YAML Validation Action

Validate your dbt-config.yml against the dbt Cloud Terraform YAML schema before running Terraform or supplying any dbt Cloud credentials. This catches typos, missing required fields, and structural errors early in your pull-request workflow.

Overview

The validate action is a composite GitHub Action shipped inside this repository. It uses check-jsonschema to validate your YAML file against schemas/v1.json.

• No Terraform required — no terraform init, no provider downloads
• No dbt Cloud credentials required — purely structural validation
• Fast — typically completes in under 30 seconds
• Clear error messages — reports every violation with a JSON path so you know exactly what to fix

---

Quick Start

.github/workflows/validate.yml

name: Validate dbt Cloud YAML

on:
  push:
  pull_request:

jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: dbt-labs/terraform-dbtcloud-as-yaml/validate@v1
        with:
          file: dbt-config.yml   # optional — this is the default

The job exits with code 1 and prints a structured error report when the file does not conform to the schema, causing your CI run to fail immediately — before any Terraform or credential steps run.

---

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
file	No	dbt-config.yml	Path to the dbt Cloud YAML configuration file to validate, relative to the repository root.

---

Example: Validate before Terraform Plan

Add the validation step at the top of your existing Terraform CI workflow so bad YAML is caught before Terraform even initialises:

.github/workflows/ci.yml

name: CI — Validate and Plan

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - "dbt-config.yml"
      - "**.tf"

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  validate:
    name: Validate YAML
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: dbt-labs/terraform-dbtcloud-as-yaml/validate@v1
        with:
          file: dbt-config.yml

  plan:
    name: Terraform Plan
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: validate   # only runs when YAML is valid
    env:
      TF_VAR_dbt_account_id: ${{ secrets.DBT_ACCOUNT_ID }}
      TF_VAR_dbt_token: ${{ secrets.DBT_TOKEN }}
      TF_VAR_dbt_host_url: "https://cloud.getdbt.com"
      TF_VAR_environment_credentials: ${{ secrets.ENVIRONMENT_CREDENTIALS }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: hashicorp/setup-terraform@v3
      - run: terraform init
      - run: terraform plan -no-color

---

Example Error Output

When a YAML file fails validation the action prints a structured report and exits with code 1:

Validating 'dbt-config.yml' against dbt Cloud YAML schema v1...
Schema validation errors were encountered.
  dbt-config.yml::$: 'version' is a required property
  dbt-config.yml::$.account: 'host_url' is a required property
  dbt-config.yml::$.projects[0].environments[0].credential: 'token_name' is a required property
Error: Process completed with exit code 1.

Each line identifies the exact JSON path where the violation occurred, making it straightforward to find and fix the issue.

---

Versioning

Pin the action to a release tag or commit SHA to avoid unexpected breaking changes:

# Pin to a release tag (recommended)
- uses: dbt-labs/terraform-dbtcloud-as-yaml/validate@v1

# Pin to a specific commit SHA for maximum reproducibility
- uses: dbt-labs/terraform-dbtcloud-as-yaml/validate@2bb4e9e

Avoid @main in production workflows — it tracks the development branch and may change at any time.

---

Next Steps

• CI/CD Integration

  ---

  Full CI and CD pipeline examples for GitHub Actions, GitLab, and Azure DevOps

  CI/CD Guide

• YAML Schema Reference

  ---

  Full field reference for dbt-config.yml

  YAML Schema

• Best Practices

  ---

  Secure and reliable deployments

  Best Practices