pre_clone

Project YAML file

dbt_project.yml

models:
  <resource-path>:
    +state:
      pre_clone: never | if_missing | always

Properties YAML file

models/<filename>.yml

models:
  - name: my_model
    config:
      state:
        pre_clone: never | if_missing | always

SQL file config

models/<filename>.sql

{{ config(
    state={
      "pre_clone": "never" | "if_missing" | "always"
    }
) }}

Definition

pre_clone controls whether and when dbt State pre-populates incremental models and snapshots in your development environment by cloning their production counterparts before a run.

Value	Behavior
never	Never pre-clone. Incremental models and snapshots start from whatever exists in the development environment. If it doesn't already exist, it's built from scratch.
if_missing (default)	Clone only if the target table does not yet exist in development. After the first clone, subsequent runs build incrementally on top of the cloned data.
always	Clone before every run, regardless of whether the development table already exists. Guarantees development incremental state matches production on every run.

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note

Non-incremental materializations are never pre-cloned. This setting has no effect on them.

Examples

Always sync development with production

Use always when you want development to reflect the current production state before every run:

models/fct_orders.yml

models:
  - name: fct_orders
    config:
      state:
        pre_clone: always

Isolate dev state from production

Use never when you want development to be fully independent from production:

dbt_project.yml

models:
  +state:
    pre_clone: never

Related docs

• About dbt State
• Set up dbt State

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