dbt-labs/dbt-core · error · InvalidOperation

print requires at least one argument (a message to print)

Error message

print requires at least one argument (a message to print)

What it means

The `print` Jinja function requires at least one positional argument — the message to print. Called with zero arguments it cannot produce output, so it raises this InvalidOperation error. The function exists to emulate dbt's `print()` (log) behavior inside rendered templates.

Solutions

1. Pass a message argument: `{{ print("Hello world!") }}`
2. If the message may be empty, provide a default: `{{ print(msg or "(no message)") }}`

Example fix

// before
{{ print() }}
// after
{{ print("Hello world!") }}

{% if msg is not defined %}{% set msg = '(no message)' %}{% endif %}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `{{ print() }}` with no positional arguments in a Jinja template or macro.

Common situations: Dynamically building a print call from a variable that ended up empty/undefined, or translating dbt macros where the message argument was accidentally dropped.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• print accepts only one argument
• diff_of_two_dicts requires exactly 2 arguments
• has_var requires 1 argument
• local_md5 requires exactly 1 argument
• render requires exactly one argument (the string to render)

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d9d4d5aab26c28b. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/dbt-jinja-utils/src/functions/base.rs:931

        }

        Ok(Value::from_iter(zipped))
    }
}

/// Print a message to the log file and stdout.
///
/// Args:
///     msg: Message to print
///
/// Example:
/// ```jinja
/// {{ print("Hello world!") }}
/// ```
pub fn print_fn() -> impl Fn(&State<'_, '_>, &[Value], Kwargs) -> Result<Value, Error> {
    move |state: &State<'_, '_>, args: &[Value], _kwargs: Kwargs| -> Result<Value, Error> {
        if args.is_empty() {
            return Err(Error::new(
                ErrorKind::InvalidOperation,
                "print requires at least one argument (a message to print)",
            ));
        }
        if args.len() > 1 {
            return Err(Error::new(
                ErrorKind::InvalidOperation,
                "print accepts only one argument",
            ));
        }

        // Format the message using Display formatting (not Debug) to match dbt's behavior
        // This ensures strings aren't wrapped in quotes (e.g., "string" instead of "'string'")
        let msg = format!("{}", args[0]);

        // Get metadata for the event
        let current_package_name = state
            .lookup(TARGET_PACKAGE_NAME, &[])

View on GitHub (pinned to 0267ce9170)