dbt + trust
dbt source freshness that stakeholders can trust
dbt source freshness catches lagging upstream tables. DataXPipe turns those signals into a catalog, Passport revoke, and lineage blast radius — free for 2 pipelines.
Why dbt source freshness matters
A green dbt run can still ship stale dashboards if sources lagged and nobody noticed. Source freshness is how analytics engineers declare how old is too old for each upstream table.
The gap: freshness often lives only in CI logs. Finance never sees it. On-call does not get blast radius. Passports and consumer contracts never update.
What good freshness looks like
Thresholds per source
Warn/error windows matched to business SLAs — not one global default.
Tied to marts, not only sources
Executive KPIs need freshness too — silent failures happen on targets.
Visible when it fails
Alerts, Passport revoke, and lineage — not a buried CI annotation.
How DataXPipe extends dbt freshness
- 01
Import the manifest
Bootstrap pipeline catalog + lineage from dbt in minutes.
- 02
Attach dataset checks
Freshness, volume, and KPI drift on the tables stakeholders consume.
- 03
Issue or revoke Passports
Share trust when green; disable share links when freshness fails.
dbt source freshness FAQ
From dbt tests to shareable pipeline trust.
What is dbt source freshness?+
dbt source freshness compares loaded_at (or a similar column) on declared sources against warn/error thresholds. If a source is older than your SLA, dbt fails or warns the run — catching upstream lag before transforms assume data is current.
Is dbt source freshness enough alone?+
It is an excellent first signal for source lag. It does not by itself catalog lineage blast radius, share a trust warrant with stakeholders, catch KPI drift on marts, or revoke a Passport when checks fail after orchestration succeeds.
How does DataXPipe work with dbt freshness?+
Import your dbt manifest to bootstrap the catalog, attach freshness (and volume/KPI) checks to pipeline targets, post results with run IDs, and auto-revoke Pipeline Passports when freshness fails — including after Airflow reported success.
Wire freshness into your catalog today
Import a dbt manifest, attach freshness checks, and issue a Pipeline Passport when sources are within SLA.