What causes "test tracing subscriber should be valid" in dbt-labs/dbt-core?

Remove conflicting global tracing subscriber setup in the test harness

test tracing subscriber should be valid

Error message

test tracing subscriber should be valid

What it means

A test-only `.expect()` in the `invalid_markdown_doc_reports_warning_and_continues` test in resolve_macros: a tracing subscriber composed for capturing span events must be valid. If the subscriber setup is rejected (invalid filters/layer combination or a conflicting global subscriber), the test panics before exercising the markdown-doc warning path.

Source

Thrown at crates/dbt-parser/src/resolve/resolve_macros.rs:675

    #[test]
    fn invalid_markdown_doc_reports_warning_and_continues() -> FsResult<()> {
        let tmp_dir = tempdir().unwrap();
        let base_path = tmp_dir.path().to_path_buf();
        fs::create_dir_all(base_path.join("models")).unwrap();

        let (test_layer, _, _, log_records) = TestLayer::new();
        let subscriber = create_tracing_subcriber_with_layer(
            tracing::level_filters::LevelFilter::TRACE,
            test_data_layer(
                1,
                None,
                false,
                std::iter::empty(),
                std::iter::once(Box::new(test_layer) as ConsumerLayer),
            ),
            &[],
        )
        .expect("test tracing subscriber should be valid");

        struct InvalidCase<'a> {
            name: &'a str,
            files: Vec<(&'a str, &'a str)>,
            expected_code: ErrorCode,
            expected_warning_paths: Vec<&'a str>,
        }

        let invalid_cases = vec![
            InvalidCase {
                name: "missing_endblock",
                files: vec![("missing_endblock.md", "{% docs broken %}missing endblock")],
                expected_code: ErrorCode::MacroSyntaxInvalid,
                expected_warning_paths: vec!["models/missing_endblock.md"],
            },
            InvalidCase {
                name: "duplicate_name",
                files: vec![

View on GitHub (pinned to 0267ce9170)

Solutions

Remove conflicting global tracing subscriber setup in the test harness
Use scoped subscribers (`tracing::subscriber::with_default`) as the test already does for events
Validate the layer/filter arguments passed to the subscriber constructor
Run the single test in isolation to identify subscriber conflicts

Example fix

// before
tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(subscriber).expect("test tracing subscriber should be valid");

// after
tracing::subscriber::with_default(subscriber, || {
    // test body
});

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

tracing::subscriber::with_default(subscriber, || {
    // run macro resolution assertions inside the scoped subscriber
});

Prevention

Never install a global default subscriber in tests that also use with_default
Keep test telemetry layers minimal and filter-valid
Run doc-resolution tests in isolation when tracing conflicts occur

When it happens

Trigger: Running macro resolution tests where the test subscriber is rejected by the tracing registry — typically due to an invalid layer/filter configuration or another test having already installed the default subscriber.

Common situations: Running the dbt-parser test suite in parallel or under a harness that installs its own global tracing subscriber; modifying the test telemetry layer with bad filters.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid state transition" errors: "status must be X, actually Y", "already rejected/charging/uninstalled", "cannot ... while running" — what they mean when a library rejects your call — this error's family across 31 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of dbt-labs/dbt-core@0267ce9170 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1428c0de72e67d75. Report an issue: GitHub.