About Fusion local installation Preview

important

The dbt Fusion Engine is currently available for installation in:

• Local command line interface (CLI) tools Preview
• VS Code and Cursor with the dbt extension Preview
• dbt platform environments Private preview

Join the conversation in our Community Slack channel #dbt-fusion-engine.

Read the Fusion Diaries for the latest updates.

Learn more about installing Fusion locally, along with important prerequisites, step-by-step installation instructions, troubleshooting common issues, and configuration guidance.

Prerequisites

Before installing Fusion, ensure that you:

• Have administrative privileges to install software on your local machine.
• Are comfortable using a command-line interface (Terminal on macOS/Linux, PowerShell on Windows).
• Use a supported data warehouse and authentication method and configure permissions as needed:
   BigQuery

  • Service Account / User Token
  • Native OAuth
  • External OAuth
  • Required permissions
   Databricks

  • Service Account / User Token
  • Native OAuth
   Redshift

  • Username / Password
   Snowflake

  • Username / Password
  • Native OAuth
  • External OAuth
  • Key pair using a modern PKCS#8 method
  • MFA
• Use a supported operating system:
  • macOS: Supported on both Intel (x86-64) and Apple Silicon (ARM)
  • Linux: Supported on both x86-64 and ARM
  • Windows: Supported on x86-64; ARM support coming soon

Getting started

If you're ready to get started, choose one of the following options. If you're not sure which option is best for you, see the What's available where? section.

dbt VS Code Extension

Learn how to connect to a data platform, integrate with secure authentication methods, and configure a sync with a git repo.

dbt Fusion engine from the CLI

Learn how to install the dbt Fusion engine on the command line interface (CLI).

dbt Fusion engine upgrade

Learn how you can upgrade and leverage the speed and scale of the dbt Fusion engine

What's available where?

Features and capabilities

dbt Fusion Engine (built on Rust) gives your team 30x faster performance and comes with different features depending on where you use it. If you're not sure what is available where, check out the following table.

To stay up-to-date on the latest features and capabilities, check out the Fusion diaries.

Legend: ✅ = Available 🟡 = Partial / compile-time only ❌ = Not available 🔜 = Coming soon

Category / Capability	dbt Core (self-hosted)	Fusion CLI (self-hosted)	VS Code + Fusion	dbt platform* (Studio IDE/Canvas)
Engine performance
SQL parsing & compilation	✅	✅	✅	✅
Uses the dbt Fusion Engine	❌ (Built on Python)	✅	✅	✅
Faster parse / compile	❌	✅	✅	✅
Incremental compilation	❌	✅	✅	✅
Editor & development experience
IntelliSense / autocomplete / hover info	❌	❌	✅	✅
Inline errors (on save / in editor)	❌	🟡	✅	✅
Live CTE previews / compiled SQL view	❌	❌	✅	✅
Refactoring tools (rename model / column)	❌	❌	✅	🔜
Go-to definition / references	❌	❌	✅	🔜
Column-level lineage (in editor)	❌	❌	✅	🔜
Platform & governance
State-aware orchestration (SAO)	❌	❌	❌	✅
Governance (PII / PHI tracking)	❌	❌	❌	🔜
CI/CD cost optimization (Slimmer CI)	❌	❌	❌	🔜

*Insights (our explore and query tool) also runs on the dbt Fusion Engine and has the following LSP features. Fusion support for other dbt platform tools, like Semantic Layer and Catalog, is coming soon.

Additional considerations

Here are some additional considerations if using the Fusion CLI or VS Code extension:

• Fusion CLI (binary)
  • Runs on the dbt Fusion Engine (distinct from dbt Core) and free to use.
  • Benefits from Fusion engine’s performance for parse, compile, build, and run, but doesn't include visual and interactive features like autocomplete, hover insights, lineage, and more.
  • Requires profiles.yml only (no dbt_cloud.yml).
• dbt VS Code extension
  • Free to use and runs with the dbt Fusion Engine; after 14 days you register an email.
  • Benefits from Fusion engine’s performance for parse, compile, build, and run, and also includes visual and interactive features like autocomplete, hover insights, lineage, and more.
  • Capped at 15 users per organization.
  • If you already have a dbt platform user account (even if a trial expired), sign in with the same email. Unlock or reset it if locked.
  • Requires both profiles.yml and dbt_cloud.yml files.

dbt Fusion Engine powers dbt development everywhere — in the dbt platform, VS Code/Cursor, and locally. Features vary by environment; see the following table and choose the best Fusion-friendly setup for you:

Developing in	Fusion-friendly tool you can use	Supports projects in	Fusion features
dbt platform	- Studio IDE - Canvas - dbt VS Code extension	dbt platform dbt Core	- Fast, reliable compilation, static analysis, validation, and job execution. - Visual and interactive features like autocomplete, inline errors, live CTE previews, lineage, and more. - To upgrade, see Upgrade to Fusion.
VS Code or Cursor	dbt VS Code extension	dbt platform dbt Core	- Fast, reliable compilation, static analysis, validation, and job execution. - Visual and interactive features like autocomplete, inline errors, live CTE previews, lineage, and more.
dbt Core local	- Fusion CLI - dbt VS Code extension	dbt platform dbt Core	- Fusion CLI: Provides Fusion performance benefits, such as faster performance, parsing, and execution (like parse, compile, build, and run) but doesn't include the visual features available in the dbt platform or VS Code extension (such as autocomplete, hover insights, lineage, and more). - VS Code extension: Comes with Fusion performance benefits, as well as those visual features when developing locally.

Not sure where to start?

Try out the Fusion quickstart and check out the Fusion migration guide to see how to migrate your project.

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