SQL Server / Azure Synapse to dbt Model Conversion

Purpose

Transform SQL Server/Azure Synapse T-SQL DDL (views, tables, stored procedures) into production-quality dbt models compatible with Snowflake, maintaining the same business logic and data transformation steps while following dbt best practices.

When to Use This Skill

Activate this skill when users ask about:

• Converting SQL Server views or tables to dbt models
• Migrating T-SQL stored procedures to dbt
• Translating T-SQL syntax to Snowflake
• Generating schema.yml files with tests and documentation
• Handling T-SQL-specific syntax (IDENTITY, TOP, #temp tables, TRY...CATCH)

---

REQUIRED FIRST STEP — Run SnowConvert AI (SCAI)

Do NOT begin manual conversion. SQL Server has full SnowConvert AI support (tables, views, procedures, functions, SSIS). Before writing any dbt model by hand:

1. Run SnowConvert AI on the source DDL to produce Snowflake-compatible SQL.
2. Use the $dbt-migration-snowflake skill to convert the SCAI output to dbt models.
3. Only fall back to this skill's manual translation rules for objects SCAI could not convert (check the conversion report for EWIs).

See the $dbt-migration skill for download links and full workflow.

Name Retention Rule

Preserve original object names. The dbt model filename and model name MUST match the original source object name (lowercased, without schema prefix). For example, dbo.PatientVisits becomes patient_visits.sql. Do not rename objects during migration unless explicitly requested by the user.

---

Task Description

You are a database engineer working for a hospital system. You need to convert SQL Server / Azure Synapse DDL to equivalent dbt code compatible with Snowflake, maintaining the same business logic and data transformation steps while following dbt best practices.

Input Requirements

I will provide you the T-SQL DDL to convert.

Audience

The code will be executed by data engineers who are learning Snowflake and dbt.

Output Requirements

Generate the following:

1. One or more dbt models with complete SQL for every column
2. A corresponding schema.yml file with appropriate tests and documentation
3. A config block with materialization strategy
4. Explanation of key changes and architectural decisions
5. Inline comments highlighting any syntax that was converted

Conversion Guidelines

General Principles

• Replace procedural logic with declarative SQL where possible
• Break down complex procedures into multiple modular dbt models
• Implement appropriate incremental processing strategies
• Maintain data quality checks through dbt tests
• Use Snowflake SQL functions rather than macros whenever possible

Sample Response Format

-- dbt model: models/[domain]/[target_schema_name]/model_name.sql
{{ config(materialized='view') }}

/* Original Object: [database].[schema].[object_name]
   Source Platform: SQL Server / Azure Synapse
   Purpose: [brief description]
   Conversion Notes: [key changes]
   Description: [SQL logic description] */

WITH source_data AS (
    SELECT
        customer_id::INTEGER AS customer_id,
        -- NVARCHAR converted to VARCHAR (Unicode handled natively)
        customer_name::VARCHAR(100) AS customer_name,
        -- MONEY converted to NUMBER(18,2)
        account_balance::NUMBER(18,2) AS account_balance,
        -- DATETIME converted to TIMESTAMP_NTZ
        created_date::TIMESTAMP_NTZ AS created_date
    FROM {{ ref('upstream_model') }}
),

transformed_data AS (
    SELECT
        customer_id,
        UPPER(customer_name)::VARCHAR(100) AS customer_name_upper,
        account_balance,
        created_date,
        CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()::TIMESTAMP_NTZ AS loaded_at
    FROM source_data
)

SELECT
    customer_id,
    customer_name_upper,
    account_balance,
    created_date,
    loaded_at
FROM transformed_data

