troubleshooting-dbt-job-errors

SKILL.md

Troubleshooting dbt Job Errors

Systematically diagnose and resolve dbt Cloud job failures using available MCP tools, CLI commands, and data investigation.

When to Use

dbt Cloud / dbt platform job failed and you need to find the root cause

Intermittent job failures that are hard to reproduce

Error messages that don't clearly indicate the problem

Post-merge failures where a recent change may have caused the issue

Not for: Local dbt development errors - use the skill using-dbt-for-analytics-engineering instead

The Iron Rule

Never modify a test to make it pass without understanding why it's failing.

A failing test is evidence of a problem. Changing the test to pass hides the problem. Investigate the root cause first.