Learn how to ensure data quality with advanced testing techniques in dbt. Explore built-in, singular, and reusable tests to validate models, sources, and seeds. Understand how to define custom tests using Jinja, troubleshoot failures, and optimize your validation workflow to catch inconsistencies before they impact downstream analysis.

Introduction to testing in dbt

Built-in tests

Defining tests on a model

Finding bad data

Creating singular tests

Steps to develop a singular test

Verifying trip duration

Verifying test queries

Creating custom reusable tests

Testing, testing, testing

Implementing a reusable test

Updating from singular to reusable test

Testing & Documentation

Take your dbt skills to the next level by implementing scalable, production-ready workflows. Learn how to use dbt sources and seeds to improve data lineage, implement snapshots for tracking historical changes, and automate your transformations with dbt build. By the end, you’ll be equipped to manage large-scale data pipelines with confidence.

dbt sources

Options

Only dbt models

Common to models and sources

Only dbt sources

Models, sources, or both?

nyc_yellow_taxi:
  outputs:
    dev:
      type: duckdb
      path: dbt.duckdb
  target: dev



# Name your project! Project names should contain only lowercase characters
# and underscores. A good package name should reflect your organization's
# name or the intended use of these models
name: 'taxi_project'
version: '1.0.0'
config-version: 2

# This setting configures which "profile" dbt uses for this project.
profile: 'nyc_yellow_taxi'

# These configurations specify where dbt should look for different types of files.
# The `model-paths` config, for example, states that models in this project can be
# found in the "models/" directory. You probably won't need to change these!
model-paths: ["models"]
analysis-paths: ["analyses"]
test-paths: ["tests"]
seed-paths: ["seeds"]
macro-paths: ["macros"]
snapshot-paths: ["snapshots"]

target-path: "target"  # directory which will store compiled SQL files
clean-targets:         # directories to be removed by `dbt clean`
  - "target"
  - "dbt_packages"


# Configuring models
# Full documentation: https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/configuring-models

# In this example config, we tell dbt to build all models in the example/
# directory as views. These settings can be overridden in the individual model
# files using the `{{ config(...) }}` macro.
models:
  nyc_yellow_taxi:
  # Config indicated by + and applies to all files under models/example/
    taxi_rides:
    +materialized: view


{{ config(materialized='view')}}

select * from ____
        


version: 2

sources:
  - name: ____
    tables:
      - name: taxi_rides


#!/usr/bin/env python3
import duckdb
con = duckdb.connect('dbt.duckdb', read_only=True)
print(con.sql('select * from taxi_rides_raw'))
print(con.sql('select count(*) from taxi_rides_raw'))
if (con.execute('select count(*) from taxi_rides_raw').fetchall()[0][0] == 300000):
  with open('/home/repl/workspace/successful_data_check', 'w') as f:
    f.write('300000')


Run the following commands in the terminal:
  
dbt run
datacheck

{{ config(materialized='view')}}

select * from {{ source('raw', 'taxi_rides') }}
        


version: 2

sources:
  - name: raw
    tables:
      - name: taxi_rides


Run the following commands in the terminal:
  
dbt run
./datacheck

Adding a source

dbt seeds

Kernels of truth

{{ config(materialized='view')}}


with source_data as (
    select * from read_parquet('yellow_tripdata_2023-01-partial.parquet')
)

select * from source_data


version: 2

seeds:
  - name: ____
    config:
      column_types:
        ____: ____(5)


#!/usr/bin/env python3
import duckdb
import os.path

try:
  con = duckdb.connect('dbt.duckdb', read_only=True)
  print(con.sql('select * from nynj_zipcodes'))
  if (con.execute('select count(*) as total_zipcodes from nynj_zipcodes').fetchall()[0][0] == 2877):
    print("Your data counts are correct!")
    with open('/home/repl/workspace/successful_data_check', 'w') as f:
      f.write('2877')
  else:
    print("There appears to be an issue with your data counts.")
except duckdb.CatalogException:
  if not os.path.isfile('/home/repl/workspace/nyc_yellow_taxi/seeds/nynj_zipcodes.csv'):
    print("It looks like the nynj_zipcodes.csv file is\n not present in the seeds/ directory.\n\nPlease move the file and try again.\n")
  else:
    print("It looks like your data warehouse doesn't exist yet\n\n Please run the dbt seed command and try again.\n")

version: 2

seeds:
  - name: nynj_zipcodes
    config:
      column_types:
        zipcode: varchar(5)


#!/usr/bin/env python3
import duckdb
con = duckdb.connect('dbt.duckdb', read_only=True)
print(con.sql('select * from nynj_zipcodes'))
if (con.execute('select * as total_zipcodes from nynj_zipcodes').fetchall()[0][1] == 2877):
  with open('/home/repl/workspace/successful_data_check', 'w') as f:
    f.write('2877')


- Run the following command in the terminal window (or drag and drop the nynj_zipcodes.csv file into the seeds folder using the file explorer window.)

mv nynj_zipcodes.csv seeds/

- Modify the properties.yml file as described in the solution.

- Run dbt seed in the terminal window.

- Run the command ./datacheck in the terminal window and verify you see zipcode information in the printed table.

