Entity Reference

​Entity Reference List

​Time Interval

​Table Custom Property

​Validation and Error Handling

​Complete Example

Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

How to Ingest Custom Properties from dbt

Step 1: Define Custom Properties in Collate

Step 2: Add Custom Properties to Your dbt `schema.yml`

Step 3: Verify

Supported Property Types

Advanced Examples

Entity Reference

Entity Reference List

Time Interval

Table Custom Property

Validation and Error Handling

Complete Example