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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
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