Google Sheets

The dbt Semantic Layer offers a seamless integration with Google Sheets through a custom menu. This add-on allows you to build dbt Semantic Layer queries and return data on your metrics directly within Google Sheets

Prerequisites

• You have configured the dbt Semantic Layer and are using dbt v1.6 or higher.
• You need a Google account with access to Google Sheets and the ability to install Google add-ons.
• You have a dbt Cloud Environment ID and a service token to authenticate with from a dbt Cloud account.
• You must have a dbt Cloud Team or Enterprise account. Suitable for both Multi-tenant and Single-tenant deployment.
  • Single-tenant accounts should contact their account representative for necessary setup and enablement.

If you're using IP restrictions, ensure you've added Google’s IP addresses to your IP allowlist. Otherwise, the Google Sheets connection will fail.

📹 Learn about the dbt Semantic Layer with on-demand video courses!

Explore our dbt Semantic Layer on-demand course to learn how to define and query metrics in your dbt project.

Additionally, dive into mini-courses for querying the dbt Semantic Layer in your favorite tools: Tableau, Hex, and Mode.

Installing the add-on

1. Navigate to the dbt Semantic Layer for Sheets App to install the add-on. You can also find it in Google Sheets by going to Extensions -> Add-on -> Get add-ons and searching for it there.

2. After installing, open the Extensions menu and select dbt Semantic Layer for Sheets. This will open a custom menu on the right-hand side of your screen.

3. Find your Host and Environment ID in dbt Cloud.

   • Navigate to Account Settings and select Projects on the left sidebar.
   • Select your project and then navigate to the Semantic Layer settings. You'll need this to authenticate in Google Sheets in the following step.
   • You can generate your service token by clicking Generate Service Token within the Semantic Layer configuration page or navigating to API tokens in dbt Cloud.

4. In Google Sheets, authenticate with your host, dbt Cloud environment ID, and service token.

   Access your Environment ID, Host, and URLs in your dbt Cloud Semantic Layer settings. Generate a service token in the Semantic Layer settings or API tokens settings

5. Start querying your metrics using the Query Builder. For more info on the menu functions, refer to Query Builder functions. To cancel a query while running, press the "Cancel" button.

When querying your data with Google Sheets:

• It returns the data to the cell you have clicked on, and each cell where data is requested will have a note attached to it, indicating what has been queried and the timestamp.
• The custom menu operation has a timeout limit of six (6) minutes.
• If you're using this extension, make sure you're signed into Chrome with the same Google profile you used to set up the Add-On. Log in with one Google profile at a time as using multiple Google profiles at once might cause issues.

Query Builder functions

The Google Sheets Query Builder custom menu has the following capabilities:

Menu items	Description
Metrics	Search and select metrics.
Group By	Search and select dimensions or entities to group by. Dimensions are grouped by the entity of the semantic model they come from. You may choose dimensions on their own without metrics.
Time Range	Quickly select time ranges to look at the data, which applies to the main time series for the metrics (metric time), or do more advanced filter using the "Custom" selection.
Where	Filter your data. This includes categorical and time filters.
Order By	Return your data order.
Limit	Set a limit for the rows of your output.

Note: Click the info button next to any metric or dimension to see its defined description from your dbt project.

Modifying time granularity

When you select time dimensions in the Group By menu, you'll see a list of available time granularities. The lowest granularity is selected by default. Metric time is the default time dimension for grouping your metrics.

Filtering data

To use the filter functionality, choose the dimension you want to filter by and select the operation you want to filter on.

• For categorical dimensions, you can type a value into search or select from a populated list.
• For entities, you must type the value you are looking for as we do not load all of them given the large number of values.
• Continue adding additional filters as needed with AND and OR.
• For time dimensions, you can use the time range selector to filter on presets or custom options. The time range selector applies only to the primary time dimension (metric_time). For all other time dimensions that aren't metric_time, you can use the "Where" option to apply filters.

Querying without headers or columns

If you would like to just query the data values without the headers, you can optionally select the Exclude Column Names box.

Using saved selections

Saved selections allow you to save inputs in the Query Builder to easily access them again so you don't have to continuously build common queries from scratch. To create a saved selection:

• Run a query in the Query Builder.
• Save the selection by selecting the arrow next to the Query button and then select Query & Save Selection.
• The application saves these selections, allowing you to view and edit them from the hamburger menu under Saved Selections.

Query and save selections in the Query Builder using the arrow next to the Query button.

You can also make these selections private or public:

• Public selections mean your inputs are available in the menu to everyone on the sheet.
• Private selections mean your inputs are only visible to you. Note that anyone added to the sheet can still see the data from these private selections, but they won't be able to interact with the selection in the menu or benefit from the automatic refresh.

Refreshing selections

Set your saved selections to automatically refresh every time you load the addon. You can do this by selecting Refresh on Load when creating the saved selection. When you access the addon and have saved selections that should refresh, you'll see "Loading..." in the cells that are refreshing.

Public saved selections will refresh for anyone who edits the sheet while private selections will only update for the user who created it.

What's the difference between saved selections and saved queries?

• Saved selections are saved components that you can create only when using the application.
• Saved queries, explained in the next section, are code-defined sections of data you create in your dbt project that you can easily access and use for building selections. You can also use the results from a saved query to create a saved selection.

Using saved queries

Access saved queries, powered by MetricFlow, to quickly get results from pre-defined sets of data. To access the saved queries in your integration:

• Open the hamburger menu in Google Sheets.
• Navigate to Saved Queries to access the ones available to you.
• You can also select Build Selection, which allows you to explore the existing query. This won't change the original query defined in the code.
  • If you use a where filter in a saved query, Google Sheets displays the advanced syntax for this filter.

Limited use policy disclosure

The dbt Semantic Layer for Sheet's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

FAQs

I'm receiving an `Failed ALPN` error when trying to connect to the dbt Semantic Layer.

If you're receiving a Failed ALPN error when trying to connect the dbt Semantic Layer with the various data integration tools (such as Tableau, DBeaver, Datagrip, ADBC, or JDBC), it typically happens when connecting from a computer behind a corporate VPN or Proxy (like Zscaler or Check Point).

The root cause is typically the proxy interfering with the TLS handshake as the dbt Semantic Layer uses gRPC/HTTP2 for connectivity. To resolve this:

• If your proxy supports gRPC/HTTP2 but isn't configured to allow ALPN, adjust its settings accordingly to allow ALPN. Or create an exception for the dbt Cloud domain.
• If your proxy does not support gRPC/HTTP2, add an SSL interception exception for the dbt Cloud domain in your proxy settings

This should help in successfully establishing the connection without the Failed ALPN error.