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Providers are shared runtime services that SQLBuild discovers, configures, and injects into your Python nodes and hooks. Use them for external connections, API clients, or any stateful service that multiple nodes need access to.

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Defining a provider

Create a Python file under providers/ in your project. A provider is a class that subclasses Provider from sqlbuild.providers: 
# providers/warehouse_client.py
from sqlbuild.providers import Provider

class WarehouseClient(Provider):
    api_key: str
    endpoint: str = "https://api.example.com"

    def setup(self, ctx):
        self.session = create_session(self.api_key, self.endpoint)

    def teardown(self):
        self.session.close()
Provider extends pydantic-settings BaseSettings, so provider fields are validated and can be populated from environment variables automatically.

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Provider name

Each provider has a runtime name used for injection. By default, the name is derived from the class name by converting to lower_snake_case:
  • WarehouseClient becomes warehouse_client
  • SlackNotifier becomes slack_notifier
Override the name explicitly with provider_name: 
class WarehouseClient(Provider):
    provider_name = "warehouse"
    api_key: str
Provider names must be unique across all provider files and must be valid Python identifiers (lower_snake_case).

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Using providers in Python nodes

Providers are injected into Python node functions by parameter name. Add a parameter whose name matches the provider’s runtime name: 
from sqlbuild.tasks import task

@task
def export_orders(ctx, warehouse_client):
    warehouse_client.session.upload(ctx.query("SELECT * FROM orders"))
SQLBuild matches the parameter name warehouse_client to the discovered provider with that name, sets it up if it hasn’t been already, and passes it to the function. You can also type-annotate the parameter for IDE support and compile-time validation: 
from sqlbuild.tasks import task
from providers.warehouse_client import WarehouseClient

@task
def export_orders(ctx, warehouse_client: WarehouseClient):
    warehouse_client.session.upload(ctx.query("SELECT * FROM orders"))
When a type annotation is present, SQLBuild validates that the discovered provider is an instance of the annotated class. A mismatch raises a compile-time error. Provider injection works in all Python node types:
  • Loaders (@loader)
  • Tasks (@task)
  • Assets (@asset)
  • Checks (@check)

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Using providers in hooks

Python lifecycle hooks also support provider injection by parameter name: 
# hooks/notify.py
from sqlbuild.hooks import hook

@hook
def notify_complete(ctx, slack_notifier):
    slack_notifier.send(f"Model {ctx.model_name} built successfully")

MODEL (
  materialized table,
  post_hooks [python("notify_complete")],
);
Providers are also available on the HookContext via ctx.providers: 
@hook
def notify_complete(ctx):
    notifier = ctx.providers.slack_notifier
    notifier.send(f"Model {ctx.model_name} built successfully")

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Using providers via context

All Python node contexts (TaskContext, AssetContext, CheckContext, LoaderContext) and HookContext expose a ctx.providers container for name-based access: 
@task
def export_orders(ctx):
    client = ctx.providers.warehouse_client
    client.session.upload(ctx.query("SELECT * FROM orders"))
Both approaches (parameter injection and ctx.providers) are equivalent. Parameter injection is more explicit and enables type checking; ctx.providers is useful when provider access is conditional or dynamic.

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Lifecycle

Providers follow a lazy setup, reverse-teardown lifecycle scoped to the command invocation:
  1. Discovery - on compile, SQLBuild discovers all Provider subclasses under providers/ and validates their settings (from environment variables or field defaults).
  2. Lazy setup - setup(ctx) is called the first time a provider is accessed during a build, not at startup. Providers that are never used are never set up.
  3. Teardown - after the command completes, teardown() is called on all providers that were set up, in reverse setup order. Teardown runs even if the build failed.
class WarehouseClient(Provider):
    api_key: str

    def setup(self, ctx):
        # Called once, the first time any node accesses this provider
        self.connection = connect(self.api_key)

    def teardown(self):
        # Called after the command completes
        self.connection.close()
Both setup and teardown are optional. A provider with only field declarations and no lifecycle methods is valid; it acts as a validated configuration object.

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Configuration from environment variables

Because Provider extends pydantic-settings BaseSettings, fields without defaults are read from environment variables. The environment variable name matches the field name in uppercase: 
class SlackNotifier(Provider):
    slack_token: str          # reads SLACK_TOKEN from environment
    channel: str = "#builds"  # has a default, environment variable is optional
See the pydantic-settings documentation for advanced configuration like custom env prefixes, .env file support, and nested settings.

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Discovery rules

  • Provider classes are discovered from .py files under providers/ recursively
  • Files named __init__.py or starting with _ are skipped
  • Each concrete (non-abstract) subclass of Provider is registered
  • Provider names must be unique across all provider files
  • Settings are validated at discovery time. Missing required fields (without environment variables set) raise a discovery error immediately, not at runtime

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Plan output

When providers are used by Python nodes or hooks, sqb plan shows a Providers section listing each provider and its consumers: 
Providers
  warehouse_client  2 nodes
  slack_notifier    1 node
Use --verbose to see which specific nodes consume each provider.

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Project layout

my-project/
  providers/
    warehouse_client.py
    slack_notifier.py
  hooks/
    notify.py
  loaders/
    load_orders.py
  tasks/
    export_orders.py