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Data test configurations

Data tests can be configured in a few different ways:

  1. Properties within .yml definition (generic tests only, see test properties for full syntax)
  2. A config() block within the test's SQL definition
  3. In dbt_project.yml

Data test configs are applied hierarchically, in the order of specificity outlined above. In the case of a singular test, the config() block within the SQL definition takes precedence over configs in the project file. In the case of a specific instance of a generic test, the test's .yml properties would take precedence over any values set in its generic SQL definition's config(), which in turn would take precedence over values set in dbt_project.yml.

Available configurations​

Click the link on each configuration option to read more about what it can do.

Data test-specific configurations​

Resource-specific configurations are applicable to only one dbt resource type rather than multiple resource types. You can define these settings in the project file (dbt_project.yml), a property file (models/properties.yml for models, similarly for other resources), or within the resource’s file using the {{ config() }} macro.

The following resource-specific configurations are only available to Data tests:

dbt_project.yml
tests:
  <resource-path>:
    +fail_calc: <string>
    +limit: <integer>
    +severity: error | warn
    +error_if: <string>
    +warn_if: <string>
    +store_failures: true | false
    +where: <string>

General configurations​

General configurations provide broader operational settings applicable across multiple resource types. Like resource-specific configurations, these can also be set in the project file, property files, or within resource-specific files.

dbt_project.yml
tests:
  <resource-path>:
    +enabled: true | false
    +tags: <string> | [<string>]
    +meta: {dictionary}
    # relevant for store_failures only
    +database: <string>
    +schema: <string>
    +alias: <string>

Examples​

Add a tag to one test​

If a specific instance of a generic data test:

models/<filename>.yml
models:
  - name: my_model
    columns:
      - name: id
        tests:
          - unique:
              tags: ['my_tag']

If a singular data test:

tests/<filename>.sql
{{ config(tags = ['my_tag']) }}

select ...

Set the default severity for all instances of a generic data test​

macros/<filename>.sql
{% test my_test() %}

    {{ config(severity = 'warn') }}

    select ...

{% endtest %}

Disable all data tests from a package​

dbt_project.yml
tests:
  package_name:
    +enabled: false

Specify custom configurations for generic data tests​

Currently available in dbt Cloud only. Specifying custom configurations for data tests will become available in dbt Core later this year.

Use any custom config key to specify custom configurations for data tests. For example, the following specifies the snowflake_warehouse custom config that dbt should use when executing the accepted_values data test:


models:
  - name: my_model
    columns:
      - name: color
        tests:
          - accepted_values:
              values: ['blue', 'red']
              config:
                severity: warn
                snowflake_warehouse: my_warehouse

Given the config, the data test runs on a different Snowflake virtual warehouse than the one in your default connection to enable better price-performance with a different warehouse size or more granular cost allocation and visibility.

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