Metrics reference sheet

A metric is a value that describes or summarizes features from a collection of data points. For example, Num unique user ids is a metric. It describes the unique number of user_ids in a collection of user_id data points.

In Lightdash, metrics are used to summarize dimensions or, sometimes, other metrics.

Adding metrics to your project

There are two ways to add metrics to your project in Lightdash:

(Suggested) Using the meta tag
Using dbt's metrics tag (this is still an Alpha feature)

1. Using the column `meta` tag (Suggested)

To add a metric to Lightdash using the meta tag, you define it in your dbt project under the dimension name you're trying to describe/summarize.

models:
  - name: my_model
    columns:
      - name: user_id # dimension name of your metric
        meta:
          metrics:
            num_unique_user_ids: # name of your metric
              type: count_distinct # metric type
            num_user_ids:
              type: count

Once you've got the hang of what these metrics look like, read more about the metric types you can use below.

2. Using the model `meta` tag

Sometimes a metric references many columns, in these cases you can define the metric at the model level:

version: 2

models:
  - name: my_model
    meta:
      metrics:
        num_unique_user_ids:
          type: count_distinct
          sql: ${TABLE}.user_id

3. Using dbt's `metrics` tag

You can also add some metric to Lightdash using dbt's metrics tag in your model's .yml file. Here's a tutorial explaining how to do it:

So, metrics defined using dbt's metrics tag look something like this:

# schema.yml
version: 2
metrics:
  - name: customer_count
    label: DBT METRIC!
    model: ref('customers')
    description: "A NEW DBT METRIC nuuuuuts"
    calculation_method: count_distinct
    expression: customer_id # must be a simple column name that you want to apply this metric to
    meta:
      hidden: false

info

Using the metrics tag has a couple of limitations (a.k.a. "features" 😉) in Lightdash we think are worth pointing out. Read more about them below.

The expression field must be a simple column name.
It should be the column name that you want to apply your metric to (e.g. customer_id for the metric total_customers). Itcannot be anything more than a column name.
The reason for this limitation is that dbt assumes metrics are only from a single table. In Lightdash, metrics can be queried from many tables.
Metrics automatically get all dimensions on the model
The dbt metrics spec asks the user to specify explicit columns on the model that apply to that metric. So for a customer_count metric, a user might request that only 3 columns apply as valid dimensions for that metric. We ignore this because in the Lightdash UI a model simply shows all metrics and dimensions of that model.
Metrics under the meta: tag on specific models take precedent over project metrics under the metrics: tag
For example, if we have two metrics for customer_count: one using the dbt metrics tag and the other using the meta tag,
```
metrics:
  - name: customer_count
    calculation_method: count_distinct
    expression: customer_id
    model: customers
```
```
models:
  - name: customers
    columns:
      - name: customer_id
        meta:
          metrics:
            customer_count:
              type: count
```
The second metric has the same name customer_count on the same model customers but the first uses type: count_distinct and the second uses type: count. Because the second metric is defined on the column meta: tag, it'll take priority over the first.
The calculation_method must be one of the Lightdash types.
timestamp, time_grains, and dimensions are all ignored because metrics get all dimensions of the model.

Metric Categories

Each metric type falls into one of these categories. The metric categories tell you whether the metric type is an aggregation and what type of fields the metric can reference:

Aggregate metrics

Aggregate metric types perform (surprise, surprise) aggregations. Sums and averages are examples of aggregate metrics: they are measurements summarizing a collection of data points.

Aggregate metrics can only reference dimensions, not other metrics.

Non-aggregate metrics

Non-aggregate metrics are metric types that, you guessed it, do not perform aggregations.

Numbers and booleans are examples of non-aggregate metrics. These metric types perform a calculation on a single data point, so they can only reference aggregate metrics. They cannot reference dimensions.

Metric configuration

You can customize your metrics in your dbt model's YAML file. Here's an example of the properties used in defining a metric:

version: 2

models:
  - name: sales_stats
    meta:
      joins:
        - join: web_sessions
          sql_on: ${web_sessions.date} = ${sales_stats.date}
    columns:
      - name: revenue
        description: "Total estimated revenue in GBP based on forecasting done by the finance team."
        meta:
          metrics:
            total_revenue:
              label: 'Total revenue GBP'
              type: SUM
              description: "Total revenue in GBP"
              sql: "IF(${revenue} IS NULL, 10, ${revenue})"
              hidden: false
              round: 0
              format: 'gbp'
              show_underlying_values:
                - revenue
                - forecast_date
                - web_sessions.session_id # field from joined table
              filters:
                - is_adjusted: true

