Orchestration & reliability · rule orchestration-undeclared
dbt projects with no declared orchestrator
A Metacenta review checks this under the rule Something schedules this project. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.
What this rule checks
For a project with dbt models, this rule flags when no dependency manifest declares a recognised orchestrator. The list covers Airflow, Dagster, Prefect, Luigi, Kedro, Flyte, Kestra, astronomer-cosmos and others. A DAG file you name to us also passes.
Why it matters
A schedule that lives outside the repository is not versioned with the models it builds. Nobody can review how the platform runs in production, and a new joiner cannot find it by reading the project.
How to fix it
Show what schedules this project. Declare the orchestrator in the repository that holds the models. If it runs elsewhere, write down where, so the schedule can be found and reviewed.
When it is fine to leave
dbt Cloud, a managed Airflow, a cron job or an orchestrator in another repository are all real answers. Tell us which, and the finding comes out of your report.
What we need to check it
A dependency manifest: requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, environment.yml or package.json. With none, we report that we could not look. We match exact package names, never a substring guess.