How to keep a LookML view created with “Create View from Table” in sync with BigQuery schema?

[CSanabria]

Hi everyone,

I'm using the “Create View from Table” feature in Looker to quickly generate LookML views from BigQuery tables. This is super helpful to bring the schema dimensions and descriptions, but I’m looking for a way to keep the generated .view.lkml file in sync with the BigQuery table, especially when the schema changes.

In other words:

• I have a BigQuery table with well-defined column descriptions and types.

• I used Create View from Table in Looker to generate the LookML view.

• Now I’d like to automatically refresh that LookML view whenever:

  • New columns are added

  • Field types change

  • Descriptions are updated in BigQuery

Right now, I don’t see a way to re-run the "Create View from Table" without manually creating another view from the same table, and it doesn’t update existing views or preserve measures defined.

I’d appreciate any suggestions on this

[a_aleinikov · Accepted solution]

Hi @CSanabria  —

Currently, Looker’s “Create View from Table” is a one-time helper; it does not offer automatic syncing when the BigQuery schema changes.

Here’s what you can do:

• You need to manually regenerate the view when columns/types/descriptions change.

• To avoid losing custom measures or edits, generate the new view in a separate file and manually copy over only the updated fields or sections.

• Some teams automate this by using the Looker API or Looker SDK to programmatically regenerate LookML from BigQuery schema, but this requires custom scripting.

Unfortunately, there’s no native “sync” button today — feature requests for this exist, and it’s worth upvoting them on the Looker Ideas portal

[Gisle]

i am working on a python library that allows you to do this by defining a bitbucket pipeline or github action in the repository.
It does what @a_aleinikov  describes above, by inspecting the bigquery schemas of tables. 
it also allows for defining rules that are applied on load, to reduce tedious labelling and value formatting.

https://github.com/rognerud/looker-loader