Concepts

Dagster provides a variety of abstractions for building and orchestrating data pipelines. These concepts enable a modular, declarative approach to data engineering, making it easier to manage dependencies, monitor execution, and ensure data quality.

Asset

An asset represents a logical unit of data such as a table, dataset, or machine learning model. Assets can have dependencies on other assets, forming the data lineage for your pipelines. As the core abstraction in Dagster, assets can interact with many other Dagster entities to facilitate certain tasks. When you define an asset, either with the @dg.asset decorator or via a component, the definition is automatically added to a top-level Definitions object.

To dive deeper into how assets shape the way you design your data platform, check out our deep-dive on assets.

Concept	Relationship
asset check	asset may use an asset check
asset spec	asset is described by an asset spec
component	asset may be programmatically built by a component
config	asset may use a config
definitions	asset is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed
io manager	asset may use a io manager
partition	asset may use a partition
resource	asset may use a resource
job	asset may be used in a job
schedule	asset may be used in a schedule
sensor	asset may be used in a sensor

Asset check

An asset_check is associated with an asset to ensure it meets certain expectations around data quality, freshness or completeness. Asset checks run when the asset is executed and store metadata about the related run and if all the conditions of the check were met.

Concept	Relationship
asset	asset check may be used by an asset
definitions	asset check is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed

Asset spec

Specs are standalone objects that describe the identity and metadata of Dagster entities without defining their behavior. For example, an AssetSpec contains essential information like the asset's key (its unique identifier) and tags (labels for organizing and annotating the asset), but it doesn't include the logic for materializing that asset.

Concept	Relationship
asset	asset spec may describe the identity and metadata of an asset

Code location

A code location is a collection of Dagster entity definitions deployed in a specific environment. A code location determines the Python environment (including the version of Dagster being used as well as any other Python dependencies). A Dagster project can have multiple code locations, helping isolate dependencies.

Concept	Relationship
definitions	code location must contain at least one top-level Definitions object

Component

Components are objects that programmatically build assets and other Dagster entity definitions, such as asset_checks, schedules, resources, and sensors. They accept schematized configuration parameters (which are specified using YAML or lightweight Python) and use them to build the actual definitions you need. Components are designed to help you quickly bootstrap parts of your Dagster project and serve as templates for repeatable patterns.

Concept	Relationship
asset	component builds assets and other definitions
asset check	component builds asset_checks and other definitions
definitions	component builds assets and other definitions
job	component builds jobs and other definitions
schedule	component builds schedules and other definitions
sensor	component builds sensors and other definitions
resource	component builds resources and other definitions

Config

A config is used to specify config schema for assets, jobs, schedules, and sensors. A RunConfig is a container for all the configuration that can be passed to a run. This allows for parameterization and the reuse of pipelines to serve multiple purposes.

Concept	Relationship
asset	config may be used by an asset
job	config may be used by a job
schedule	config may be used by a schedule
sensor	config may be used by a sensor

Definitions

In Dagster, "definitions" means two things:

• The objects that combine metadata about Dagster entities with Python functions that define how they behave, for example, asset, ScheduleDefinition , and resource definitions.
• The top-level Definitions object that contains references to all the definitions in a Dagster project. Entities included in the Definitions object will be deployed and visible within the Dagster UI.

Concept	Relationship
asset	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more asset definitions
asset check	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more asset check definitions
io manager	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more io manager definitions
job	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more job definitions
resource	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more resource definitions
schedule	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more schedule definitions
sensor	Top-level Definitions object may contain one or more sensor definitions
component	definition may be the output of a component
code location	definitions must be deployed in a code location

Graph

A GraphDefinition connects multiple ops together to form a DAG. If you are using assets, you will not need to use graphs directly.

Concept	Relationship
config	graph may use a config
op	graph must include one or more ops
job	graph must be part of job to execute

IO manager

An IOManager defines how data is stored and retrieved between the execution of assets and ops. This allows for a customizable storage and format at any interaction in a pipeline.

Concept	Relationship
asset	io manager may be used by an asset
definitions	io manager is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed

Job

A job is a subset of assets or the GraphDefinition of ops. Jobs are the main form of execution in Dagster.

Concept	Relationship
asset	job may contain a selection of assets
config	job may use a config
graph	job may contain a graph
schedule	job may be used by a schedule
sensor	job may be used by a sensor
definitions	job is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed

Op

An op is a computational unit of work. Ops are arranged into a GraphDefinition to dictate their order. Ops have largely been replaced by assets.

Concept	Relationship
type	op may use a type
graph	op must be contained in graph to execute

Partition

A PartitionsDefinition represents a logical slice of a dataset or computation mapped to a certain segments (such as increments of time). Partitions enable incremental processing, making workflows more efficient by only running on relevant subsets of data.

Concept	Relationship
asset	partition may be used by an asset

Resource

A ResourceDefinition is a way to make external resources (like database or API connections) available to Dagster entities (like assets, schedules, or sensors) during job execution, and to clean up after execution resolves. A ConfigurableResource is a resource that uses structured configuration. For more information, see Configuring resources.

Concept	Relationship
asset	resource may be used by an asset
schedule	resource may be used by a schedule
sensor	resource may be used by a sensor
definitions	resource is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed

Type

A type is a way to define and validate the data passed between ops.

Concept	Relationship
op	type may be used by an op

Schedule

A ScheduleDefinition is a way to automate jobs or assets to occur on a specified interval. In the cases that a job or asset is parameterized, the schedule can also be set with a run configuration (RunConfig) to match.

Concept	Relationship
asset	schedule may include a job or selection of assets
config	schedule may include a config if the job or assets include a config
job	schedule may include a job or selection of assets
definitions	schedule is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed

Sensor

A sensor is a way to trigger jobs or assets when an event occurs, such as a file being uploaded or a push notification. In the cases that a job or asset is parameterized, the sensor can also be set with a run configuration (RunConfig) to match.

Concept	Relationship
asset	sensor may include a job or selection of assets
config	sensor may include a config if the job or assets include a config
job	sensor may include a job or selection of assets
definitions	sensor is added to a top-level Definitions object to be deployed