How to use dbt metrics in Google Sheets

Google Sheets is the quickest way to check that the Semantic Layer works end to end, and for many finance and operations people it is where metrics are used anyway. dbt Labs’ add-on adds a Query Builder to the sheet: pick metrics, group-bys and filters, and the result lands in the cell you selected.

Copy and paste

What you need from dbt platform, on the project’s Semantic Layer settings page:

Host            semantic-layer.cloud.getdbt.com     (yours depends on the account's region)
Environment ID  the deployment environment the Semantic Layer serves
Token           a service token (Semantic Layer Only + Metadata Only) or a personal access token

Then, in Google Sheets:

1. Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons, search for Semantic Layer for Sheets and install it.
2. Extensions → Semantic Layer for Sheets opens the panel on the right.
3. Enter the host, the environment ID and the token.
4. Click the cell where the table should start, choose metrics and group-bys in the Query Builder, and press Query.

The Query Builder

• Metrics and Group By, with dimensions listed under the entity they belong to. The time grain is chosen next to the time dimension; metric_time is the default.
• Time Range applies to metric_time, with presets or a custom range. Other dates are filtered in Where.
• Where adds categorical and time filters, combined with AND or OR. Entity values must be typed: the add-on doesn’t load the list.
• Order By and Limit, plus two options: Exclude column names for data without headers, and Clear trailing rows, on by default, which removes stale rows below a result that got shorter.
• The info button next to a metric shows its description from dbt.

Saved selections and saved queries

• Saved selections store a Query Builder setup in the sheet: Query → Query & Save Selection. Public ones are available to everyone who edits the sheet; with Refresh on Load they rerun when the add-on opens. That is how a monthly report sheet stays current without anyone rebuilding the query.
• Saved queries are the ones defined in dbt (see how to define a saved query). They appear in the menu under Saved Queries, and Build Selection turns one into an editable selection without changing its definition.

Limits

• A query from the menu times out after 6 minutes.
• Only standard grains: custom granularities such as a fiscal year are not available in Sheets.
• Use one Google profile at a time in the browser, the one you installed the add-on with; several signed-in profiles confuse the add-on.
• With IP restrictions on the dbt account, add Google’s IP ranges to the allowlist, or the connection fails.
• Results are values in cells. Formulas you build on them see the numbers of the last refresh, and a ratio summed in a sheet is no longer the metric; query the total instead.

Based on the dbt platform documentation (October 2026).