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Seeds are CSV files under seeds/ that SQLBuild loads as tables in the warehouse. They’re useful for small, static reference data like lookup tables, category mappings, or configuration values.

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Defining a seed

Place a CSV file in your seeds/ directory: 
waffle_type_id,waffle_name,category,price_cents
1,Classic Belgian,sweet,850
2,Liege,sweet,950
3,Brussels,sweet,750
4,Cheddar Herb,savory,1050
Declare the seed’s column types in any .yml file under seeds/. You can use any filename and organize declarations however you like - one file per seed, or group related seeds together: 
# seeds/lookups.yml
seeds:
  - name: waffle_types
    description: Waffle menu items with pricing.
    columns:
      - name: waffle_type_id
        type: INTEGER
      - name: waffle_name
        type: VARCHAR
      - name: category
        type: VARCHAR
      - name: price_cents
        type: INTEGER
Every seed must have a YAML declaration with at least one typed column. CSV filenames must be unique across the entire seeds/ directory (including subdirectories). The seed name in the YAML must match the CSV filename (without the .csv extension).

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Referencing seeds

Seeds are referenced in models with __seed(): 
SELECT
  o.order_id,
  w.waffle_name,
  w.price_cents * o.quantity AS line_total_cents
FROM __ref("stg_orders") o
LEFT JOIN __seed("waffle_types") w ON o.waffle_type_id = w.waffle_type_id
__seed() is distinct from __ref(). Using __ref() with a seed name raises a compile error with a message pointing you to __seed().

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Loading seeds

Seeds are loaded automatically during sqb build. You can also load them standalone: 
sqb seed
Seeds are fully replaced on every run. If the CSV changes, the table is recreated with the new data.

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Target overrides

Seeds inherit the project’s default database and schema. You can override these per seed: 
seeds:
  - name: waffle_types
    database: analytics
    schema: lookups
    columns:
      - name: waffle_type_id
        type: INTEGER
      - name: waffle_name
        type: VARCHAR

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CSV settings

For non-standard CSV formats, configure parsing behavior with csv_settings: 
seeds:
  - name: european_prices
    csv_settings:
      delimiter: ";"
      encoding: utf-8
      quotechar: '"'
    columns:
      - name: product_id
        type: INTEGER
      - name: price
        type: VARCHAR

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Available CSV settings

SettingTypeDescription
delimiterstringField delimiter (default: ,)
quotecharstringCharacter used to quote fields (default: ")
doublequotebooleanWhether the quotechar is doubled to escape itself
escapecharstringCharacter used to escape the delimiter or quotechar
skipinitialspacebooleanSkip whitespace after the delimiter
lineterminatorstringLine terminator character
encodingstringFile encoding (default: utf-8)
na_valueslist or mappingValues to treat as null - a global list or per-column mapping
keep_default_nabooleanWhether to use the default set of NA values in addition to na_values

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Per-column NA values

na_values can be a flat list (applied to all columns) or a mapping from column names to their NA values: 
csv_settings:
  na_values:
    price: ["N/A", ""]
    category: ["unknown"]