Auto-Generate Asset Dependencies

Overview

Goal - Automatically generate asset dependencies by letting Bruin analyze your SQL queries and detect which upstream assets are being referenced.

Audience - Data engineers who want accurate dependency graphs without manually declaring every dependency.

Prerequisites

• Bruin CLI installed
• A Bruin project with SQL assets

Steps

1) Run fill-asset-dependencies from the CLI

Use the bruin patch command to scan your queries and generate dependencies:

# Fill dependencies for an entire pipeline
bruin patch fill-asset-dependencies path/to/pipeline

# Fill dependencies for a single asset
bruin patch fill-asset-dependencies path/to/asset.sql

Bruin reads each SQL query, identifies which tables/assets it references, and adds the corresponding depends declarations to the asset definition.

2) Use the VS Code extension

If you have the Bruin extension installed, open an asset and go to the render panel. Under the Dependencies section, click Fill from Query. This adds the detected dependencies directly to your asset.

3) Verify the lineage

After filling dependencies, check the lineage view to confirm the entire pipeline dependency graph has been generated correctly. You should see all upstream and downstream relationships reflected.

When to use this

• You've written new SQL assets and haven't declared dependencies yet
• You've refactored queries and want to make sure dependencies are up to date
• You're onboarding to an existing project and want to understand the dependency graph
• You prefer to let the tooling handle dependency management instead of doing it manually

Key takeaways

• Bruin analyzes your SQL to detect which assets each query reads from
• You don't have to manually declare every dependency - the CLI can do it for you
• Works on individual assets or entire pipelines
• The VS Code extension provides a one-click alternative via "Fill from Query"

Helpful links

• Patch command reference
• Video walkthrough