Data quality

Data quality rules need an explicit owner and a clear place to run. A dbt test detects a violation; a database constraint can enforce a rule, with support depending on the platform.

The guide to dbt tests and constraints explains the difference and shows how to express these checks in YAML. For related tooling, see dbt-guard.

dbt Data Tests in YAML: Stop Praying Your Data Is Correct

27 February 2026·Updated: 28 October 2026·1601 words·8 mins

Data Engineering Data Quality dbt Data quality Data Engineering Testing

A report spits out weird numbers. An analyst tells you “the totals don’t match,” and you spend your day tracing back up the chain. The habit I keep coming back to is boring: dbt data tests, declared in YAML beside the columns, and actually run in CI. Tell the pipeline what you expect before a dashboard tells you what went wrong.

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