Test selection examples
Test selection works a little differently from other resource selection. This makes it very easy to:
- run tests on a particular model
- run tests on all models in a subdirectory
- run tests on all models upstream / downstream of a model, etc.
Like all resource types, tests can be selected directly, by methods and operators that capture one of their attributes: their name, properties, tags, etc.
Unlike other resource types, tests can also be selected indirectly. If a selection method or operator includes a test's parent(s), the test will also be selected. See below for more details.
Test selection is powerful, and we know it can be tricky. To that end, we've included lots of examples below:
Direct selection
Run generic tests only:
$ dbt test --select test_type:generic
Run singular tests only:
$ dbt test --select test_type:singular
In both cases, test_type
checks a property of the test itself. These are forms of "direct" test selection.
Indirect selection
Syntax examples
Setting indirect_selection
can also be specified in a yaml selector.
The following examples should feel somewhat familiar if you're used to executing dbt run
with the --select
option to build parts of your DAG:
# Run tests on a model (indirect selection)
$ dbt test --select customers
# Run tests on all models in the models/staging/jaffle_shop directory (indirect selection)
$ dbt test --select staging.jaffle_shop
# Run tests downstream of a model (note this will select those tests directly!)
$ dbt test --select stg_customers+
# Run tests upstream of a model (indirect selection)
$ dbt test --select +stg_customers
# Run tests on all models with a particular tag (direct + indirect)
$ dbt test --select tag:my_model_tag
# Run tests on all models with a particular materialization (indirect selection)
$ dbt test --select config.materialized:table
The same principle can be extended to tests defined on other resource types. In these cases, we will execute all tests defined on certain sources via the source:
selection method:
# tests on all sources
$ dbt test --select source:*
# tests on one source
$ dbt test --select source:jaffle_shop
# tests on one source table
$ dbt test --select source:jaffle_shop.customers
# tests on everything _except_ sources
$ dbt test --exclude source:*
More complex selection
Through the combination of direct and indirect selection, there are many ways to accomplish the same outcome. Let's say we have a data test named assert_total_payment_amount_is_positive
that depends on a model named payments
. All of the following would manage to select and execute that test specifically:
$ dbt test --select assert_total_payment_amount_is_positive # directly select the test by name
$ dbt test --select payments,test_type:singular # indirect selection, v1.2
$ dbt test --select payments,test_type:data # indirect selection, v0.18.0
$ dbt test --select payments --data # indirect selection, earlier versions
As long as you can select a common property of a group of resources, indirect selection allows you to execute all the tests on those resources, too. In the example above, we saw it was possible to test all table-materialized models. This principle can be extended to other resource types, too:
# Run tests on all models with a particular materialization
$ dbt test --select config.materialized:table
# Run tests on all seeds, which use the 'seed' materialization
$ dbt test --select config.materialized:seed
# Run tests on all snapshots, which use the 'snapshot' materialization
$ dbt test --select config.materialized:snapshot
Note that this functionality may change in future versions of dbt.
Run tests on tagged columns
Because the column order_id
is tagged my_column_tag
, the test itself also receives the tag my_column_tag
. Because of that, this is an example of direct selection.
version: 2
models:
- name: orders
columns:
- name: order_id
tests:
tags: [my_column_tag]
- unique
$ dbt test --select tag:my_column_tag
Currently, tests "inherit" tags applied to columns, sources, and source tables. They do not inherit tags applied to models, seeds, or snapshots. In all likelihood, those tests would still be selected indirectly, because the tag selects its parent. This is a subtle distinction, and it may change in future versions of dbt.
Run tagged tests only
This is an even clearer example of direct selection: the test itself is tagged my_test_tag
, and selected accordingly.
version: 2
models:
- name: orders
columns:
- name: order_id
tests:
- unique:
tags: [my_test_tag]
$ dbt test --select tag:my_test_tag