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Resource type

(Applies to dbt v1.9 and later)

The --resource-type and --exclude-resource-type flags include or exclude resource types from the dbt build, dbt clone, dbt test, and dbt list commands.

 Filtering test types with dbt test

Use the test_type selector to filter test types with dbt test — it works across all engines:

  • dbt test --select test_type:unit — runs only unit tests
  • dbt test --select test_type:data — runs only data tests

If you're using dbt Core v1.9+, you can also use --resource-type:

  • dbt test --resource-type unit_test — runs only unit tests
  • dbt test --resource-type test — runs only data tests

For more examples, see test selection examples.

This means the flags enable you to specify which types of resources to include or exclude when running the commands, instead of targeting specific resources.

Note

The --exclude-resource-type flag is only available in dbt version 1.8 and higher. If you're using older versions, this flag won't be available.

The available resource types are:

(Applies to dbt v1.11 and later)

Positive vs negative filters​

  • --resource-type is a positive filter — dbt only runs the resource types selected in the command, implicitly skipping every other type.
  • --exclude-resource-type is a negative filter — dbt starts with the full catalog of resource types and then omits the types selected in the command. dbt runs everything except those resource types.

You can use both flags in a command; dbt first applies the positive filter (--resource-type) and then removes the types listed in the negative filter (--exclude-resource-type). For example:

dbt build --resource-type model test snapshot --exclude-resource-type snapshot

Note that the list of dbt resource types is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive (MECE). This means that any --resource-type selection can also be achieved by excluding the other resource types using --exclude-resource-type, and vice versa.

Examples​

Instead of targeting specific resources, use the --resource-type or --exclude-resource-type flags to target all resources of a certain type: dbt build --resource-type RESOURCE_TYPE, replacing RESOURCE_TYPE with the resource type you want to include.

See the following sample commands for including or excluding resource types. Note that the --exclude-resource-type flag is only available in dbt version 1.8 and higher.

 Include resource types

Include multiple resource types​

Use the following command to include multiple resource types such as data tests and models in your build process:

Usage
dbt build --resource-type test model

Include all snapshots​

Use the following command to only include snapshots in your dbt build process:

Usage
dbt build --resource-type snapshot

Include all saved queries​

Use the following command to only include saved queries with the --resource-type flag:

Usage
dbt build --resource-type saved_query

Include all data tests​

Use the following command to only include data tests in your build process:

Usage
dbt build --resource-type test
(Applies to dbt v1.9 and later)

Include only data tests during testing​

To run only data tests (excluding unit tests) when using dbt test, use the test_type selector:

Usage
dbt test --select test_type:data -- dbt Core and dbt Fusion engines
dbt test --resource-type test -- dbt Core only
 Exclude resource types

Exclude multiple resource types​

Use the following command to exclude multiple resource types such as data tests and models from your build process:

Usage
dbt build --exclude-resource-type test model

Exclude all unit tests​

Use the following command to exclude unit tests from your dbt build process.

Usage
dbt build --exclude-resource-type unit_test
(Applies to dbt v1.9 and later)

Exclude unit tests during testing​

To exclude unit tests when using dbt test, use the test_type selector to run only data tests:

Usage
dbt test --select test_type:data -- dbt Core and dbt Fusion engines
dbt test --exclude-resource-type unit_test -- dbt Core only

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