Running dbt workflows locally with LocalStack

dbt (Data Build Tool) helps data engineers manage data transformations using modular SQL and brings version control, testing, and documentation to their transformation logic. However, running dbt against production data warehouses like Snowflake can be slow, expensive, and risky. This session introduces a new way to develop and test dbt workflows locally using the Snowflake emulator in LocalStack. You'll learn how to set up a local dbt environment, configure dbt to connect to the Snowflake emulator, run and validate dbt models locally without using a real Snowflake account, and iterate quickly on transformations before pushing them to production. Through a hands-on factory app example, we’ll walk through how to use the Snowflake emulator to run dbt models on your laptop, helping you test logic, catch issues early, and reduce cloud costs.

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