get_temp_relation_path: relation.identifier is required

Error message

get_temp_relation_path: relation.identifier is required

What it means

An InvalidOperation minijinja error from get_temp_relation_path stating that `relation.identifier` is required. The callable derives a temp-relation path from database + identifier; a missing, null, empty, or non-string identifier makes path construction impossible, so the error is raised.

Source

Thrown at crates/dbt-adapter/src/adapter/mod.rs:4178

                    .ok_or_else(|| {
                        minijinja::Error::new(
                            minijinja::ErrorKind::InvalidOperation,
                            "get_temp_relation_path: relation.database is required",
                        )
                    })?;
                let identifier = relation_val
                    .get_attr("identifier")
                    .ok()
                    .and_then(|v| {
                        if v.is_undefined() || v.is_none() {
                            None
                        } else {
                            v.as_str().map(|s| s.to_owned())
                        }
                    })
                    .filter(|s| !s.is_empty())
                    .ok_or_else(|| {
                        minijinja::Error::new(
                            minijinja::ErrorKind::InvalidOperation,
                            "get_temp_relation_path: relation.identifier is required",
                        )
                    })?;
                let path = self
                    .get_temp_relation_path(&database, &identifier, batch_id)
                    .map_err(minijinja::Error::from)?;
                Ok(Value::from_object(path))
            }
            // major: int, minor: int
            "compare_dbr_version" => self.compare_dbr_version(state, args),
            // config: dict, model: dict, is_incremental: Optional[bool] = False
            "compute_external_path" => self.compute_external_path(state, args),
            // config: dict, tblproperties: Optional[dict] = None
            "update_tblproperties_for_uniform_iceberg" => {
                self.update_tblproperties_for_uniform_iceberg(state, args)
            }
            // config: dict

View on GitHub (pinned to 0267ce9170)

Solutions

Set a non-empty string identifier on the relation before calling (e.g. `this.identifier`).
Fix the macro/factory that builds the relation so identifier is always populated.
Guard the call site: skip or default the temp path when identifier is falsy.
Check quoting/rendering so identifier isn't rendered away before the call.

Example fix

// before
{% set rel = api.Relation.create(database=target.database) %}
{% set path = get_temp_relation_path(rel, batch_id) %}
// after
{% set rel = api.Relation.create(database=target.database, identifier='my_table') %}
{% set path = get_temp_relation_path(rel, batch_id) %}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

{% if relation.identifier is not defined or not relation.identifier %}
  {% do exceptions.raise_compiler_error('relation.identifier required for temp relation path') %}
{% endif %}

Type guard

fn has_identifier(v: &Value) -> bool {
    v.get_attr("identifier").ok().and_then(|i| i.as_str().map(|s| !s.is_empty())).unwrap_or(false)
}

Try / catch

match identifier { Some(id) if !id.is_empty() => ..., _ => Err(invalid_operation("relation.identifier is required")) }

Prevention

Always supply identifier when calling api.Relation.create
Validate fixtures for unit tests include identifiers
Avoid custom relation macros that drop identifier

When it happens

Trigger: Calling get_temp_relation_path with a relation whose `identifier` attribute is missing, None, an empty string, or not a string (e.g. a relation object built without an identifier, or attribute shadowed by a custom relation macro).

Common situations: Custom relation macros returning partially-built relations; unit-test fixtures constructing relations without identifiers; batch/incremental processing where an intermediate relation lost its identifier.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6d9eb618dcfd4584. Report an issue: GitHub.