testing-dbt-models SKILL.md skillA
testing-dbt-models from altimateai/data-engineering-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add altimateai/data-engineering-skills/testing-dbt-models@git:20260121.476f750Pins git:20260121.476f750 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- altimateai/data-engineering-skills
- Path
skills/dbt/testing-dbt-models/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260121.476f750, committed Jan 21, 2026
- Size
- 4,539 bytes
- Repository stars
- 129
- License
- MIT
Adds schema tests and data quality validation to dbt models. Use when working with dbt tests for: (1) Adding or modifying tests in schema.yml files (2) Task mentions "test", "validate", "data quality", "unique", "not_null", or "accepted_values" (3) Ensuring data integrity - primary keys, foreign keys, relationships (4) Debugging test failures or understanding why dbt test failed Matches existing project test patterns and YAML style before adding new tests.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# dbt Testing
**Every model deserves at least one test. Primary keys need unique + not_null.**
## Workflow
### 1. Study Existing Test Patterns
**CRITICAL: Match the project's existing testing style before adding new tests.**
```bash
# Find all schema.yml files with tests
find . -name "schema.yml" -exec grep -l "tests:" {} \;
# Read existing tests to learn patterns
cat models/staging/schema.yml | head -100
cat models/marts/schema.yml | head -100
# Check for custom tests or dbt packages
ls tests/
cat packages.yml 2>/dev/null
```
**Extract from existing tests:**
- YAML formatting style (indentation, spacing)
- Test coverage depth (all columns vs key columns only)
- Use of custom tests (dbt_utils, dbt_expectations, custom macros)
- Description style (brief vs detailed)
- Severity levels used (warn vs error)
### 2. Read Model SQL
```bash
cat models/<path>/<model_name>.sql
```
Identify: primary keys, foreign keys, categorical columns, date columns, business-critical fields.
### 3. Check Existing Tests for This Model
```bash
cat models/<path>/schema.yml | grep -A 50 "<model_name>"
# or
find . -name "schema.yml" -exec grep -l "<model_name>" {} \;
```
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add altimateai/data-engineering-skills/testing-dbt-models@sha256:ed76fbbbc3170753The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260121.476f750, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_qq3p6mcgutqwit2r)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jan 21, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (4539 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
altimateai/data-engineering-skills · 129 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-23 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_qq3p6mcgutqwit2r GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=altimateai/data-engineering-skills/testing-dbt-models GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/ed76fbbbc3170753386a0ce3bfaaba3e89bc303098c05373646519e704a6e2b4
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.