dbt-labs/dbt-core · error

'materialized_view_from_relation_config' can only be invoked

Error message

'materialized_view_from_relation_config' can only be invoked using the BigQuery adapter

What it means

The `materialized_view_from_relation_config` method on the relation object is BigQuery-specific; it exists because BigQuery materialized view macros need to rebuild a materialized view from its relation config. Calling it under any other adapter raises this InvalidOperation error before any argument parsing happens.

Source

Thrown at crates/dbt-adapter/src/relation/relation_object.rs:754

        self.0.as_ref()
    }
}

impl Object for StaticBaseRelationObject {
    fn call_method(
        self: &Arc<Self>,
        _state: &State,
        name: &str,
        args: &[Value],
        _listeners: &[std::rc::Rc<dyn RenderingEventListener>],
    ) -> Result<Value, minijinja::Error> {
        match name {
            "create" => self.create(args),
            "scd_args" => self.scd_args(args),
            // // The following is required by BigQuery materialized_views
            "materialized_view_from_relation_config" => {
                if self.0.get_adapter_type() != AdapterType::Bigquery.as_ref() {
                    return Err(minijinja::Error::new(
                        minijinja::ErrorKind::InvalidOperation,
                        "'materialized_view_from_relation_config' can only be invoked using the BigQuery adapter",
                    ));
                }

                let iter = ArgsIter::new(
                    "Relation.materialized_view_from_relation_config",
                    &["local_config"],
                    args,
                );
                let local_config_value = iter.next_arg::<&Value>()?;
                iter.finish()?;

                let local_config = minijinja_value_to_typed_struct::<InternalDbtNodeWrapper>(
                    local_config_value.clone(),
                )
                .map_err(|e| {
                    minijinja::Error::new(

View on GitHub (pinned to 0267ce9170)

Solutions

1. Only call this method in BigQuery-specific macros; guard with `{% if adapter.type() == 'bigquery' %}`.
2. For other adapters, use their native materialized-view support instead of this config-reconstruction path.
3. Verify the target materialization is `bigquery` (not e.g. a shared materialized_view materialization copied between projects).

Example fix

// before
{{ relation.materialized_view_from_relation_config(relation_results, relation_config) }}
// after
{% if adapter.type() == 'bigquery' %}
  {{ relation.materialized_view_from_relation_config(relation_results, relation_config) }}
{% endif %}

{% if adapter.type() != 'bigquery' %}
  {% do exceptions.raise_compiler_error('materialized_view_from_relation_config requires BigQuery') %}
{% endif %}

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking `relation.materialized_view_from_relation_config(...)` in a Jinja macro while `adapter.type()` is not `bigquery`.

Common situations: Running BigQuery materialized-view macros (e.g. from dbt-bigquery's materialization) against another adapter; copying BigQuery materialization code into a Snowflake/Databricks project.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

• only available with BigQuery adapter
• get_bq_table
• describe_dynamic_table is not supported by the {} adapter
• describe_interactive_table is not supported by the {} adapte
• invalid return value

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/73cb75c5463a195b. Report an issue: GitHub.