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 materializations 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 %}