---
title: "dbt freshness thresholds that are never run | Metacenta"
description: "A freshness threshold that the scheduled run never measures is worse than none, because the config says someone is watching. How we find them."
url: "https://metacenta.com/rules/source-freshness-unmeasured"
updated: "2026-10-14"
tokens: 452
---

Source monitoring · rule source-freshness-unmeasured

# dbt freshness thresholds that are never run

A Metacenta review checks this under the rule **Configured freshness checks are actually being run**. Everything below applies whether or not you ever commission one.

## What this rule checks

Among dbt sources with a freshness threshold, this rule flags those that your last `dbt source freshness` run did not measure at all.

## Why it matters

The monitoring reads as configured while producing no signal. That is worse than no threshold: nobody is watching, and the config says somebody is.

## How to fix it

**Run the freshness checks that are configured but never measured.** Include the source in the scheduled `dbt source freshness` run, or remove the threshold so the config matches what is monitored.

## When it is fine to leave

A run filtered to a subset of sources on purpose, such as a separate job per source system, leaves the rest unmeasured in any one file. Send each job's `sources.json`, or tell us.

## What we need to check it

`sources.json` from `dbt source freshness`, alongside `manifest.json`. Without it the rule declines, because we cannot tell which sources are measured.

[Ask about a review](https://metacenta.com/enquire?src=rule-source-freshness-unmeasured&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 sources past their freshness threshold](https://metacenta.com/rules/source-freshness-stale)
- [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)