How to see the compiled SQL of a model in dbt

A model is SQL with Jinja in it: ref(), source(), variables, macros, loops. When a query fails or returns something unexpected, the first step is to look at the plain SQL dbt produced from it. You can then paste it into the warehouse console and debug it there.

Copy and paste

dbt compile -s customer_orders                                  # print the compiled SQL
cat target/compiled/shop/models/marts/customer_orders.sql       # the same, from the file
cat target/run/shop/models/marts/customer_orders.sql            # the statement dbt executed
dbt compile --inline "select * from {{ ref('customer_orders') }}"

The output of dbt compile -s customer_orders:

Compiled node 'customer_orders' is:
select c.customer_id, c.name, count(o.order_id) as orders, sum(o.amount) as revenue
from "shop"."main"."stg_customers" c
left join "shop"."main"."stg_orders" o on o.customer_id = c.customer_id
group by c.customer_id, c.name

The ref() calls have become full table names, with the database and schema of the current target.

compiled and run

dbt writes two versions of every model in the target folder:

target/compiled is written by dbt compile, dbt run and dbt build. target/run only by the commands that execute models. Both reflect the last command, so after compiling with other variables or another target, the files change.

Useful variations

• Another target. dbt compile -s customer_orders --target prod shows the production schemas.
• Variables. dbt compile -s orders_daily --vars '{run_date: "2026-05-14"}' shows the query for that date.
• Ephemeral models. They have no table of their own, so they appear as a CTE called __dbt__cte__<model> at the top of the models that use them.
• Tests. When a test fails, dbt prints the path of its compiled SQL, for example target/compiled/shop/models/staging/_staging.yml/unique_stg_orders_order_id.sql. Run that query to see the rows that fail.

Tested with dbt Core 1.12.