---
title: "Data repository with no tests | Metacenta"
description: "How we spot a data repository with no tests, which naming conventions count, and how we count dbt tests declared in schema YAML."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-no-tests"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 601
---

Repository hygiene · rule repo-no-tests

# Data repository with no tests

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **The repo contains tests**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

This rule flags a repository with no file that follows a common test convention. Anything under a `tests/`, `test/` or `spec/` folder passes. So do names like `*.test.*`, `*.spec.*`, `test_*.py`, `*_test.py`, `*_test.go` and `conftest.py`. Generic dbt tests declared in schema YAML are not files, so for a dbt project we count the tests in its manifest instead. One data or unit test is enough to pass.

## Why it matters

Every change is then verified by hand, so the cost of a refactor grows with the size of the codebase. A regression surfaces when someone questions a number, not when the change is made.

## How to fix it

**Start a test suite on the transformations most often disputed.** Add a test target, starting with the transformations most often blamed for wrong numbers. In a dbt project, singular tests live in the `tests/` folder, which this rule recognises.

## When it is fine to leave

A repository of scripts that are run once and thrown away can go without. For a dbt project, this rule only asks whether any test exists. The dbt rules on untested models judge how much of the project the tests cover.

## What we need to check it

Read-only access to the repository's file list. For a dbt project we also need its `manifest.json`, because its tests live in YAML. Without the manifest we skip this rule rather than guess. We match names only, so a suite with an unusual naming convention is missed, and the finding is medium confidence. If the listing was truncated, we decline rather than report.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-repo-no-tests&via=md)

## Related pages

- [Credential files committed to a data repository](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-committed-credential-file)
- [Data repository with no CI pipeline](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-no-ci)
- [Archived repositories under review](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-archived)
- [Data repository with no README](https://metacenta.com/rules/repo-no-readme)
- [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)