format Command

The format command is used to process and format asset definition files in a project. It can handle a single asset file or process all asset files in a given path. The command supports two output types: plain text and JSON.

Usage

bruin format [path-to-asset-or-project-root] [flags]

Arguments

path-to-asset-or-project-root (optional):

• If the argument is a path to an asset definition file, the command processes and formats that single asset.
• If the argument is a path to a project root, it finds and formats all asset files within that path.
• Defaults to the current directory (.) if no argument is provided.

Flags

--output / -o (optional):
Specifies the output format for the command.
Possible values:

• plain (default): Prints human-readable messages.
• json: Prints errors (if any) in JSON format.

--fail-if-changed (optional):
Fail the command if any of the assets need reformatting.

--sqlfluff (optional):
Run SQLFluff to format SQL files in addition to formatting Bruin asset definitions. SQLFluff is a SQL linting and formatting tool that ensures consistent SQL code style across your project.

SQLFluff Integration

When the --sqlfluff flag is used, Bruin automatically:

1. Detects SQL dialects based on asset types (e.g., sf.sql → Snowflake, bq.sql → BigQuery)
2. Formats SQL files using the appropriate dialect-specific rules
3. Processes files in parallel for improved performance (up to 30 concurrent operations)

Supported Database Dialects

Asset Type Prefix	SQLFluff Dialect	Database
sf.	snowflake	Snowflake
bq.	bigquery	BigQuery
pg.	postgres	PostgreSQL
rs.	redshift	Amazon Redshift
athena.	athena	Amazon Athena
ms.	tsql	Microsoft SQL Server
databricks.	sparksql	Databricks
spark.	sparksql	Apache Spark
synapse.	tsql	Azure Synapse
duckdb.	duckdb	DuckDB
clickhouse.	clickhouse	ClickHouse

Examples

Format all assets including SQL files:

bruin format --sqlfluff

Format a single SQL asset:

bruin format assets/sf.my_table.sql --sqlfluff

Format with JSON output:

bruin format --sqlfluff --output json