Here are all of the properties you can customize:

Property	Required	Value	Description
label	No	string	Custom label. This is what you'll see in Lightdash instead of the metric name.
type	Yes	metric type	Metrics must be one of the supported types.
description	No	string	Description of the metric that appears in Lightdash. A default description is created by Lightdash if this isn't included
sql	No	string	Custom SQL used to define the metric.
hidden	No	boolean	If set to `true`, the metric is hidden from Lightdash. By default, this is set to `false` if you don't include this property.
round	No	number	Rounds a number to a specified number of digits
format	No	string	This option will format the output value on the result table and CSV export. Currently supports one of the following: `['km', 'mi', 'usd', 'gbp', 'eur', 'percent', 'id']`
compact	No	string	This option will compact the number value (e.g. 1,500 to 1.50K). Currently supports one of the following: `['thousands', 'millions', 'billions', 'trillions']`
group_label	No	string	If you set this property, the dimension will be grouped in the sidebar with other dimensions with the same group label.
urls	No	Array of { url, label }	Adding urls to a metric allows your users to click metric values in the UI and take actions, like opening an external tool with a url, or open at a website. You can use liquid templates to customise the link based on the value of the dimension.
show_underlying_values	No	Array of dimension names	You can limit which dimensions are shown for a field when a user clicks `View underlying data`. The list must only include dimension names from the base model or from any joined models.
filters	No	Array of {filter field: value}	You can add filter logic to limit the values included in the metric calculation. You can add many filters. See which filter types are supported here.

Metric types

Type	Category	Description
percentile	Aggregate	Generates a percentile of values within a column
median	Aggregate	Generates the 50th percentile of values within a column
average	Aggregate	Generates an average (mean) of values within a column
boolean	Non-aggregate	For fields that will show if something is true or false
count	Aggregate	Counts the total number of values in the dimension
count_distinct	Aggregate	Counts the total unique number of values in the dimension
date	Non-aggregate	For measures that contain dates
max	Aggregate	Generates the maximum value within a column
min	Aggregate	Generates the minimum value within a column
number	Non-aggregate	For measures that contain numbers
string	Non-aggregate	For measures that contain letters or special characters
sum	Aggregate	Generates a sum of values within a column

percentile

Takes the percentile of the values in the given field. Like SQL's PERCENTILE_CONT function.

The percentile metric can be used on any numeric dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a numeric table column.

For example, this creates a metric median_price by taking the 50% percentile of the item_price dimension:

columns:
  - name: item_price
    meta:
      metrics:
        median_price:
          type: percentile
          percentile: 50

median

Takes the 50th percentile of the values in the given field. Like SQL's PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5) function.

The median metric can be used on any numeric dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a numeric table column.

For example, this creates a metric median_price by taking the 50% percentile of the item_price dimension:

columns:
  - name: item_price
    meta:
      metrics:
        median_price:
          type: median

average

Takes the average (mean) of the values in the given field. Like SQL's AVG function.

The average metric can be used on any numeric dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a numeric table column.

For example, this creates a metric avg_price by taking the average of the item_price dimension:

columns:
  - name: item_price
    meta:
      metrics:
        avg_price:
          type: average

boolean

Tells you whether something is True or False.

The boolean metric can be used on any valid SQL expression that gives you a TRUE or FALSE value. It can only be used on aggregations, which means either aggregate metrics or custom SQL that references other metrics. You cannot build a boolean metric by referencing other unaggregated dimensions from your model.

boolean metrics don't do any aggregations; they just reference other aggregations.

For example, the avg_price metric below is an average of all of the item_price values in our product table. A second metric called is_avg_price_above_20 is a boolean type metric. The is_avg_price_above_20 metric has a custom SQL expression that tells us whether the avg_price value is greater than 20.

columns:
  - name: item_price
    meta:
      metrics:
        avg_price:
          type: average
        is_avg_price_above_20:
          type: boolean
          sql: "IF(${avg_price} > 20, TRUE, FALSE)"

count

Does a table count, like SQL’s COUNT function.

The count metric can be used on any dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a set of values.

For example, this creates a metric number_of_users by counting the number of user_id values in the table:

columns:
  - name: user_id
    meta:
      metrics:
        number_of_users:
          type: count

count_distinct

Counts the number of distinct values in a given field. It's like SQL’s COUNT DISTINCT function.

The count_distinct metric can be used on any dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a set of values.

