---
title: "dbt exposures on access: private models | Metacenta"
description: "A dbt exposure that reads a model declared access: private depends on something the project may change without notice. How to fix the dependency."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/exposure-on-private-model"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 641
---

Modelling correctness · rule exposure-on-private-model

# dbt exposures on access: private models

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **Exposures read models that declare themselves public**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

This rule flags exposures that read a model declared `access: private`. Models that are `public`, `protected` or carry no `access` setting pass. If no model in the project declares `access`, the rule declines.

## Why it matters

The project has reserved the right to change a private model without notice, yet a dashboard depends on it. A refactor nobody thought was breaking will then break the dashboard.

## How to fix it

**Build exposures only on models declared public.** Promote the model to `access: public` and treat it as an interface, or point the exposure at a model that already is public.

Before:

```yaml
models:
  - name: int_order_totals
    access: private
    group: finance
```

After:

```yaml
models:
  - name: fct_order_totals
    access: public
    group: finance
    config:
      contract:
        enforced: true
```

## When it is fine to leave

A dashboard owned by the team that owns the private model, and changed in step with it, carries less risk. Promoting the model to public is still the clearer statement.

## What we need to check it

`manifest.json` alone. A project with no exposures is not judged here. Before dbt 1.5 no model can declare `access`, so the rule says it could not assess.

## Published rules it corresponds to

**[dbt_project_evaluator](https://dbt-labs.github.io/dbt-project-evaluator/)**, rule `fct_exposures_dependent_on_private_models`. Ours checks the same condition and threshold.

This means our check corresponds to their rule. It does not mean the publisher reviewed or endorses it.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-exposure-on-private-model&via=md)

## Related pages

- [dbt incremental models: how unique_key works](https://metacenta.com/rules/incremental-without-unique-key)
- [dbt public models with no enforced contract](https://metacenta.com/rules/public-model-without-contract)
- [dbt sources declared twice for one table](https://metacenta.com/rules/duplicate-source)
- [dbt staging models: how to set up the staging layer](https://metacenta.com/rules/staging-depends-on-staging)
- [A sample review, as a client reads it](https://metacenta.com/sample)
- [All published rules](https://metacenta.com/rules)
- [How a review is assessed](https://metacenta.com/standard)