dbt Labs Open Sources MetricFlow Under Apache 2.0 License

dbt Labs announced at its Coalesce 2025 conference that it is open sourcing MetricFlow under the Apache 2.0 license, according to a press release. The move aligns with the company’s commitment to the Open Semantic Interchange (OSI) initiative, which aims to establish vendor-neutral standards for semantic data exchange across analytics platforms and AI systems.

MetricFlow serves as the engine that compiles metric definitions into SQL code to ensure consistent, explainable, and reliable calculations. It has powered the dbt Semantic Layer since dbt Labs acquired Transform in 2023. By making MetricFlow open source, the company intends to provide the community with a transparent and extensible tool for generating governed metrics across data platforms.

The OSI initiative is led by Snowflake, Salesforce, Sigma, and other industry partners. According to Snowflake’s Director of Analytics Product Management, Josh Klahr, MetricFlow’s open-source release supports the goal of creating shared analytic metadata standards that enhance data consistency and trust in AI-driven environments.

dbt Labs stated that the open-source release will help reduce metric inconsistencies across tools and improve organizational trust in data, enabling AI agents to use standardized metrics for governed analytics.