## models/[domain]/[target_schema_name]/_models.yml
version: 2

models:
  - name: model_name
    description:
      "Table description; converted from SQL Server / Azure Synapse [Original object name]"
    columns:
      - name: customer_id
        description: "Primary key - unique customer identifier"
        tests:
          - unique
          - not_null
      - name: customer_name_upper
        description: "Customer name in uppercase"
      - name: account_balance
        description: "Current account balance; Foreign key to OTHER_TABLE"
        tests:
          - relationships:
              to: ref('OTHER_TABLE')
              field: OTHER_TABLE_KEY
      - name: created_date
        description: "Date the customer record was created"
      - name: loaded_at
        description: "Timestamp when the record was loaded by dbt"

## dbt_project.yml (excerpt)
models:
  my_project:
    +materialized: view
    domain_name:
      +schema: target_schema_name

Specific Translation Rules

dbt Specific Requirements

• If the source is a view, use a view materialization in dbt
• Include appropriate dbt model configuration (materialization type)
• Add documentation blocks for a schema.yml
• Add descriptions for tables and columns
• Include relevant tests
• Define primary keys and relationships
• Assume that upstream objects are models
• Comprehensively provide all the columns in the output
• Break complex procedures into multiple models if needed
• Implement appropriate incremental strategies for large tables
• Use Snowflake SQL functions rather than macros whenever possible
• Always cast columns with explicit precision/scale using ::TYPE syntax (e.g., column_name::VARCHAR(100), amount::NUMBER(18,2)) to ensure output matches expected data types
• Always provide explicit column aliases for clarity and documentation

Performance Optimization

• Suggest clustering keys if needed
• Recommend materialization strategy (view vs table)
• Identify potential performance improvements

SQL Server/T-SQL to Snowflake Syntax Conversion

• Replace TOP n with LIMIT n
• Convert IDENTITY columns to Snowflake IDENTITY or sequences
• Replace #temp tables with session-scoped temporary tables
• Convert TRY...CATCH to Snowflake exception handling
• Handle ANSI_NULLS and QUOTED_IDENTIFIER settings
• Replace sys.* system tables with Snowflake equivalents
• Convert MERGE syntax differences
• Replace @@ROWCOUNT with ROW_COUNT()
• Convert NOLOCK hints (remove them)
• Add inline SQL comments highlighting any syntax that was converted

Key Data Type Mappings

T-SQL	Snowflake	Notes
INT/BIGINT/SMALLINT/TINYINT	Same	All alias to NUMBER(38,0)
BIT	BOOLEAN
DECIMAL/NUMERIC	DECIMAL/NUMERIC
FLOAT/REAL	FLOAT/REAL
MONEY/SMALLMONEY	NUMBER(38,4)
CHAR/VARCHAR/TEXT	Same	VARCHAR(MAX) → VARCHAR
NCHAR/NVARCHAR/NTEXT	VARCHAR	Unicode handled natively
DATE	DATE
TIME	TIME
DATETIME/DATETIME2	TIMESTAMP_NTZ
DATETIMEOFFSET	TIMESTAMP_TZ
BINARY/VARBINARY/IMAGE	BINARY/VARBINARY	Max 8MB
UNIQUEIDENTIFIER	VARCHAR
XML	VARIANT
SQL_VARIANT	VARIANT

Key Syntax Conversions

-- TOP → LIMIT
SELECT TOP 10 * FROM table → SELECT * FROM table LIMIT 10

-- IDENTITY → IDENTITY or AUTOINCREMENT
id INT IDENTITY(1,1) → id INT AUTOINCREMENT START 1 INCREMENT 1

-- #temp tables → TEMPORARY tables
CREATE TABLE #temp → CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE temp

-- TRY...CATCH → Exception handling
BEGIN TRY ... END TRY BEGIN CATCH ... END CATCH → BEGIN ... EXCEPTION WHEN OTHER THEN ... END

-- ISNULL → COALESCE or IFNULL
ISNULL(col, 0) → COALESCE(col, 0)

-- GETDATE()/GETUTCDATE() → CURRENT_TIMESTAMP/SYSDATE
GETDATE() → CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()

-- DATEADD/DATEDIFF → Same (Snowflake supports)
DATEADD(day, 1, col) → DATEADD(day, 1, col)

