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SQL Variables

When writing SQL in your Lightdash models, you can use the following references to template you SQL and make it more reusable

  • ${field} - reference a field in the current model
  • ${model.field} - reference a field in another model
  • ${TABLE} - reference the current table's sql reference
  • ${lightdash.attributes.my_attr_1} - a user attribute called my_attr_1
    • (optional) ld as an alias for lightdash
    • (optional) attribute or attr as an alias for attributes
  • ${lightdash.user.<intrinsic_attribute>} - reference an intrinsic_attribute of the current Lightdash user
    • (optional) ld as an alias for lightdash
    • available intrinsic user attributes:
      • email
info

The user email attribute is only available when the email is verified. This is a security measure to prevent users from creating/updating an account with any email they don't own and gain access to data they shouldn't see.

If the user email is not verified you will get the following error:

models:
  - name: example
    meta:
      sql_filter: ${lightdash.user.email} = 'example@lightdash.com'

If you are self hosting you can enable SMTP or SSO authentication to allow users to verify their email address.