For example, this creates a metric number_of_unique_users by counting the number of unique user_id values in the table:

columns:
  - name: user_id
    meta:
      metrics:
        number_of_unique_users:
          type: count_distinct

date

Gives you a date value from an expression.

The date metric can be used on any valid SQL expression that gives you a date value. It can only be used on aggregations, which means either aggregate metrics or custom SQL that references other metrics. You cannot build a date metric by referencing other unaggregated dimensions from your model.

To be honest, date metrics are pretty rarely used because most SQL aggregate functions don't return dates. The only common use of this metric is if you use a MIN or MAX on a date dimension.

columns:
  - name: date_updated
    meta:
      metrics:
        most_recent_date_updated:
          type: date
          sql: "MAX(${date_updated})"

max

Max gives you the largest value in a given field. It's like SQL’s MAX function.

The max metric can be used on any dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a set of values.

For example, this creates a metric max_delivery_cost by looking at the delivery_cost dimension and taking the largest value it finds:

columns:
  - name: delivery_cost
    meta:
      metrics:
        max_delivery_cost:
          type: max

min

Min gives you the smallest value in a given field. It's like SQL’s MIN function.

The min metric can be used on any dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a set of values.

For example, this creates a metric min_delivery_cost by looking at the delivery_cost dimension and taking the smallest value it finds:

columns:
  - name: delivery_cost
    meta:
      metrics:
        min_delivery_cost:
          type: min

number

Used with numbers or integers. A number metric doesn't perform any aggregation but can be used to perform simple transformations on other metrics.

The number metric can be used on any valid SQL expression that gives you a numeric or integer value. It can only be used on aggregations, which means either aggregate metrics or custom SQL that references other metrics. You cannot build a number metric by referencing other unaggregated dimensions from your model.

For example, this creates a metric called total_gross_profit_margin_percentage based on the total_sale_price and total_gross_profit_margin aggregate metrics:

columns:
  - name: sale_price
    meta:
      metrics:
        total_sale_price:
          type: sum
  - name: gross_profit_margin
    meta:
      metrics:
        total_gross_profit_margin:
          type: sum
        total_gross_profit_margin_percentage:
          type: number
          sql: "(${total_gross_profit_margin}/ NULLIF(${total_sale_price},0))"

The example above also uses the NULLIF() SQL function to avoid division-by-zero errors.

sum

Adds up the values in a given field. Like SQL’s SUM function.

The sum metric can be used on any numeric dimension or, for custom SQL, any valid SQL expression that gives a numeric table column.

For example, this creates a metric total_revenue by adding up the values in the revenue dimension:

columns:
  - name: revenue
    meta:
      metrics:
        total_revenue:
          type: sum

string

Used with fields that include letters or special characters.

The string metric can be used on any valid SQL expression that gives you a string value. It can only be used on aggregations, which means either aggregate metrics or custom SQL that references other metrics. You cannot build a string metric by referencing other unaggregated dimensions from your model.

string metrics are rarely used because most SQL aggregate functions don't return strings. One common exception is MySQL’s GROUP_CONCAT function.

For example, this creates a metric product_name_group by combining the unique values of a dimension called product_name:

columns:
  - name: product_name
    meta:
      metrics:
        product_name_group:
          type: string
          sql: "GROUP_CONCAT(${product_name})"

Adding your own metric descriptions

We add default descriptions to all of the metrics you include in your model. But, you can override these using the description parameter when you define your metric.

metrics:
  num_user_ids:
    type: count
    description: "Total number of user IDs. NOTE: this is NOT counting unique user IDs"

Using custom SQL in aggregate metrics

You can include custom SQL in your metric definition to build more advanced metrics using the sql parameter. Inside the sql parameter, you can reference any other dimension from the given model and any joined models. You can’t reference other metrics.

You can reference dimensions from the same model like this: sql: "${dimension_in_this_model}" Or from joined models like this: sql: "${other_model.dimension_in_other_model}"

metrics:
  num_unique_7d_web_active_user_ids:
    type: count_distinct # metric type
    sql: "IF(${is_7d_web_active}, ${user_id}, NULL)"
  num_unique_paid_user_ids:
    type: count_distinct
    sql: "IF(${subscriptions.is_active}, ${user_id}, NULL)"

Using custom SQL in non-aggregate metrics

In non-aggregate metrics, you can reference any other metric from the given model and any joined models. You can’t reference other dimensions.

