---
title: "Undocumented columns on dbt models behind dashboards | Metacenta"
description: "Column descriptions are all an AI agent or a new analyst reads. Which models need them first, and why the dashboard models come before the rest."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/core-model-columns-undocumented"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 585
---

Documentation · rule core-model-columns-undocumented

# Undocumented columns on dbt models behind dashboards

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **Core models describe every column**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

This rule flags each core model with a column that has no description, or with no columns declared at all. A model counts as core when a dbt exposure, Looker explore or Tableau view depends on it. If none is declared, the marts count instead. It is a narrower rule than the one on every model's columns, and a model can appear under both.

## Why it matters

An AI agent or a new analyst reads column names and descriptions, and nothing else. Where a description is missing they guess what the column means, and the guess reaches a dashboard.

## How to fix it

**Describe every column of each main table.** Describe every column of the models your dashboards read first. Say what each column holds, its unit, and what a null means. Declare the columns in YAML if the model has none.

Before:

```yaml
    columns:
      - name: amt
      - name: status
```

After:

```yaml
    columns:
      - name: amt
        description: Order total in GBP after discounts, before tax.
      - name: status
        description: One of placed, shipped, returned. Null before payment clears.
```

## When it is fine to leave

Few exceptions exist for a model a dashboard reads. A key whose meaning is clear from the model's own description can go without one.

## What we need to check it

`manifest.json`. Consumers come from exposures in the manifest, or from LookML or Tableau files if you share them.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-core-model-columns-undocumented&via=md)

## Related pages

- [dbt models with no description](https://metacenta.com/rules/model-undocumented)
- [dbt columns with no description](https://metacenta.com/rules/model-columns-undocumented)
- [dbt models that declare no columns](https://metacenta.com/rules/model-no-column-schema)
- [dbt sources with no description](https://metacenta.com/rules/source-undocumented)
- [This rule in a sample review](https://metacenta.com/sample#constructed)
- [All published rules](https://metacenta.com/rules)
- [How a review is assessed](https://metacenta.com/standard)