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About dbt build command

The dbt build command will:

  • run models
  • test tests
  • snapshot snapshots
  • seed seeds

In DAG order, for selected resources or an entire project.

Details​

Artifacts: The build task will write a single manifest and a single run results artifact. The run results will include information about all models, tests, seeds, and snapshots that were selected to build, combined into one file.

Skipping on failures: Tests on upstream resources will block downstream resources from running, and a test failure will cause those downstream resources to skip entirely. E.g. If model_b depends on model_a, and a unique test on model_a fails, then model_b will SKIP.

  • Don't want a test to cause skipping? Adjust its severity or thresholds to warn instead of error
  • In the case of a test with multiple parents, where one parent depends on the other (e.g. a relationships test between model_a + model_b), that test will block-and-skip children of the most-downstream parent only (model_b).

Selecting resources: The build task supports standard selection syntax (--select, --exclude, --selector), as well as a --resource-type flag that offers a final filter (just like list). Whichever resources are selected, those are the ones that build will run/test/snapshot/seed.

  • Remember that tests support indirect selection, so dbt build -s model_a will both run and test model_a. What does that mean? Any tests that directly depend on model_a will be included, so long as those tests don't also depend on other unselected parents. See test selection for details and examples.

Flags: The build task supports all the same flags as run, test, snapshot, and seed. For flags that are shared between multiple tasks (e.g. --full-refresh), build will use the same value for all selected resource types (e.g. both models and seeds will be full refreshed).

Examples​

$ dbt build
Running with dbt=0.21.0-b2
Found 1 model, 4 tests, 1 snapshot, 1 analysis, 341 macros, 0 operations, 1 seed file, 2 sources, 2 exposures

18:49:43 | Concurrency: 1 threads (target='dev')
18:49:43 |
18:49:43 | 1 of 7 START seed file dbt_jcohen.my_seed............................ [RUN]
18:49:43 | 1 of 7 OK loaded seed file dbt_jcohen.my_seed........................ [INSERT 2 in 0.09s]
18:49:43 | 2 of 7 START view model dbt_jcohen.my_model.......................... [RUN]
18:49:43 | 2 of 7 OK created view model dbt_jcohen.my_model..................... [CREATE VIEW in 0.12s]
18:49:43 | 3 of 7 START test not_null_my_seed_id................................ [RUN]
18:49:43 | 3 of 7 PASS not_null_my_seed_id...................................... [PASS in 0.05s]
18:49:43 | 4 of 7 START test unique_my_seed_id.................................. [RUN]
18:49:43 | 4 of 7 PASS unique_my_seed_id........................................ [PASS in 0.03s]
18:49:43 | 5 of 7 START snapshot snapshots.my_snapshot.......................... [RUN]
18:49:43 | 5 of 7 OK snapshotted snapshots.my_snapshot.......................... [INSERT 0 5 in 0.27s]
18:49:43 | 6 of 7 START test not_null_my_model_id............................... [RUN]
18:49:43 | 6 of 7 PASS not_null_my_model_id..................................... [PASS in 0.03s]
18:49:43 | 7 of 7 START test unique_my_model_id................................. [RUN]
18:49:43 | 7 of 7 PASS unique_my_model_id....................................... [PASS in 0.02s]
18:49:43 |
18:49:43 | Finished running 1 seed, 1 view model, 4 tests, 1 snapshot in 1.01s.

Completed successfully

Done. PASS=7 WARN=0 ERROR=0 SKIP=0 TOTAL=7
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