dbt learning path

Goal: get from SQL to productive with dbt (v2 as of October 2026), then add the semantic layer and AI tooling.

Official, first

1. dbt Learn course catalogue: https://learn.getdbt.com (loads; free vs paid is shown per course, individual prices not recorded). Overview: https://www.getdbt.com/dbt-learn (on-demand courses, live workshops, enterprise packages).
2. dbt Fundamentals course: https://learn.getdbt.com/courses/dbt-fundamentals (listed in the learn.getdbt.com sitemap; HTTP 200 on 2026-10-08; beginner). The site is a JavaScript app, so free vs paid could not be read; other listed courses include dbt Fundamentals in VS Code, Git Fundamentals, Materializations Fundamentals, Canvas Fundamentals and dbt Insights Fundamentals.
3. Docs and quickstart guides: https://docs.getdbt.com/guides and https://docs.getdbt.com ; v2 install and upgrade docs under docs.getdbt.com/docs/local/install-dbt.
4. Semantic Layer / MetricFlow: https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/build/about-metricflow and the quickstart at docs.getdbt.com/guides/sl-qs.
5. dbt MCP server: https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-mcp and https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/dbt-ai/about-mcp (for agents).
6. Practice project: https://github.com/dbt-labs/jaffle-shop (sample project, repo exists).

Community

• Slack: https://community.getdbt.com (loads); Discourse forum: https://discourse.getdbt.com
• Event: dbt Summit 2026 recordings available on demand; next summit 2027-09-13..16, Las Vegas (https://www.getdbt.com/dbt-summit).

Certifications (exact names; https://www.getdbt.com/dbt-certification)

• dbt Analytics Engineering Certification Exam - building, testing, maintaining models. Prereq: basic SQL and about 6 months of dbt.
• dbt Architect Certification Exam - configuring, optimising, environments and connections.
• Paid per attempt (fee on the page, not recorded), online proctored through Talview, closed-book (FAQ: “The exam is not open book. Test takers are not allowed to bring notes or resources into the exam room.”), credential valid two years (“All dbt Labs certifications are valid for two years from the date awarded”), languages English/Japanese (Architect also French).

Alternatives to learn alongside

SQLMesh docs, Coalesce, Cube docs.

Creators and books

None listed: no creator or book URL was opened and confirmed in this pass (O’Reilly returned 403). Check the vault yt-base for dbt-related channel summaries before adding.

Sources (fetched/checked 2026-10-07)

All URLs above returned HTTP 200 on 2026-10-07 (learn.getdbt.com, dbt-fundamentals, community.getdbt.com, discourse.getdbt.com, docs guides, MetricFlow, sl-qs, about-mcp, install-dbt, dbt-learn). Re-read 2026-10-07: https://www.getdbt.com/dbt-certification (names, prerequisites, validity, languages, proctoring), https://www.getdbt.com/dbt-summit (next summit 2027-09-13..16 Las Vegas; 2026 recordings on demand), https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/local/install-dbt (“Installing dbt gives you dbt v2 by default”; v1 also selectable), https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-mcp (Apache-2.0, active), https://github.com/dbt-labs/jaffle-shop (exists, open source sandbox).

Open items

Per-course free/paid status (learn.getdbt.com is client-rendered), creator channels and books: unverified. Whether v2 Fusion-engine licensing (free-to-use, proprietary runtime with an Apache-2.0 runtime option per the install docs) affects learners was not examined. agy-search returned no output (timeouts); verified by WebFetch/curl only. Vault note dbt-labs has the company context.