Using .dinorules to Tailor Your AI Experience

This guide explains how to use .dinorules files to customize DinoAI's behavior and ensure it follows your team's coding standards and best practices.

When working with dbt™ projects, teams often establish standards for SQL formatting, naming conventions, documentation, and modeling patterns. Ensuring all team members follow these standards consistently can be challenging.

.dinorules allow you to configure how DinoAI Agent operates within your project by establishing standards that it will automatically follow when generating or modifying code.

Benefits of using .dinorules

• Define Project-Specific Rules: Customize DinoAI's behavior to match your team's unique needs and workflows.

• Set Technical Standards: Specify coding patterns, architecture guidelines, and best practices for your project.

• Adapt Over Time: Easily modify the rules as your project evolves and requirements change.

• Team Collaboration: Files are git-tracked by default, enabling shared standards across your entire data team.

How to Create a .dinorules File

Simply add a file named .dinorules to the root of your dbt™ project repository. The file uses natural language instructions and doesn't require any specific formatting, structure, or syntax. You can edit it just as you would a regular text document - use paragraphs, bullet points, or any organization that makes sense to you.

1. From the Code IDE, Click the DinoAI icon (🪄) icon on the left-side panel. 2. Click the settings icon (⚙️) at the top right of the DinoAI panel. This automatically creates a new file named .dinorules.

Make sure the .dinorules file is placed in the root directory of your repository

your-repository
├── dbt_project/
│   ├── staging/
│   └── marts/
├── macros/
├── seeds/
├── .dinorules              # .dinorules file location
├── README.md

1. Add your custom instructions to the file. These can be general or highly specific - there's no set syntax required.

Example DinoRules File

SQL Formatting
- Keyword capitalization (uppercase/lowercase)
- Comma style (leading/trailing)
- Indentation (spaces vs. tabs, amount)
- Aliasing conventions
- CTEs vs. subqueries preferences
- Comment requirements for complex logic

Naming Conventions
- Model naming patterns
- Column naming standards
- Test naming formats
- Documentation file naming

Documentation Standards
- Documentation file organization (single file vs. multiple files)
- Required column descriptions
- Standard test applications
- Metadata requirements

Modeling Patterns
- Dimensional modeling preferences
- Materialization defaults by folder
- Incremental model patterns
- Custom configurations

Visualization Standards
- When to include mermaid diagrams
- What elements to include in visualizations
- Visualization formatting