dbt-labs/dbt-core · error

clap requires --environment unless --sdist-out

Error message

clap requires --environment unless --sdist-out

What it means

Invariant expect in the publish CLI's execute: clap's `requires` rule guarantees that when no --sdist-out is given, --environment was provided, so unwrapping args.environment must succeed. Fires only if the clap argument definition and this code drift apart — an internal bug, not a user input error.

Solutions

1. Keep the clap `requires` attributes in sync with the expects in execute
2. Add a CLI parsing test covering the --environment/--sdist-out matrix
3. Report as an internal bug in dbt-ci publish

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/dbt-ci/src/publish.rs:166 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b856114aa5a0aea6. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/dbt-ci/src/publish.rs:166

            return ExitCode::from(2);
        }
    };

    // Build-only mode: assemble the sdist into `--sdist-out` and stop. The
    // release pipeline stages it to S3/CDN itself, so no upload target is needed.
    if let Some(out_dir) = &args.sdist_out {
        return match rt.block_on(build_only_sdist(&args, &spec, out_dir)) {
            Ok(()) => ExitCode::SUCCESS,
            Err(e) => {
                eprintln!("error: {e:#}");
                ExitCode::from(2)
            }
        };
    }

    let target = match PublishTarget::from_env(
        args.environment
            .expect("clap requires --environment unless --sdist-out"),
    ) {
        Ok(t) => t,
        Err(e) => {
            eprintln!("error: {e:#}");
            return ExitCode::from(64);
        }
    };
    match rt.block_on(run_publish(&args, &spec, target)) {
        Ok(()) => ExitCode::SUCCESS,
        Err(e) => {
            eprintln!("error: {e:#}");
            ExitCode::from(2)
        }
    }
}

/// Builds the download-at-install sdist into `out_dir` without uploading it.
async fn build_only_sdist(

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