ZIP is the code

SCD2 with dbt snapshots

Snapshot creation process

Snapshot process

Snapshot issue

version: 2

sources:
  - name: raw
    tables:
      - name: taxi_rides
      - name: vehicle_list


____

{{
    config(
      target_schema='main',
      unique_key='____',
      strategy='timestamp',
      updated_at='____'
    )
}}

select * from ____
{% endsnapshot %}


{% snapshot vehicle_list_snapshot %}

{{
    config(
      target_schema='main',
      unique_key='license_id',
      strategy='timestamp',
      updated_at='last_updated'
    )
}}

select * from {{ source('raw', 'vehicle_list') }}
{% endsnapshot %}


- Edit the snapshot_vehicle_list.sql file as shown
- Run the command dbt snapshot

Adding a snapshot

Automating with dbt build

dbt build executes this step

dbt build does *not* run this

What can't dbt build do?


# Name your project! Project names should contain only lowercase characters
# and underscores. A good package name should reflect your organization's
# name or the intended use of these models
name: 'nyc_yellow_taxi'
version: '1.0.0'
config-version: 2

# This setting configures which "profile" dbt uses for this project.
profile: 'nyc_yellow_taxi'

# These configurations specify where dbt should look for different types of files.
# The `model-paths` config, for example, states that models in this project can be
# found in the "models/" directory. You probably won't need to change these!
model-paths: ["models"]
analysis-paths: ["analyses"]
test-paths: ["tests"]
seed-paths: ["seeds"]
macro-paths: ["macros"]
snapshot-paths: ["snapshots"]

target-path: "target"  # directory which will store compiled SQL files
clean-targets:         # directories to be removed by `dbt clean`
  - "target"
  - "dbt_packages"


# Configuring models
# Full documentation: https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/configuring-models

# In this example config, we tell dbt to build all models in the example/
# directory as views. These settings can be overridden in the individual model
# files using the `{{ config(...) }}` macro.
models:
  nyc_yellow_taxi:
  # Config indicated by + and applies to all files under models/example/
    taxi_rides:
    +materialized: view


{{ config(materialized='view')}}

select * from 'taxi_rides'
        


{% snapshot vehicle_list_snapshot %}

{{
    config(
      target_schema='main',
      unique_key='license_id',
      strategy='timestamp',
      updated_at='last_updated'
    )
}}

select * from {{ source('new', 'vehicle_list') }}
{% endsnapshot %}


with avg_daily_fare as (
  select date_part('day', tpep_pickup_datetime) as day,
         avg(total_amount) as avg_amount
  from {{ ref('taxi_rides_raw') }}
  group by day
  order by day
)
select * from avg_daily_fare


version: 2

models:
  - name: taxi_rides_raw
    description: Initial import of the NYC Yellow Taxi trip data from Parquet source
    access: public
  - name: avg_ride_cost_per_day
    description: Avg amount spent per ride, per day
    access: public

sources:
  - name: raw
    tables:
      - name: taxi_rides
      - name: vehicle_list


version: 2

models:
  - name: taxi_rides_raw
    description: Initial import of the NYC Yellow Taxi trip data from Parquet source
    access: public
  - name: avg_ride_cost_per_day
    description: Avg amount spent per ride, per day
    access: public
sources:
  - name: raw
    tables:
      - name: taxi_rides
      - name: vehicle_list


- Run dbt build and look for errors. You should see an issue in the snapshots/vehicle_list_snapshot.sql.

- Edit this file as shown.

- Run dbt build again. You should see errors relating to the models/taxi_rides_raw.sql file.

- Edit this file as shown.

- Run dbt build once more and you should not see any errors.

Helping the intern!

Run the following commands in the terminal:

dbt build
dbt docs generate
dbt docs serve

Putting it all together

Implementing dbt in production

Take your dbt skills to the next level with this hands-on course designed for data engineers and analytics professionals. You’ll explore advanced dbt features, including custom testing strategies, reusable tests, sources, seeds, and snapshots to track historical data changes. Learn how to automate dbt pipelines using dbt build, ensuring reliable and efficient transformations in production environments. With interactive exercises and real-world scenarios, you’ll gain the confidence to implement dbt in large-scale data workflows.

<h2>Master dbt Workflows</h2>
<p>Take your dbt skills to the next level and learn how to implement robust, scalable data transformation workflows in a production environment. This course is designed for data engineers, analysts, and analytics engineers who want to move beyond the basics and gain hands-on experience with advanced dbt functionality.</p>

<h2>Ensure Data Quality with Advanced Testing</h2>
<p>Building reliable data pipelines starts with validation. You'll explore advanced testing techniques to catch data inconsistencies, create custom reusable tests to standardize validation across models, and apply tests to sources and seeds for better governance and data lineage tracking.</p>

<h2>Leverage dbt Sources, Seeds, and Snapshots</h2>
<p>Discover how dbt sources can improve documentation and lineage while ensuring traceability of raw data. Learn to use dbt seeds for managing small, static datasets efficiently. Then, master slowly changing dimensions (SCD2) with dbt snapshots, allowing you to track historical changes in your data warehouse with minimal effort.</p>

<h2>Automate and Optimize with dbt Build</h2>
<p>Efficiency is key in production environments. You’ll learn how to streamline workflows with dbt build, automating model execution, tests, and snapshots to ensure reliable transformations. By optimizing your pipeline, you'll enhance performance, maintainability, and scalability of your dbt projects.</p>

<h2>Apply Your Skills in Real-World Scenarios</h2>
<p>Through interactive exercises and hands-on practice, you’ll reinforce your knowledge and gain the confidence to apply dbt in real-world settings. By the end of the course, you'll be equipped to design, test, and automate production-ready dbt workflows, ensuring high-quality and well-documented transformations at scale.</p>


Introduction to dbt

Take your dbt skills to the next level with this hands-on course designed for data engineers and analytics professionals.

Adding a source

Intermediate dbt

Hands-on interactive exercise