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Orchestrate downstream exposures EnterpriseEnterprise +beta

Use dbt Cloud job scheduler to proactively refresh downstream exposures and the underlying data sources (extracts) that power your Tableau Workbooks.

Available in private beta

Orchestrating exposures is currently available in private beta to dbt Enterprise accounts. To join the beta, contact your account representative.

Orchestrating exposures integrates with downstream exposures and uses your dbt build job to ensure that Tableau extracts are updated regularly.

Control the frequency of these refreshes by configuring environment variables in your dbt environment.

 Differences between visualizing and orchestrating downstream exposures

The following table summarizes the differences between visualizing and orchestrating downstream exposures:

InfoSet up and visualize downstream exposuresOrchestrate downstream exposures beta
PurposeAutomatically brings downstream assets into your dbt lineage.Proactively refreshes the underlying data sources during scheduled dbt jobs.
BenefitsProvides visibility into data flow and dependencies.Ensures BI tools always have up-to-date data without manual intervention.
LocationExposed in CatalogExposed in dbt scheduler
Supported BI toolTableauTableau
Use caseHelps users understand how models are used and reduces incidents.Optimizes timeliness and reduces costs by running models when needed.

Prerequisites

To orchestrate downstream exposures, you should meet the following:

Orchestrate downstream exposures

To orchestrate downstream exposures and see the refresh happen automatically during scheduled dbt jobs:

  1. In the dbt, click Deploy, then Environments, and select the Environment variables tab.
  2. Click Add variable and set the environment level variable DBT_ACTIVE_EXPOSURES to 1 within the environment you want the refresh to happen.
  3. Then set the DBT_ACTIVE_EXPOSURES_BUILD_AFTER to control the maximum refresh frequency (in minutes) you want between each exposure refresh.
  4. Set the variable to 1440 minutes (24 hours) by default. This means that downstream exposures won’t refresh Tableau extracts more often than this set interval, even if the related models run more frequently.
    Set the environment variable `DBT_ACTIVE_EXPOSURES` to `1`.Set the environment variable `DBT_ACTIVE_EXPOSURES` to `1`.
  5. Run a job in production. You will see the update each time a job runs in production.
    • If a job runs before the set interval has passed, dbt skips the downstream exposure refresh and marks it as skipped in the job logs.
  6. View the downstream exposure logs in the dbt run job logs.
    View the downstream exposure logs in the dbt run job logs.View the downstream exposure logs in the dbt run job logs.
    • View more details in the debug logs for any troubleshooting.
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