Parameters & Templating

What templating exists today, what’s deprecated, and what works in SQL vs programmatic query APIs.

Sidemantic supports templating in a narrow place: parameter interpolation in filter strings for programmatic queries.

What Exists Today

• Filter templating in programmatic query / compile flows.
• You register parameters on the graph (Python) and pass parameters values.

Example:

sql = layer.compile(
    metrics=["orders.revenue"],
    dimensions=["orders.status"],
    filters=["orders.order_date >= {{ start_date }}"],
    parameters={"start_date": "2024-01-01"},
)

What’s Deprecated

• “Template parameters” are deprecated as a general feature and are intentionally constrained.

Why README Mentions Jinja2

Sidemantic uses Jinja2 as the templating engine for the supported interpolation path (filters). It is not a guarantee that every interface or SQL string supports templating.

Migration Guidance

• If you’re using {{ ... }} in semantic SQL: move that logic into programmatic query filters or into your warehouse views/models.