---

name: cli-projects description: "Guide Wren CLI project setup, MDL authoring, profiles, connection fields, schema validation, build lifecycle, dbt or OSI import, and SQL type normalization." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: NOASSERTION

Wren CLI Projects

Use this sub-skill when a task creates, repairs, migrates, or inspects a Wren project; configures a profile; needs MDL YAML; imports dbt/OSI material; or needs the exact fields for a datasource.

Workflow

1. Identify the project. A Wren project has wren_project.yml. Commands discover it from an explicit path, WREN_PROJECT_HOME, the current directory and its parents, then a configured default project.
2. Inspect before editing:

   wren context show
   wren profile list
   wren docs connection-info <datasource>
   

3. Create or import deliberately:

   wren context init --path my-project
   wren context init --from-mdl previous-mdl.json --path my-project
   wren context init --from-osi semantic_model.yaml --data-source postgres --path my-project
   

   For dbt, route through the documented wren profile import dbt and wren context import dbt commands after dbt artifacts are present.
4. Edit source, then validate and build:

   wren context validate --path my-project
   wren context build --path my-project
   

5. Bind a connection without embedding a secret. Create a profile with placeholders, then bind it to the project:

   wren profile add analytics --from-file connection.yml
   wren context set-profile analytics --path my-project
   

6. Normalize external SQL types before writing model columns:

   wren utils parse-type --type "character varying(255)" --dialect postgres
   

Choose the Correct Artifact

Need	Use
Project metadata and semantic namespace	wren_project.yml
Physical or SQL-defined semantic object	models/<name>/metadata.yml
Reusable logical query	views/<name>/metadata.yml
Named aggregation API	cubes/<name>/metadata.yml
Inter-model joins	relationships.yml
Durable business rules and confirmed query examples	knowledge/
Derived engine input	target/mdl.json
Environment-specific connection	profile plus .env values

Do not copy a physical database catalog/schema into the project-level catalog/schema. Project values are Wren's namespace; a model's table_reference identifies the physical source object.

Route Elsewhere

• For SQL execution, dry-plan recovery, cube queries, or WrenEngine, read ../query-engine/SKILL.md.
• For memory index/recall and business-rule enrichment, read ../memory-knowledge/SKILL.md.
• For agent-served workflow guides, read ../agent-workflows/SKILL.md.

References and Helper

• Read references/project-lifecycle.md for the lifecycle order and migration decisions.
• Read references/mdl-schema.md before writing models, views, relationships, or cubes.
• Read references/profiles-and-connections.md before creating a profile or resolving ${ENV_VAR} values.
• Read references/troubleshooting.md when validation, project discovery, or connection setup fails.
• Run scripts/validate_wren_project.py --project <directory> for a safe structural preflight. It does not build, query, or change the project.

Guardrails

• Validate before build; build after source edits; re-index memory only after a successful build when memory is part of the workflow.
• Prefer wren docs connection-info to guessing profile field names.
• Use .env or process environment for secret values. Do not send credentials in chat or place them in committed project files.
• wren context upgrade --dry-run is the first step for a schema-version migration; upgrades are forward-only.