# Maintaining Dbt Documentation

Audits dbt documentation coverage and drafts missing model/column descriptions in the...

- Repository: https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills (750 stars)
- Category: Data and ML
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-29
- Runs scripts: yes, review before use

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills --skill maintaining-dbt-documentation -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills --skill maintaining-dbt-documentation -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills --skill maintaining-dbt-documentation -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills --skill maintaining-dbt-documentation -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills`

## Description

Audits dbt documentation coverage and drafts missing model/column descriptions in the project's own house style, one folder at a time, for human review. Use when documenting undocumented models, backfilling missing YAML descriptions, auditing doc coverage, or keeping schema YAML in sync with model SQL, especially on multi-contributor projects where new models routinely land undocumented.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Maintaining dbt Documentation

Keep a dbt project's model and column documentation complete and consistent as it
grows. This skill (1) **audits** which models lack YAML documentation, (2) **drafts**
the missing descriptions **in the conventions the project already uses**, working
**one folder at a time**, and (3) leaves every change for the user to review. It
**never commits or pushes**.

Two ways it's used:

- **Backfill**, document a folder of undocumented models on a project that has
  drifted below full coverage.
- **Keep in sync**, after models are added or their SQL changes (common when many
  contributors are landing models), run the audit to find the gap, document just
  those, and re-verify.

This is the systematic, coverage-driven companion to `using-dbt-for-analytics-engineering`
(which covers one-off model building and its `references/writing-documentation.md`
guide). Use that skill for the *content* principles of a good description; use this
one to find the gaps and backfill them at scale in a consistent style.

## Match the project's conventions, do not impose your own

Before drafting anything, **read several already-documented models** and mirror what
you find. dbt projects vary widely; infer and follow the local house style rather
than a generic template. Determine:

The rest: https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-agent-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/dbt/skills/maintaining-dbt-documentation/SKILL.md