Model parameters

A model file specifies a database connection, defines the set of Explores that use that connection, and defines the Explores' relationships to other views. Unlike other LookML elements, a model is not declared with a specific "model" parameter. Instead, a LookML developer defines a model by creating a LookML project file that has the .model.lkml file extension. The model name is taken from the filename.

A model name must be unique across all projects on your instance. If your instance contains two .model.lkml files with the same name, it is likely that you will encounter errors, such as model configuration errors on the LookML Projects page and rendering errors for LookML dashboard errors, since LookML dashboards use the model name in their URL format (<hostname>/dashboard/model_name::<dashboard_name>).

You can use the LookML Validator to verify if model names are duplicated across your instance. However, even if the LookML Validator detects duplicate model names on your instance, you can still push your code to production. Therefore, be sure to fix any duplicate model name errors before you deploy your LookML project to production.

A model file typically contains any explore declarations, along with a number of model-level settings.

This page links to the model-level LookML parameters. They are typically written at the top of the model file and shouldn't be nested within other parameters.

Example usage

Hold the pointer over a parameter name to see a quick description. Click a parameter to visit its reference page. When a parameter can be set to one of several specific options, the default value is listed first.

## STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS
include:"filename_or_pattern"
## Possibly more include declarations

explore: explore_name {
  # Desired explore parameters (described on Explore Parameters page)
}
## Possibly more explore declarations

access_grant: access_grant_name{
  user_attribute: user_attribute_name
  allowed_values: ["value_1", "value_2", ...]
}
## Possibly more access_grant declarations

test: test_name{
  explore_source: explore_name {
    # Desired subparameters (described on test page)
  }
  assert: assert_statement {
    expression:Looker expression ;;
  }
  # Possibly more assert declarations
}
## Possibly more test declarations

## DISPLAY PARAMETERS
label: "desired label"

## FILTER PARAMETERS
case_sensitive: yes | no

## QUERY PARAMETERS
connection: "connection_name"
datagroup: datagroup_name{
  label: "desired label"
  description: "desired description"
  max_cache_age: "N (minutes | hours | days)"
  sql_trigger: SQL query ;;
}
## Possibly more datagroup declarations
fiscal_month_offset: N
persist_for: "N (seconds | minutes | hours)"
persist_with: datagroup_name
week_start_day: monday | tuesday | wednesday | thursday | friday | saturday | sunday

## VISUALIZATION AND FORMATTING PARAMETERS
map_layer: map_name{
  extents_json_url: "URL to JSON extents file"
  feature_key: "Name of TopoJSON object"
  file: "TopoJSON or GeoJSON filename" # or use the url subparameter
  format: topojson | vector_tile_region
  label: "desired label"
  max_zoom_level: number indicating max zoom
  min_zoom_level: number indicating min zoom
  projection: Preferred geographic projection
  property_key: "TopoJSON property"
  property_label_key: "Label for TopoJSON property"
  url: "URL that contains map file" # or use the file subparameter
}
## Possibly more map layer declarations

named_value_format: desired_name {
  value_format: "excel formatting string"
  strict_value_format: yes | no
 }
## Possibly more named value format declarations

Parameter definitions