no dbt sync {sync_job_id} on deployment {deployment} (it may

Error message

no dbt sync {sync_job_id} on deployment {deployment} (it may not be visible yet, belong to another deployment, or have aged out)

What it means

Raised by `cube dbt status <deployment> <sync_job_id>` (without --wait) when the status endpoint returns 404/None for the job. The CLI cannot find that sync job on the given deployment — it may not be registered yet, may belong to another deployment, or may have aged out of retention.

Source

Thrown at rust/cube-cli/src/commands/dbt.rs:449

                        util::one_line(&output::field(&status, "error"), util::REASON_LIMIT);
                    bail!(
                        "dbt sync {sync_job_id} failed: {}",
                        if util::is_blank(&error) {
                            "(no reason reported)".to_string()
                        } else {
                            error
                        }
                    );
                }

                return Ok(());
            }

            let query: Query = Vec::new();
            let path = format!("{}/{sync_job_id}", base(deployment));
            match api.get_optional(&path, &query).await? {
                Some(status) => print_status(ctx.json, &status),
                None => bail!(
                    "no dbt sync {sync_job_id} on deployment {deployment} \
                     (it may not be visible yet, belong to another deployment, or have aged out)"
                ),
            }
        }
        Cmd::Result {
            deployment,
            sync_job_id,
        } => {
            let path = format!("{}/{sync_job_id}/result", base(deployment));
            match available_result(api.get_optional(&path, &Vec::new()).await?) {
                Some(result) => print_result(ctx.json, &result),
                // A running sync, `200 null`, and `{}` all mean "not available yet".
                None => bail!(
                    "no result for dbt sync {sync_job_id} yet — check \
                     `cube dbt status {deployment} {}`",
                    util::shell_quote(&sync_job_id)
                ),

View on GitHub (pinned to 7d981676b3)

Solutions

If the sync was started moments ago, wait a beat and retry the status command.
Re-check the sync_job_id against the output of the sync command that created it.
Confirm the deployment argument matches the deployment that owns the sync.
If the job is old, assume it aged out and start a new sync.

Example fix

// before: status immediately after start
let started = api.post(&base, Some(&body)).await?;
let status = api.get_optional(&format!("{base}/{id}"), &query).await?; // may 404
// after: retry with backoff before concluding the job is missing
let status = wait::poll(Wait::new("dbt sync", timeout, interval), || async {
    match api.get_optional(&path, &query).await? {
        Some(s) => Ok(Progress::Done(s)),
        None => Ok(Progress::Waiting("not visible yet".into())),
    }
}).await?;

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

// Verify job visibility once before treating absence as fatal
if api.get_optional(&format!("{base}/{id}"), &query).await?.is_none() {
    eprintln!("sync {id} not visible yet; will retry");
}

Try / catch

match result {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("no dbt sync") => {
        tokio::time::sleep(grace).await; // short retry in case registration lagged
    }
    other => other?,
}

Prevention

Insert a brief delay/retry between starting a sync and first reading its status.
Pass the deployment explicitly and validate it in scripts.
Copy syncJobId values programmatically from command output, not by hand.
Assume retention purges old jobs; never index long-term state by sync_job_id.

When it happens

Trigger: A single GET of /deployments/<deployment>/.../<sync_job_id> returns None: querying immediately after POST /sync before the job is visible, wrong deployment number, wrong/typo'd job ID, or a job past retention.

Common situations: Scripting that reads the sync status a split second after starting the sync; copying a syncJobId from logs of a different environment; checking a sync from days ago that the backend purged.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of cube-js/cube@7d981676b3 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/93b979d78b26de20. Report an issue: GitHub.