-- @@ROWCOUNT → ROW_COUNT()
@@ROWCOUNT → ROW_COUNT()

-- NOLOCK hints → Remove
SELECT * FROM table WITH (NOLOCK) → SELECT * FROM table

Common Function Mappings

T-SQL	Snowflake	Notes
ISNULL(a, b)	COALESCE(a, b) or IFNULL(a, b)
COALESCE(...)	COALESCE(...)	Same
NULLIF(a, b)	NULLIF(a, b)	Same
IIF(cond, a, b)	IFF(cond, a, b)
GETDATE()	CURRENT_TIMESTAMP()
GETUTCDATE()	CONVERT_TIMEZONE('UTC', CURRENT_TIMESTAMP())
DATEADD(unit, n, d)	DATEADD(unit, n, d)	Same
DATEDIFF(unit, d1, d2)	DATEDIFF(unit, d1, d2)	Same
DATEPART(unit, d)	DATE_PART(unit, d)
CONVERT(type, val)	val::type or TRY_CAST(val AS type)
CAST(val AS type)	val::type
CHARINDEX(s, str)	POSITION(s IN str)
SUBSTRING(s, pos, len)	SUBSTR(s, pos, len)
LEN(str)	LENGTH(str)
REPLICATE(str, n)	REPEAT(str, n)
STUFF(s, pos, len, new)	INSERT(s, pos, len, new)
STRING_AGG(col, delim)	LISTAGG(col, delim)
@@ROWCOUNT	ROW_COUNT()
@@IDENTITY	Use sequences or AUTOINCREMENT

Dependencies

• List any upstream dependencies
• Suggest model organization in dbt project

---

Validation Checklist

• [] Every DDL statement has been accounted for in the dbt models
• [] SQL in models is compatible with Snowflake
• [] T-SQL-specific syntax converted (IDENTITY, TOP, #temp tables, TRY...CATCH)
• [] All business logic preserved
• [] All columns included in output
• [] Data types correctly mapped
• [] Functions translated to Snowflake equivalents
• [] Materialization strategy selected
• [] Tests added
• [] SQL logic description complete
• [] Table descriptions added
• [] Column descriptions added
• [] Dependencies correctly mapped
• [] Incremental logic (if applicable) verified
• [] Inline comments added for converted syntax

---

Related Skills

• $dbt-migration - For the complete migration workflow (discovery, planning, placeholder models, testing, deployment)
• $dbt-modeling - For CTE patterns and SQL structure guidance
• $dbt-testing - For implementing comprehensive dbt tests
• $dbt-architecture - For project organization and folder structure
• $dbt-materializations - For choosing materialization strategies (view, table, incremental, snapshots)
• $dbt-performance - For clustering keys, warehouse sizing, and query optimization
• $dbt-commands - For running dbt commands and model selection syntax
• $dbt-core - For dbt installation, configuration, and package management
• $snowflake-cli - For executing SQL and managing Snowflake objects

---

Supported Source Database

Database	Key Considerations
SQL Server / Azure Synapse	T-SQL procedures, IDENTITY, TOP, #temp tables, TRY...CATCH, sys.* tables, ANSI_NULLS/QUOTED_IDENTIFIER

Translation References

Detailed syntax translation guides are available in the translation-references/ folder.

Copyright Notice: The translation reference documentation in this repository is derived from Snowflake SnowConvert Documentation and is © Copyright Snowflake Inc. All rights reserved. Used for reference purposes only.

Reference Index

• ETL BI Repointing Power BI Transact Repointing
• Overview (README)
• SSIS Readme
• Subqueries
• Transact Continue Handler
• Transact Create Function
• Transact Create Procedure Snow Script
• Transact Create Procedure
• Transact Exit Handler
• Alter Statement
• Ansi Nulls
• Built In Functions
• Built In Procedures
• Create Function
• Create Index
• Create Materialized View
• Create Procedure Snow Script
• Create Table
• Create View
• Data Types
• Dmls
• General Statements
• Quoted Identifier
• Select
• System Tables