Set up Turbo CI

Turbo CI runs and tests only the dbt™ models you changed on each pull request, in a temporary schema, before they merge. This guide covers the shared setup (a dedicated CI environment, a schema macro, and a Turbo CI job), then points you to your git provider to finish.

Prerequisites

An Admin role in Paradime.
A production Bolt schedule to defer against (Turbo CI uses state comparison to detect changes).
Admin access to your git provider (GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, or BitBucket).

Estimated time: 30 minutes.

Already running Turbo CI with --target ci?

Follow the migration guide to move to a dedicated CI environment and drop the --target ci flags.

Steps

Create a dedicated CI environment

Turbo CI runs in its own Bolt environment so CI builds use a separate connection and target from production. In Settings > Environments, create a new environment (for example, CI), then add a warehouse connection to it with its target name set to ci. See Create and manage environments.

Without a dedicated CI environment, Turbo CI would use your default environment’s target, so the ci logic in the schema macro below never engages.

Add a custom schema macro

So CI runs build into an isolated, temporary schema, add a generate_schema_name.sql macro to your project’s macros folder. When the target is ci, models build into a schema prefixed paradime_turbo_ci_pr_ (followed by the PR number):

{% macro generate_schema_name(custom_schema_name, node) -%}
    {%- set default_schema = target.schema -%}
    {%- if target.name == 'prod' -%}
        {{ custom_schema_name | trim }}
    {%- elif target.name == 'ci' -%}
        {{ default_schema }}
    {%- else -%}
        {%- if custom_schema_name is none -%}
            {{ default_schema }}
        {%- else -%}
            {{ default_schema }}_{{ custom_schema_name | trim }}
        {%- endif -%}
    {%- endif -%}
{%- endmacro %}

Create the Turbo CI job

Create a Bolt schedule of type Turbo CI, with:

Its Environment set to the CI environment you created, so runs use the CI connection and ci target.
A production schedule to defer to, so state comparison knows what changed.
Commands that use the state:modified+ selector to build and test only new and changed models, for example dbt build --select state:modified+. The environment supplies the ci target, so you do not append --target ci.
A trigger set to run when a pull request is opened.

The Test code changes on pull requests template gives you a ready-made starting point.

Connect your git provider

Finish by wiring Turbo CI into your provider, which triggers the job on each PR and posts the status back:

GitHub

GitLab

Azure DevOps

BitBucket

Open a pull request that changes a model. Turbo CI runs, builds the changed models into a paradime_turbo_ci_pr_<number> schema, and the run status appears on the PR. On GitHub, a DinoAI summary is posted automatically if the run fails.

Foundations

Automate with AI agents

Set up & configure

Orchestrate data pipelines

Migrate to Paradime

Develop in Paradime

Learn dbt™

Already running Turbo CI with --target ci?

Steps

GitHub

GitLab

Azure DevOps

BitBucket

Next steps

Turbo CI reference

Schedule types and triggers

Already running Turbo CI with --target ci?

​Steps

GitHub

GitLab

Azure DevOps

BitBucket

​Next steps

Turbo CI reference

Schedule types and triggers

Steps

Next steps