About dbt retry command
Retry re-executes the last invocation from the point of failure.
- If no nodes are executed before the failure (for example, if a run failed early due to a warehouse connection or permission errors), retry won't run anything since there are no recorded nodes to retry from.
- In these cases, we recommend checking your
run_results.jsonfile and manually re-running the full job so the nodes build. - Once some nodes have run, you can use retry to re-execute from any new point of failure.
- If the previously executed command completed successfully, retry will finish as
no operation.
Retry flags
The dbt retry flags apply when you use a self-hosted dbt installation or the Studio IDE.
If you use the dbt platform CLI against your cloud environment, dbt retry accepts only a small subset of overrides—typically --threads, --vars, and related options. Use dbt retry --help on your machine for the exact list your CLI build supports.
The following flags are supported when you run dbt retry with the dbt Fusion engine:
| Flag | Input value | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
-t, --target | target | The target to execute | dbt retry -t prod |
--project-dir | path | The directory to load the dbt project from | dbt retry --project-dir . |
--profile | profile | The profile to use | dbt retry --profile jaffle_shop |
--profiles-dir | path | The directory to load the profiles from | dbt retry --profiles-dir ~/.dbt |
--packages-install-path | path | The directory to install packages | dbt retry --packages-install-path dbt_packages |
--target-path | path | The output directory for all produced assets | dbt retry --target-path target |
--vars | vars | Variables for the project (use the format shown in the CLI help) | dbt retry --vars '{"my_var": "new_value"}' |
Run dbt retry --help for the full list of flags available.
Fusion node selection
Unlike dbt retry with dbt Core, Fusion lets you narrow what gets retried using --select, --exclude, and --selector. Those arguments override the prior invocation’s selection set for the retry run instead of only inheriting it.
Examples
dbt retry --select my_model+
dbt retry --exclude package:analytics --selector nightly_models
Supported commands
Retry works with the following commands:
Retry references run_results.json to determine where to start. Executing retry without correcting the previous failures yields idempotent results.
(Applies to dbt v2.0 and later)With dbt retry, you can optionally pass new --select, --exclude, or --selector arguments to narrow the retry scope, as described in Retry flags.
Example results of executing dbt retry after a successful dbt run:
Running with dbt=1.6.1
Registered adapter: duckdb=1.6.0
Found 5 models, 3 seeds, 20 tests, 0 sources, 0 exposures, 0 metrics, 348 macros, 0 groups, 0 semantic models
Nothing to do. Try checking your model configs and model specification args
Example of when dbt run encounters a syntax error in a model:
Running with dbt=1.6.1
Registered adapter: duckdb=1.6.0
Found 5 models, 3 seeds, 20 tests, 0 sources, 0 exposures, 0 metrics, 348 macros, 0 groups, 0 semantic models
Concurrency: 24 threads (target='dev')
1 of 5 START sql view model main.stg_customers ................................. [RUN]
2 of 5 START sql view model main.stg_orders .................................... [RUN]
3 of 5 START sql view model main.stg_payments .................................. [RUN]
1 of 5 OK created sql view model main.stg_customers ............................ [OK in 0.06s]
2 of 5 OK created sql view model main.stg_orders ............................... [OK in 0.06s]
3 of 5 OK created sql view model main.stg_payments ............................. [OK in 0.07s]
4 of 5 START sql table model main.customers .................................... [RUN]
5 of 5 START sql table model main.orders ....................................... [RUN]
4 of 5 ERROR creating sql table model main.customers ........................... [ERROR in 0.03s]
5 of 5 OK created sql table model main.orders .................................. [OK in 0.04s]
Finished running 3 view models, 2 table models in 0 hours 0 minutes and 0.15 seconds (0.15s).
Completed with 1 error and 0 warnings:
Runtime Error in model customers (models/customers.sql)
Parser Error: syntax error at or near "selct"
Done. PASS=4 WARN=0 ERROR=1 SKIP=0 TOTAL=5
Example of a subsequent failed dbt retry run without fixing the error(s):
Running with dbt=1.6.1
Registered adapter: duckdb=1.6.0
Found 5 models, 3 seeds, 20 tests, 0 sources, 0 exposures, 0 metrics, 348 macros, 0 groups, 0 semantic models
Concurrency: 24 threads (target='dev')
1 of 1 START sql table model main.customers .................................... [RUN]
1 of 1 ERROR creating sql table model main.customers ........................... [ERROR in 0.03s]
Done. PASS=4 WARN=0 ERROR=1 SKIP=0 TOTAL=5
Example of a successful dbt retry run after fixing error(s):
Running with dbt=1.6.1
Registered adapter: duckdb=1.6.0
Found 5 models, 3 seeds, 20 tests, 0 sources, 0 exposures, 0 metrics, 348 macros, 0 groups, 0 semantic models
Concurrency: 24 threads (target='dev')
1 of 1 START sql table model main.customers .................................... [RUN]
1 of 1 OK created sql table model main.customers ............................... [OK in 0.05s]
Finished running 1 table model in 0 hours 0 minutes and 0.09 seconds (0.09s).
Completed successfully
Done. PASS=1 WARN=0 ERROR=0 SKIP=0 TOTAL=1
In each scenario dbt retry picks up from the error rather than running all of the upstream dependencies again.
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