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Power BI Refresh Error:
DbtProfileError

What does this error mean?

dbt cannot load or validate the connection profile from profiles.yml. This prevents dbt from connecting to the data warehouse.

Common causes

  • 1The profile name in dbt_project.yml does not match any profile in profiles.yml
  • 2The target name specified is not defined under the profile
  • 3A required connection field (host, port, database, user) is missing from the profile
  • 4The profiles.yml file is not in the expected location (~/.dbt/ or DBT_PROFILES_DIR)
  • 5Environment variables referenced in profiles.yml (e.g., env_var('DBT_PASSWORD')) are not set

How to fix it

  1. 1Run dbt debug to validate the profiles.yml configuration and see the exact error
  2. 2Verify the profile name in dbt_project.yml matches a profile defined in profiles.yml
  3. 3Check that DBT_PROFILES_DIR is set correctly if profiles.yml is not in the default location
  4. 4Ensure all env_var() references in profiles.yml have corresponding environment variables set
  5. 5Run dbt debug --profiles-dir <path> if the profiles directory is in a non-standard location

Frequently asked questions

Where should profiles.yml be located?

By default in ~/.dbt/profiles.yml. In CI/CD environments, set DBT_PROFILES_DIR to point to the directory containing profiles.yml.

Can I store credentials in profiles.yml directly?

Yes, but it is not recommended. Use env_var() to reference environment variables or a secrets manager instead of hardcoding credentials.

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