---
title: "dataform-compile-local"
type: docs
weight: 1
description: >
  A "dataform-compile-local" tool runs the `dataform compile` CLI command on a local project directory.

---

## About

A `dataform-compile-local` tool runs the `dataform compile` command on a local
Dataform project.

It is a standalone tool and **is not** compatible with any sources.

At invocation time, the tool executes `dataform compile --json` in the specified
project directory and returns the resulting JSON object from the CLI.

`dataform-compile-local` takes the following parameter:

- `project_dir` (string): The absolute or relative path to the local Dataform
  project directory. The server process must have read access to this path.

## Requirements

### Dataform CLI

This tool executes the `dataform` command-line interface (CLI) via a system
call. You must have the **`dataform` CLI** installed and available in the
server's system `PATH`.

You can typically install the CLI via `npm`:

```bash
npm install -g @dataform/cli
```

See the [official Dataform
documentation](https://www.google.com/search?q=https://cloud.google.com/dataform/docs/install-dataform-cli)
for more details.

## Example

```yaml
kind: tool
name: my_dataform_compiler
type: dataform-compile-local
description: Use this tool to compile a local Dataform project.
```

## Reference

| **field**   | **type** | **required** | **description**                                    |
|:------------|:---------|:-------------|:---------------------------------------------------|
| type        | string   | true         | Must be "dataform-compile-local".                  |
| description | string   | true         | Description of the tool that is passed to the LLM. |
