New to dbt?
You have (or will soon have) manifest.json and run_results.json under a dbt target/ directory, but you do not run dbt every day. This page routes you to the right dbt-tools docs without repeating the full artifact reference.
What you need for dbt-tools
dbt-tools expects both files at the root of your --dbt-target path for a full session (readiness: "full" in dbt-tools status --json output):
manifest.json— project graph, configs, and resource metadatarun_results.json— per-node execution status and timing from a completed run
If you only have manifest.json (for example after dbt compile), many commands still work, but execution views need run_results.json. See dbt artifacts & target/ for when each file appears.
No dbt project yet? Use Try with a sample project to generate artifacts with jaffle_shop_duckdb, then point any quickstart or recipe command at
./target.
Read next
- dbt artifacts & target/ — main explainer: lifecycle, file roles,
unique_id, discovery examples - 5-minute quickstart — first CLI commands against a target directory
- Local and remote artifacts — same contract for
s3://andgs://prefixes
Learn more from dbt Labs
These upstream docs are the authority for dbt features and artifact schemas. dbt-tools links to them instead of duplicating reference material.
| Topic | dbt Labs documentation |
|---|---|
| Artifact files | dbt artifacts reference |
| dbt Docs site vs JSON artifacts | Build and view your docs |
| Nodes & selection | Node selection syntax |
| Sources & freshness | Sources |