---
title: "Connect to adapters"
source: dbt Core Documentation
source_url: https://github.com/dbt-labs/docs.getdbt.com
licence: Apache-2.0
domain: data-and-analysis
subdomain: dbt-docs
date_added: 2026-04-25
---

Adapters are an essential component of dbt. At their most basic level, they are how dbt connects with the various supported data platforms. At a higher-level, adapters strive to give analytics engineers more transferrable skills as well as standardize how analytics projects are structured. Gone are the days where you have to learn a new language or flavor of SQL when you move to a new job that has a different data platform. That is the power of adapters in dbt &mdash; for more detail, refer to the [Build, test, document, and promote adapters](/guides/adapter-creation) guide.

This section provides more details on different ways you can connect dbt to an adapter, and explains what a maintainer is.

### Set up in dbt

Explore the fastest and most reliable way to deploy dbt using <Constant name="dbt" />, a hosted architecture that runs <Constant name="core" /> across your organization. <Constant name="dbt" /> lets you seamlessly [connect](/docs/cloud/about-cloud-setup) with a variety of [trusted](/docs/supported-data-platforms) data platform providers directly in the <Constant name="dbt" /> UI.

### Install with dbt Core

Install <Constant name="core" />, an open-source tool, locally using the command line. dbt communicates with a number of different data platforms by using a dedicated adapter plugin for each. When you install <Constant name="core" />, you'll also need to install the specific adapter for your database, [connect the <Constant name="fusion_engine" /> to <Constant name="core" />](/docs/local/install-dbt), and set up a `profiles.yml` file.

With a few exceptions [^1], you can install all [adapters](/docs/supported-data-platforms) from PyPI using `python -m pip install adapter-name`. For example to install Snowflake, use the command `python -m pip install dbt-snowflake`. The installation will include `dbt-core` and any other required dependencies, which may include both other dependencies and even other adapter plugins. Read more about [installing dbt](/docs/local/install-dbt).

[^1]: Use the PyPI package name when installing with `pip`

    | Adapter repo name | PyPI package name    |
    | ----------------- | -------------------- |
    | `dbt-layer`       | `dbt-layer-bigquery` |
