diff

Compares schemas and optionally row-level data between two build contexts: two targets (e.g. prod:dev) in direct mode, or two virtual environments when virtual mode is enabled. See Data Diffs for detailed usage.

Usage

sqb diff <FROM>:<TO> <mode> [flags]

The first argument is a positional FROM:TO range. Exactly one mode is required: --full, --schema-only, or --bounded <duration>. In direct mode, FROM and TO are configured target names. Their database/schema namespaces remain authoritative, while the TO target’s named connection executes the complete comparison and must be able to read both namespaces. Full and bounded row comparisons require the model to define unique_key. Bounded mode uses the model’s cursor and falls back to a full row comparison when no cursor is configured.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--full`	Compare both schema and all row data
`--schema-only`	Compare column names and types only
`--bounded`	Compare row data within a recent window (e.g. `14d`, `6h`)
`--verbose`, `-v`	Show more example rows (default: 3, verbose: 10)
`--max-column-examples`	Override maximum examples per changed column
`--max-row-only-examples`	Override maximum examples for side-only rows
`--sample-rows`	Override the deterministic unique-key sample size
`--sample-seed`	Override the deterministic sample seed
`--exhaustive`	Disable inherited sampling for this invocation
`--json-output`	Write structured comparison scope, coverage, and results to a JSON file
`--max-models`	Fail when the selected scope contains more models than this limit
`--max-columns`	Fail when either side of a model has more columns than this limit
`--no-sql-analysis`	Disable compile-time SQL analysis (`--no-sql-validation` is an alias)
`--select`, `-s`	Select specific models to diff (required in v1)
`--exclude`	Exclude specific models from diffing

Examples

# Full diff of a specific model
sqb diff prod:dev --full --select customer_status_snapshot

# Schema-only diff of all marts
sqb diff prod:dev --schema-only --select path:models/marts

# Bounded diff of last 14 days
sqb diff prod:dev --bounded 14d --select hourly_order_activity

# Deterministic bounded sample
sqb diff prod:dev --bounded 14d --sample-rows 50000 --sample-seed 7 --select order_lines

# Force exhaustive comparison despite inherited sampling defaults
sqb diff prod:dev --bounded 14d --exhaustive --select order_lines

Exit codes

Returns 0 when all selected models have no differences, 1 when any model has schema or row differences.

Getting Started

dbt Compatibility

Concepts

Advanced Concepts

Python Nodes

Virtual Environments (Alpha)

Integrations

CLI Reference

Usage

Flags

Examples

Exit codes

​Usage

​Flags

​Examples

​Exit codes

Usage

Flags

Examples

Exit codes