> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sqlbuild.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Selectors

> Target specific models, paths, tags, or DAG subsets with select and exclude flags.

Selectors let you scope commands to specific subsets of your project. They work with `plan`, `build`, `test`, `audit`, `seed`, `clone`, and `diff`.

## Basic usage

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select daily_revenue
sqb build --select daily_revenue customer_status_snapshot
sqb build --exclude stg_customers
```

`--select` (or `-s` for short) accepts one or more names. Multiple values are unioned. Space-separated names within one `--select` are also unioned. `--exclude` subtracts from the selected set.

When no `--select` is provided, all models are selected.

## Selector types

### Name

Select a single model by name:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select fact_orders
```

### Tag

Select all models with a specific tag:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select tag:staging
sqb build --select tag:acceptance
```

### Path

Select all models under a directory path:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select path:models/marts
sqb build --select models/marts
sqb build --select path:models/intermediate
```

Any name containing `/` is treated as a path selector, so `path:models/marts` and a bare `models/marts` work the same way. Path selectors require an explicit root directory: `models/`, `tasks/`, `assets/`, `checks/`, or `loaders/`. Nested paths work too: `models/staging/orders`.

### Seed and source

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select seed:waffle_types
sqb build --select source:raw__orders
```

## Graph expansion

### Upstream

Select a model plus all its upstream dependencies:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select +daily_activity_rollup
```

### Downstream

Select a model plus all its downstream dependents:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select fact_orders+
```

### Bidirectional

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select +fact_orders+
```

Graph expansion works with all selector types:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select +tag:marts
sqb build --select path:models/staging+
```

## Path-between selectors

Select all models on the shortest path between two nodes:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select fact_orders~daily_activity_rollup
```

With endpoint expansion:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select +fact_orders~daily_activity_rollup+
```

This selects:

* All upstreams of `fact_orders`
* Every model on the path between `fact_orders` and `daily_activity_rollup`
* All downstreams of `daily_activity_rollup`

This is useful for rebuilding a specific slice of the DAG without manually listing every model in between.

## Intersection

Use commas to intersect selector results:

```bash theme={null}
sqb build --select "tag:staging,path:models/finance"
```

This selects only models that match *both* conditions - in this case, models tagged `staging` that are also under the `models/finance` directory.

## Combining select and exclude

```bash theme={null}
# Build all marts except daily_revenue
sqb build --select path:models/marts --exclude daily_revenue

# Build everything upstream of fact_orders, excluding staging models
sqb build --select +fact_orders --exclude tag:staging
```

## Error handling

Unknown model names, empty paths, and malformed selectors produce clear error messages:

```
unknown selector name 'nonexistent_model'
no models found under path 'models/nonexistent'.
no models found with tag 'nonexistent_tag'
path selector 'fact_orders~' requires names on both sides of '~'
```

If a path selector omits the root directory, SQLBuild asks for the explicit form:

```
path selectors require an explicit root: use 'models/', 'tasks/', 'assets/', 'checks/', or 'loaders/'
```