dbt Cloud

Canvas can connect to your dbt Cloud deployment to access the descriptions of your models, fields, and freshness.

In order to connect Canvas requires the URL of the environment you'd like to use in Canvas (likely your production environment), as well as an Administrator API token.

Environment URL

From the dbt Cloud home page, select the hamburger menu in the top left and then select Environments

On the following page, select the environment that builds into the database you selected in the previous step. For example, if you selected your production warehouse in the previous step you should choose your production environment in dbt Cloud.

On the following page, copy the URL and paste it into the Canvas onboarding flow.

API Key

Again select the hamburger menu in the top left, this time selecting Account Settings. On the following page select Service Tokens. Select New Token, then add a new token with the Account Admin permission. Copy the token and paste it into the Canvas onboarding flow.

Why does Canvas need Administrator permissions?

The dbt Cloud API requires accessing model metadata (such as descriptions) via an API that requires the ID of the job that built that model. That requires accessing the Jobs API, which requires administrator access.