dbt-prune

dbt-prune is a pip-installable dbt-core companion CLI for finding dbt models, snapshots, and sources that are no longer referenced by anything in your current project, configured sibling projects, or dbt exposures.

Installation

pip install dbt-prune

Optional integrations stay lightweight by default:

pip install 'dbt-prune[gcs]'
pip install 'dbt-prune[datahub]'

Configuration

By default dbt-prune looks for dbt_prune.config.yml in the dbt project root passed to --project-dir.

manifests:
  - name: other_project
    type: local
    config:
      path: ../other_project/target/manifest.json

datahub:
  enabled: false
  gms_server_env_var: DATAHUB_GMS_SERVER
  token_env_var: DATAHUB_TOKEN
  platform: bigquery
  env: PROD

whitelist:
  - my_model
  - important_snapshot

GCS manifest

Install the GCS extra and declare a gcs manifest entry:

pip install 'dbt-prune[gcs]'

manifests:
  - name: analytics
    type: gcs
    config:
      project_id: data-mdm-prod
      bucket_name: tron-dbt-artifacts-prod
      object_name: orchestration/analytics/manifest.json
    excluded_packages:
      - customers
      - customer_platform

Optional GCS config fields:

Package filtering

Each manifest entry supports excluded_packages and included_packages (mutually exclusive). Nodes whose package_name is in excluded_packages are dropped from the manifest before orphan evaluation; included_packages keeps only matching nodes.

Whitelisting models

Use the top-level whitelist to keep specific current-project models or snapshots from ever being reported as orphaned. Whitelisted assets never appear in dbt-prune ls output and are skipped by dbt-prune run:

whitelist:
  - my_model
  - important_snapshot

Entries are matched against the node name. When you inspect a whitelisted asset directly with -s/--select, dbt-prune reports it as not orphaned with the reason Whitelisted in dbt_prune.config.yml.

Optional manifests

Set optional: true on a manifest entry to allow it to fail without aborting the run:

manifests:
  - name: staging
    type: gcs
    optional: true
    config:
      project_id: my-project
      bucket_name: my-bucket
      object_name: staging/manifest.json

The config file stores the names of the environment variables only. The actual DataHub GMS server URL and token must come from the environment at runtime:

export DATAHUB_GMS_SERVER=https://datahub.example.com
export DATAHUB_TOKEN=...

How orphan detection works

dbt-prune only parses manifest.json files. It does not run dbt, compile models, or introspect a live warehouse.

It loads:

• the current project's target/manifest.json
• any configured external manifests from local paths or gs:// URIs
• exposure dependencies from every loaded manifest

A current-project model, snapshot, or source is considered orphaned only when it has zero incoming references from any loaded manifest and is not referenced by any exposure. An unused source is one that no model in any loaded manifest selects via source(). If DataHub checking is enabled, downstream lineage consumers also keep a node off the orphan list.

Usage

List all orphaned assets

dbt-prune ls --project-dir .

By default ls reports orphaned models, snapshots, and unused sources.

Filter by resource type

Restrict the listing to a single resource type with --resource-type (model, snapshot, or source):

dbt-prune ls --resource-type source

Inspect one specific model

dbt-prune ls --project-dir . -s my_model

When -s/--select is used, dbt-prune reports whether the named model or snapshot is orphaned and explains why.

Filter by package

Scope orphan detection to a specific dbt package within your project using -p/--package:

dbt-prune ls -p marketing_core

Combine with -s/--select to inspect a specific model within a package:

dbt-prune ls -p marketing_core -s some_model_name

The same flag works for run:

dbt-prune run -p marketing_core --dry-run

JSON output

dbt-prune ls --format json

Open Copilot cleanup tasks for every orphan

dbt-prune run --project-dir .

Behavior:

• scans all current-project models and snapshots by default
• opens one GitHub Copilot coding-agent task per orphan
• auto-detects the target owner/repo from git remote get-url origin
• requires GITHUB_TOKEN for GitHub API authentication

Dry-run the cleanup plan

dbt-prune run --dry-run

Restrict cleanup to one model

dbt-prune run -s my_model

Limit the number of cleanup tasks

dbt-prune run --limit 5

DataHub integration

When datahub.enabled: true, dbt-prune queries DataHub for downstream lineage before marking an otherwise unreferenced asset as orphaned.

Dataset URNs are built from each manifest node's materialized location: database.schema.alias (falling back to name when alias is omitted). Ensure the manifest's database / schema / alias values match how your warehouse assets are ingested into DataHub.

Use datahub.platform and datahub.env to match your DataHub dataset URN convention:

datahub:
  enabled: true
  gms_server_env_var: DATAHUB_GMS_SERVER
  token_env_var: DATAHUB_TOKEN
  platform: bigquery
  env: PROD

If the required environment variables are missing or DataHub is unreachable, dbt-prune warns and continues unless you pass --strict.

GitHub Copilot coding-agent PR automation

dbt-prune run generates a clear problem statement for each orphaned asset and sends it to GitHub through dbt_prune.pr_agent. The default implementation creates a GitHub issue payload intended for Copilot coding-agent workflows, and the module is designed to be replaceable if your organization uses a dedicated Copilot task/session endpoint.

Development

python -m pip install -e '.[dev]'
ruff check .
pytest
mypy dbt_prune