About exceptions namespace

The exceptions namespace can be used to raise warnings and errors in dbt userspace.

raise_compiler_error

The exceptions.raise_compiler_error method will raise a compiler error with the provided message. This is typically only useful in macros or materializationsThe exact Data Definition Language (DDL) that dbt will use when creating the model’s equivalent in a data warehouse. when invalid arguments are provided by the calling model. Note that throwing an exception will cause a model to fail, so please use this variable with care!

Example usage:

exceptions.sql

{% if number < 0 or number > 100 %}
  {{ exceptions.raise_compiler_error("Invalid `number`. Got: " ~ number) }}
{% endif %}

warn

The exceptions.warn method will raise a compiler warning with the provided message, but any model will still be successful and be treated as a PASS. If the --warn-error flag is provided to dbt, then this warning will be elevated to an exception, which is raised.

Example usage:

warn.sql

{% if number < 0 or number > 100 %}
  {% do exceptions.warn("Invalid `number`. Got: " ~ number) %}
{% endif %}