/migrating-dbt-core-to-v2

Error Patterns Reference

Complete catalog of dbt-core to dbt v2 migration error patterns, organized by type.

Contents

• YAML Issues
• Package Issues
• Config/API Changes
• SQL/Jinja Issues
• Static Analysis Issues
• Case-Sensitive Identifier Mismatches
• Source Name Issues
• Schema/Model Issues
• Connection/Credential Errors
• v2 Engine Gaps (Category D)

YAML Issues

Misspelled config keys after autofix

dbt-autofix moves unrecognized config keys into meta:. But some may be misspelled versions of real config keys (e.g. materailized instead of materialized). Check if any key inside meta: is a near-match for a known v2 config key. If it's a typo: move it back out of meta: with the correct spelling. If it's truly custom: leave it in meta: and update macro references to use config.meta_get('key').

Example: Unexpected config key

# Before (dbt1060)
models:
  - name: my_model
    config:
      my_custom_key: value

# After
models:
  - name: my_model
    config:
      meta:
        my_custom_key: value

Package Issues

Example: Package version pinning

# Before (dbt8999)
packages:
  - package: dbt-labs/dbt_utils
    version: ">=1.0.0"

# After
packages:
  - package: dbt-labs/dbt_utils
    version: "==1.3.0"

Note: After changing package versions, delete package-lock.yml and the dbt_packages/ directory, then run dbt deps. If errors persist, run dbt-autofix deprecations --include-packages.

Note: Fivetran _source packages have been merged into main packages (e.g. fivetran/microsoft_ads_source is now fivetran/microsoft_ads).

Config/API Changes

Example: Config API migration

-- Before (dbt1501)
{% set keys = config.require('meta').logical_key %}
{% set owner = config.require('meta').owner %}

-- After
{% set keys = config.meta_require('logical_key') %}
{% set owner = config.meta_require('owner') %}

Example: Plain dict meta_get fix

-- Before (dbt1501)
{% set val = some_dict.meta_get('key', 'default') %}

-- After
{% set val = some_dict.get('key', 'default') %}

Important: Only config objects have meta_get() and meta_require(). Plain dicts use .get().

SQL/Jinja Issues

Example: Quote nesting fix

# Before (dbt1000)
tests:
  - accepted_values:
      arguments:
        values: [1, 2, 3]
      config:
        warn_if: "{{ 'count' == 0 }}"

# After
tests:
  - accepted_values:
      arguments:
        values: [1, 2, 3]
      config:
        warn_if: '{{ "count" == 0 }}'

Static Analysis Issues

Run with --static-analysis strict appended — see Repro Command Behavior. Bare dbt compile already reports these findings as warnings; strict mode promotes those same warnings to build-blocking failures — it isn't running analysis that compile skipped entirely.

Example: Disable static analysis

-- Add at top of analyses/explore_data.sql
{{ config(static_analysis='off') }}

SELECT *
FROM {{ ref('my_model') }}

Production models: only after warehouse verification — see guardrails. Never suppress an unverified error this way.

Case-Sensitive Identifier Mismatches

dbt0209 is a generic FunctionResolutionFailed signal — most occurrences are missing functions or wrong argument types, not casing. Only apply this fix when the casing evidence above is present; otherwise triage it as a normal function/adapter issue. A common v2-strict-mode pattern — see the fix procedure in Classification Categories.

Example: Case-sensitive identifier fix

Shown for Snowflake, where unquoted identifiers are stored uppercase by default. Other adapters differ — Postgres/Redshift store unquoted identifiers lowercase, and some adapters are case-insensitive entirely. Always substitute the exact casing your adapter's query returns (see Verifying Against the Real Warehouse) rather than assuming uppercase.

-- Before (dbt0227 UnresolvedIdentifier — Snowflake: real column is stored as DEFAULT)
SELECT "default" FROM {{ source('my_source', 'my_table') }}

-- After
SELECT "DEFAULT" AS "default" FROM {{ source('my_source', 'my_table') }}

Source Name Issues

v2 requires exact name matching. dbt-core was lenient with spaces vs underscores.

-- If YAML defines source as 'close_crm'
-- Before
{{ source('Close CRM', 'contacts') }}

-- After
{{ source('close_crm', 'contacts') }}

Schema/Model Issues

Connection/Credential Errors

Tip: These errors can often be caught early by running dbt debug (see Step 0).

v2 Engine Gaps (Category D)

These require v2 engine updates. Alternatives can be suggested with caveats about risks and fragility.

Before classifying UnresolvedIdentifier/FunctionResolutionFailed here, complete warehouse verification first.