dbt-labs/dbt-core · error

Starburst

Error message

Starburst

What it means

This is a Rust `todo!()` panic: the `get_relation` metadata dispatch in dbt-adapter has no implementation for the Starburst adapter yet, so reaching that match arm intentionally panics with the message 'Starburst'. It signals unfinished adapter work, not a runtime failure in user data. The public `get_relation` entry point routes per AdapterType and Starburst was registered as an enum variant before its metadata lookup was written.

Source

Thrown at crates/dbt-adapter/src/metadata/get_relation.rs:83

        AdapterType::Salesforce => {
            salesforce_get_relation(adapter, state, ctx, conn, database, schema, identifier)
        }
        AdapterType::Spark => {
            spark_get_relation(adapter, state, ctx, conn, schema, identifier, token)
        }
        AdapterType::DuckDB | AdapterType::LakeCompute => duckdb_get_relation(
            adapter, state, ctx, conn, database, schema, identifier, token,
        ),
        AdapterType::Fabric => fabric_get_relation(
            adapter, state, ctx, conn, database, schema, identifier, token,
        ),
        AdapterType::ClickHouse => clickhouse_get_relation(
            adapter, state, ctx, conn, database, schema, identifier, token,
        ),
        AdapterType::Exasol => exasol_get_relation(
            adapter, state, ctx, conn, database, schema, identifier, token,
        ),
        AdapterType::Starburst => todo!("Starburst"),
        AdapterType::Athena => todo!("Athena"),
        AdapterType::Trino => todo!("Trino"),
        AdapterType::Dremio => todo!("Dremio"),
        AdapterType::Oracle => todo!("Oracle"),
        AdapterType::Datafusion => todo!("Datafusion"),
    }
}

/// Parses an `INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES`-shaped result batch into a
/// [`Relation`].
pub(crate) fn relation_from_routines_batch(
    adapter: &AdapterImpl,
    database: &str,
    schema: &str,
    identifier: &str,
    batch: &arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch,
) -> AdapterResult<Option<Relation>> {
    if batch.num_rows() == 0 {

View on GitHub (pinned to 0267ce9170)

Solutions

  1. Switch to a supported adapter type (e.g. Trino once implemented, or a generic adapter) until Starburst get_relation is implemented
  2. Implement the Starburst match arm by delegating to a Starburst-specific get_relation function modeled on the existing exasol/clickhouse implementations
  3. Track/pin a version of dbt-adapter where Starburst metadata lookup is complete
  4. Wrap adapter calls so unimplemented adapters are rejected at startup with a clear configuration error instead of a mid-run panic

Example fix

// before
AdapterType::Starburst => todo!("Starburst"),
// after
AdapterType::Starburst => starburst_get_relation(
    adapter, state, ctx, conn, database, schema, identifier, token,
),
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

fn supports_get_relation(t: AdapterType) -> bool {
    !matches!(t, AdapterType::Starburst | AdapterType::Athena | AdapterType::Trino | AdapterType::Dremio | AdapterType::Oracle | AdapterType::Datafusion)
}
if !supports_get_relation(adapter_type) { return Err(format!("get_relation not implemented for {adapter_type:?}")); }

Type guard

fn is_implemented(t: &AdapterType) -> bool {
    !matches!(t, AdapterType::Starburst | AdapterType::Athena | AdapterType::Trino | AdapterType::Dremio | AdapterType::Oracle | AdapterType::Datafusion)
}

Try / catch

match std::panic::catch_unwind(|| get_relation(...)) {
    Ok(rel) => rel,
    Err(_) => Err(AdapterError::NotImplemented("get_relation for this adapter")),
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `get_relation` (public) with an adapter whose AdapterType is Starburst; the match arm at crates/dbt-adapter/src/metadata/get_relation.rs:83 executes `todo!("Starburst")` and panics.

Common situations: Running dbt against a Starburst/Trino-compatible warehouse before Starburst metadata support is implemented; a user or test selects the starburst adapter type and dbt resolves a relation (model, source, or seed) during compilation or execution.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8b2bffc8819acffe. Report an issue: GitHub.