---
title: "dbt models that failed to build | Metacenta"
description: "A dbt model that failed to build leaves everything downstream stale or missing, with nothing in the data to say which. How we read it from run results."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/node-build-error"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 430
---

Execution health · rule node-build-error

# dbt models that failed to build

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **Models build without error**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

From the results of your last dbt run or build, this rule flags every model, seed or snapshot that failed or errored.

## Why it matters

Whatever the model feeds is either missing or serving its previous contents. Nothing in the data says which, so a dashboard can show last week's numbers as current.

## How to fix it

**Fix the models that no longer build.** Fix the build error. Until it is fixed, treat everything downstream of the model as possibly stale.

## When it is fine to leave

Rarely. A model that fails because it is being retired should be disabled or deleted rather than left failing, so the next failure stands out.

## What we need to check it

`run_results.json` from a `dbt run` or `dbt build`, alongside `manifest.json`. When the run reached no verdict on any model, the rule declines rather than report a pass.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-node-build-error&via=md)

## Related pages

- [dbt tests that are failing](https://metacenta.com/rules/test-failing)
- [dbt models skipped behind a failure](https://metacenta.com/rules/run-blocked-cascade)
- [dbt table models dominating build time](https://metacenta.com/rules/run-slow-full-rebuild)
- [dbt tests slower than the model they test](https://metacenta.com/rules/run-slow-test)
- [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)