SQL

Define the SQL table or subquery that powers a cube. Use the sql property to point to a physical table, or write a SELECT statement for derived datasets and transformations.

Overview

The sql property defines the base table or SQL subquery that a cube is built on. This is the foundation for all measures and dimensions in the cube.

Example

cubes:
  - name: orders
    sql: SELECT * FROM public.orders

  - name: orders_with_users
    sql: >
      SELECT o.*, u.name as user_name
      FROM public.orders o
      LEFT JOIN public.users u ON o.user_id = u.id

Options

sql (required)

The SQL SELECT statement or table reference.

# Simple table reference
sql: SELECT * FROM orders

# Subquery with joins
sql: >
  SELECT o.*, p.name as product_name
  FROM orders o
  JOIN products p ON o.product_id = p.id

# Using references to other cubes
sql: SELECT * FROM {users.sql()} WHERE active = true

sql_table

Alternative to sql — directly reference a table without SELECT.

cubes:
  - name: orders
    sql_table: public.orders

Best Practices

Prefer sql_table when selecting all columns from a single table
Use subqueries for complex joins or filtering at the cube level
Avoid aggregations in the base SQL — let measures handle that