dbt Passthrough¶

Brix transparently passes through any dbt command that isn't a built-in brix command.

How It Works¶

When you run a command like brix dbt run, brix checks if run is a built-in subcommand. Since it isn't, brix passes the command directly to the dbt CLI.

brix dbt run        # Executes: dbt run
brix dbt test       # Executes: dbt test
brix dbt build      # Executes: dbt build

Project Path Caching¶

Brix caches the project path for convenience. When you specify a project once, subsequent commands use the same path:

# First command sets the project path
brix dbt -p ./my_project run

# Subsequent commands use the cached path
brix dbt test
brix dbt docs generate

The cache is stored in ~/.cache/brix/dbt_project_path.json.

To use a different project:

brix dbt -p ./other_project run

Common dbt Commands¶

Model Execution¶

# Run all models
brix dbt run

# Run specific model
brix dbt run --select my_model

# Run models with tags
brix dbt run --select tag:daily

# Full refresh incremental models
brix dbt run --full-refresh

Testing¶

# Run all tests
brix dbt test

# Test specific model
brix dbt test --select my_model

# Run only data tests
brix dbt test --select test_type:data

# Run only schema tests
brix dbt test --select test_type:schema

Build¶

# Run + test in dependency order
brix dbt build

# Build specific models
brix dbt build --select staging.*

Seeds¶

# Load all seed files
brix dbt seed

# Load specific seed
brix dbt seed --select countries

Snapshots¶

# Run all snapshots
brix dbt snapshot

# Run specific snapshot
brix dbt snapshot --select orders_snapshot

Documentation¶

# Generate docs
brix dbt docs generate

# Serve docs locally
brix dbt docs serve

# Serve on specific port
brix dbt docs serve --port 8080

Dependencies¶

# Install packages
brix dbt deps

Debugging¶

# Debug configuration
brix dbt debug

# Show compiled SQL
brix dbt compile --select my_model

# List resources
brix dbt ls
brix dbt ls --select tag:pii

Source Management¶

# Check source freshness
brix dbt source freshness

Passing Arguments¶

All dbt arguments work as expected:

# Multiple selectors
brix dbt run --select model1 model2

# Exclude models
brix dbt run --exclude staging.*

# Set variables
brix dbt run --vars '{"start_date": "2024-01-01"}'

# Target specific environment
brix dbt run --target prod

# Thread count
brix dbt run --threads 8

# Fail fast
brix dbt run --fail-fast

Environment Variables¶

dbt environment variables work normally:

export DBT_PROFILES_DIR=./custom_profiles
export DBT_TARGET=production

brix dbt run

Limitations¶

The project path cache is per-user, not per-terminal session
brix-specific options (--log-level, etc.) must come before dbt

# Correct
brix --log-level DEBUG dbt run

# Also correct
brix dbt -p ./project run --select my_model