DBT DBT Testing & Data Quality 2

Question 1

What does the `store_failures` config on a dbt test do?

Accepted Answer

Persists failing rows to a table in the database

Answer

When `store_failures: true`, dbt creates a table containing the rows that caused the test to fail, useful for debugging.

Question 2

Which severity level causes dbt test to exit with a non-zero code but continue running remaining tests?

Accepted Answer

warn

Answer

Setting `severity: warn` makes dbt report the failure as a warning and continue without stopping the run.

Question 3

Where are singular (bespoke) dbt tests stored in a standard project layout?

Accepted Answer

tests/

Answer

Singular tests are plain SQL SELECT files placed in the `tests/` directory; a non-empty result means the test fails.

Question 4

What does a singular dbt test return to indicate a failure?

Accepted Answer

Any non-empty result set

Answer

dbt runs the SQL and considers any rows returned as failures; zero rows means the test passes.

Question 5

Which config allows you to set a threshold so a test only fails if MORE than N rows are returned?

Accepted Answer

error_if

Answer

`error_if` accepts a numeric expression (e.g., `>100`) so a test only errors when the failure count exceeds that limit.

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