You can reference metrics from the same model like this: sql: "${metric_in_this_model}" Or from joined models like this: sql: "${other_model.metric_in_other_model}"

metrics:
  num_unique_users:
      type: count_distinct
  is_num_unique_users_above_100:
    type: boolean
    sql: "IF(${num_unique_users} > 100, TRUE, FALSE)"
  percentage_user_growth_daily:
    type: number
    sql: "(${num_unique_users} - ${growth_model.num_unique_users_lag_1d}) / NULLIF(${growth_model.num_unique_users_lag_1d}, 0)"

Show underlying values

By default, we show all of the dimensions from the Table when you click View underlying data. If you have fields from a joined table included in your results table, then we'll also show you all of the fields from the joined Table.

You can limit which dimensions are shown for a field when a user clicks View underlying data by adding the list of dimensions to your .yml files:

version: 2

models:
  - name: sales_stats
    meta:
      joins:
        - join: web_sessions
          sql_on: ${web_sessions.date} = ${sales_stats.date}
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Unique ID for users."
        meta:
          dimension:
            type: string
          metrics:
            count_users:
              type: count_distinct
              show_underlying_values:
                - revenue_gbp_total_est
                - actual_date
                - web_sessions.session_id # field from joined table
...

The list of fields must be made of dimension names (no metrics) from the base table or from any joined tables. To reference a field from a joined table, you just need to prefix the dimension name with the joined table name, like this: my_joined_table_name.my_dimension.

The order that the fields are listed in show_underlying_values is the order that they'll appear in on the view underlying data table.

Compact values

You can compact values in your YAML. For example, if I wanted all of my revenue values to be shown in thousands (e.g. 1,500 appears as 1.50K), then I would write something like this in my .yml:

    version: 2
    models:
    - name: sales
      columns:
        - name: revenue
          meta:
            dimension:
                compact: thousands # You can also use 'K'

Value	Alias	Example output
thousands	"K" and "thousand"	1K
millions	"M" and "million"	1M
billions	"B" and "billion"	1B
trillions	"T" and "trillion"	1T

Filters

Filters are applied to metrics any time that metric is used in Lightdash.

For example, we could add a filter to our users count to make sure it didn't include user IDs with closed accounts, like this:

version: 2

models:
  - name: sales_stats
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Unique ID for users."
        meta:
          dimension:
            type: string
          metrics:
            count_users:
              type: count_distinct
              filters:
                - is_closed_account: false
...

These filters do not appear in the Filters tab in the Explore view, instead, they are applied automatically in the SQL query that fetches your results. That means filters added using the filter parameter can't be removed in the UI and won't be visible to users unless they look at the SQL query.

Available filter types

Type	Example (in English)	Example (as code)
is equal to	User name is equal to katie	`user_name: katie`
is not equal to	User name is not equal to katie	`user_name: !katie`
contains	User name contains katie	`user_name: %katie%`
does not contain	User name does not contain katie	`user_name: !%katie%`
starts with	User name starts with katie	`user_name: katie%`
is greater than	Number of orders is greater than 4	`num_orders: '> 4'`
is greater than or equal to	Number of orders is greater than or equal to 4	`num_orders: '>= 4'`
is less than	Number of orders is less than 4	`num_orders: '< 4'`
is less than or equal to	Number of orders is less than or equal to 4	`num_orders: '<= 4'`

If you have many filters in your list, they will be joined using `AND`.

For example:

filters:
  - is_closed_account: false
  - is_7d_active: true
...

Would give you logic like is_closed_account = TRUE AND is_7d_active = FALSE.

You can filter using fields from either the base model, or any joined models.

To filter using a field from a joined model, just use the syntax model_name.field, like this:

version: 2

models:
  - name: sales_stats
    meta:
      joins:
        - join: web_sessions
          sql_on: ${web_sessions.date} = ${sales_stats.date}
    columns:
      - name: user_id
        description: "Unique ID for users."
        meta:
          dimension:
            type: string
          metrics:
            count_users:
              type: count_distinct
              filters:
                - is_closed_account: false
                - web_sessions.is_bot_user: false
...

Metrics reference sheet

Adding metrics to your project​

1. Using the column meta tag (Suggested)​

2. Using the model meta tag​

3. Using dbt's metrics tag​

Metric Categories​

Aggregate metrics​

Non-aggregate metrics​

Metric configuration​

Metric types​

percentile​

median​

average​

boolean​

count​

count_distinct​

date​

max​

min​

number​

sum​

string​

Adding your own metric descriptions​

Using custom SQL in aggregate metrics​

Using custom SQL in non-aggregate metrics​

Show underlying values​

Compact values​

Filters​

Available filter types​

If you have many filters in your list, they will be joined using AND.​

You can filter using fields from either the base model, or any joined models.​