ADR 021 — Gold Exploration Layer (`exp_`)¶

Date: 2026-04-28 Status: Accepted Deciders: Data Engineering

Context¶

The WBP Gold layer contains two categories of views:

Stable production reports — backed by Tableau dashboards, subject to SLA, column contracts are public (e.g., rpt_wbp_email_daily, rpt_wbp_agent_performance_channel_daily)
Pilot / exploratory analysis — views built to support AI pilot tracking, ad-hoc investigation, or evolving logic; not yet adopted by a permanent Tableau dashboard and may change or be dropped without notice

The second category had been named with the rpt_ prefix, which implied the same stability contract as stable production reports. This caused confusion: consumers assumed rpt_wbp_ai_agent_qa_week_over_week was governed by the same SLA as rpt_wbp_email_daily, but it was not.

Decision¶

Introduce a new exp_ prefix for Gold exploration views. These views:

Are materialized as view (zero storage — identical to rpt_)
Live in the same GOLD schema as rpt_ — no new Snowflake schema required
Use tags: ['exp'] instead of ['report'] in their config() block
Follow the naming pattern exp_{client}_{purpose} — e.g., exp_wbp_ai_agent_qa_wow
Carry no SLA — may be modified, broken, or deleted without a migration or deprecation notice
Are suitable for: pilot tracking, ad-hoc team-level analysis, research views, evolving logic

Rules for `exp_` Models¶

Rule	Detail
Materialization	Always `view`
Schema	`GOLD` (same as `rpt_`)
Tags	`['warbyparker', 'gold', 'exp']` (replace `'report'` with `'exp'`)
Source	Same layering rules as `rpt_`: from `agg_` for metric aggregation, from `fct_` only for event-level record analysis
SLA	None — exploratory views may change or be dropped at any time
Schema.yml	Required entry (same as `rpt_`) — documents grain and columns
dbt-model-registry	Status: `🔬 Exploration`

Promotion path¶

When an exp_ view stabilizes — logic is settled, a Tableau dashboard has adopted it, and the team commits to maintaining it — rename it to rpt_. The rename is a one-liner (git mv) plus a schema.yml name update.

Deprecation¶

Drop without ceremony: no deprecation notice required. If a Snowflake view was created by a prior rpt_ name, the old view persists in Snowflake after the dbt rename (dbt does not clean up renamed views). Old RPT_WBP_* views must be dropped manually via Snowflake after the new EXP_WBP_* views are verified.

First Application¶

16 WBP views renamed from rpt_ → exp_ on 2026-04-28 as part of issue #944:

Old name	New name
`rpt_wbp_agent_qa_trend`	`exp_wbp_agent_qa_trend`
`rpt_wbp_ai_agent_concurrency_daily`	`exp_wbp_ai_agent_concurrency_daily`
`rpt_wbp_ai_agent_qa_week_over_week`	`exp_wbp_ai_agent_qa_week_over_week`
`rpt_wbp_ai_agent_qa_month_over_month`	`exp_wbp_ai_agent_qa_month_over_month`
`rpt_wbp_ai_agents_durations_daily`	`exp_wbp_ai_agents_durations_daily`
`rpt_wbp_ai_qa_attributes_week_over_week`	`exp_wbp_ai_qa_attributes_week_over_week`
`rpt_wbp_ai_qa_attributes_month_over_month`	`exp_wbp_ai_qa_attributes_month_over_month`
`rpt_wbp_ai_vs_nonai_qa_wow`	`exp_wbp_ai_vs_nonai_qa_wow`
`rpt_wbp_ai_vs_nonai_qa_mom`	`exp_wbp_ai_vs_nonai_qa_mom`
`rpt_wbp_ai_vs_nonai_qa_qoq`	`exp_wbp_ai_vs_nonai_qa_qoq`
`rpt_wbp_ai_wave_qa_week_over_week`	`exp_wbp_ai_wave_qa_week_over_week`
`rpt_wbp_ai_wave_qa_month_over_month`	`exp_wbp_ai_wave_qa_month_over_month`
`rpt_wbp_ai_wave_qa_quarter_over_quarter`	`exp_wbp_ai_wave_qa_quarter_over_quarter`
`rpt_wbp_gladly_blended_ai_productivity`	`exp_wbp_gladly_blended_ai_productivity`
`rpt_wbp_gladly_blended_ai_productivity_weekly`	`exp_wbp_gladly_blended_ai_productivity_weekly`
`rpt_wbp_gladly_blended_ai_productivity_channel_daily`	`exp_wbp_gladly_blended_ai_productivity_channel_daily`

These were all tied to the WBP blended AI email/SMS pilot — pilot tracking views, QA analysis views, and agent productivity exploration views with no formal Tableau adoption.

Consequences¶

Naming is unambiguous: rpt_ = stable production. exp_ = exploration / no SLA.
Zero cost: Both layers use view materialization — no additional Snowflake storage or compute.
Easy promotion: A stabilized exp_ view graduates to rpt_ with a file rename.
Old Snowflake views persist: RPT_WBP_* views in WBP_DB.GOLD must be dropped manually post-deployment.

Options Considered¶

Option	Decision
Keep all as `rpt_` with docs marking some as "pilot"	Rejected — naming still implies stability
Use a separate `EXP` Snowflake schema	Rejected — adds schema management overhead; the prefix is sufficient signal
Use `adhoc_` prefix	Rejected — ad-hoc implies one-time; these views are recurring and actively maintained

ADR 021 — Gold Exploration Layer (exp_)¶