Can I have models with the same name in different Projects on the same instance?

[LookerExperts]

Knowledge Drop

Last tested: Sep 9, 2020

No, model names must be globally unique according to docs.

When Looker generates the URL for an explore, it's of the form /explore/[model_name]/[explore_name]. So each model must have a unique name on the instance in order for the URL to be assigned correctly.

While it is technically possible to create LookML model files with the same name in different projects, only one of those models can be configured at a time. If you do not follow the rule of keeping model file names globally unique, you may experience strange behavior where certain parts of Looker reference the configured model and other parts reference the unconfigured model. For example, the URL of the form /explore/[model_name]/[explore_name] will always direct you to the configured model, even if you navigated there from the LookML file for the unconfigured model.

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