A Looker project is a collection of LookML files that tell Looker how to connect to your database, how to query your data, and how to control the user interface’s behavior.

You can access LookML project files either from the Develop section in Looker or from the UI, as described on the Accessing and editing project information documentation page.

Project file types

A LookML project can have the following types of files. All project files have extensions, although the extensions are hidden in the IDE list if your project isn’t enabled for folders in the IDE.

Click the links to get more information about the file types:

• Model files with extension .model.lkml
• View files with extension .view.lkml
• Dashboard files with extension .dashboard.lookml
• Data files with extension .topojson or .geojson or .json
• Document files with extension .md
• Project manifest files that are always named manifest.lkml
• Locale strings files with extension .strings.json
• Explore files with extension .explore.lkml
• Data test files with extension .lkml
• Refinements files with extension .lkml
• Other files with any file extension not listed above.

Although these are the standard file types in a LookML project, it is important to note that LookML, with the exception of project manifest LookML parameters, can be housed in any .lkml file. Very advanced LookML developers can get creative with LookML files, such as by using refinements to add analysis layers, creating dedicated files for data tests, and so on. Just be sure to use the include parameter if you want to reference these elements in the other LookML files in your project. See the include parameter documentation page for more information. If you are a beginner or an intermediate LookML developer, we recommend you follow the traditional LookML file types to start.

You can automatically generate a model file and view files based on your database when you create a new project. For existing projects, you can create new files manually, as described in the Creating files section on the Working with folders in the IDE documentation page.

Once your project is created, you can access the project files using the Looker IDE.