---
title: "dbt sources past their freshness threshold | Metacenta"
description: "A source past its own freshness threshold means every model built from it is running on data the project calls too old. What we read, and where to look."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/source-freshness-stale"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 482
---

Source monitoring · rule source-freshness-stale

# dbt sources past their freshness threshold

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **Monitored sources are arriving on time**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

From the results of your last `dbt source freshness` run, this rule flags each source that was past its warning or error threshold when it was measured.

## Why it matters

Every model built from the source since then was computed on data the project itself classifies as too old to rely on. A breached error threshold is the most severe finding in this dimension.

## How to fix it

**Fix the ingestion behind the sources breaching their freshness thresholds.** Trace the loader behind the source. A freshness breach is an ingestion failure, not a dbt one, so the fix is usually in the pipeline that loads the table.

## When it is fine to leave

A source that stops arriving on purpose, such as a retired system, should lose its threshold. Past its warning but not its error threshold, it is an early signal, not yet a breach.

## What we need to check it

`sources.json`, which `dbt source freshness` writes, alongside `manifest.json`. Without it the rule declines; it never assumes sources are fresh. The result is only as recent as that run.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-source-freshness-stale&via=md)

## Related pages

- [dbt source freshness: how to set it up](https://metacenta.com/rules/source-no-freshness)
- [dbt freshness checks with no loaded_at_field](https://metacenta.com/rules/source-freshness-no-timestamp)
- [dbt freshness thresholds that are never run](https://metacenta.com/rules/source-freshness-unmeasured)
- [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)