/adding-dbt-unit-test

Unit test overrides

When configuring your unit test, you can override the output of macros, project variables, or environment variables for a given unit test.

models/schema.yml

 - name: test_my_model_overrides
    model: my_model
    given:
      - input: ref('my_model_a')
        rows:
          - {id: 1, a: 1}
      - input: ref('my_model_b')
        rows:
          - {id: 1, b: 2}
          - {id: 2, b: 2}
    overrides:
      macros:
        type_numeric: override
        invocation_id: 123
      vars:
        my_test: var_override
      env_vars:
        MY_TEST: env_var_override
    expect:
      rows:
        - {macro_call: override, var_call: var_override, env_var_call: env_var_override, invocation_id: 123}

Macros

You can override the output of any macro in your unit test defition.

If the model you're unit testing uses these macros, you must override them:

• is_incremental: If you're unit testing an incremental model, you must explicity set is_incremental to true or false.

models/schema.yml

unit_tests:
  - name: my_unit_test
    model: my_incremental_model
    overrides:
      macros:
        # unit test this model in "full refresh" mode
        is_incremental: false 
    ...

• dbt_utils.star: If you're unit testing a model that uses the star macro, you must explicity set star to a list of columns. This is because the star only accepts a relation for the from argument; the unit test mock input data is injected directly into the model SQL, replacing the ref() or source() function, causing the star macro to fail unless overidden.

models/schema.yml

unit_tests:
  - name: my_other_unit_test
    model: my_model_that_uses_star
    overrides:
      macros:
        # explicity set star to relevant list of columns
        dbt_utils.star: col_a,col_b,col_c 
    ...