[Feature] Allow `dbt show` to output json data without extra logs (by updating `--quiet`)

[b-per]

Is this your first time submitting a feature request?

• I have read the expectations for open source contributors
• I have searched the existing issues, and I could not find an existing issue for this feature
• I am requesting a straightforward extension of existing dbt functionality, rather than a Big Idea better suited to a discussion

Describe the feature

I would like the output of dbt show to be valid JSON, containing just the data and no logs.

Some potential solutions:

• dbt show could change its behaviour for --quiet, printing the results.
• or we could have a new parameter to dbt show that performs this behaviour if we don't want to change the --quiet behaviour

What I want to achieve is to pipe a dbt show ... --output json into jq or jless. Today dbt --quiet show ... doesn't print anything to stdout, which feels counterintuitive (is it a bug actually?)

Describe alternatives you've considered

As suggested in the Community Slack I tried dbt --log-format json show ... --output=json ; but while the data is valid JSON, it doesn't show the results in a nice way as the real data results are encoded in a single string with escaped characters.

Who will this benefit?

People using the CLI and wanting a better/usable way to explorer the results of dbt show.

Are you interested in contributing this feature?

Yes

Anything else?

No response

[b-per]

For posterity, I got this function working with zsh but it looks quite convoluted.

dbtjson(){

    zparseopts -D -E t:=opt_t -target:=opt_t l:=opt_limit -limit:=opt_limit

    if [[ -n $opt_t ]]; then
    target=("--target" "$opt_t[2]")
    else
    target=""
    fi

    if [[ -n $opt_limit ]]; then
    limit=("--limit" "${opt_limit[2]}")
    else
    limit=""
    fi

    echo "Param: use -t pr --target for target" >&2
    echo "Param: use -l or --limit for limit" >&2
    echo "dbt --log-format json show "$target[@]" --inline \"$@\" --output json "$limit[@] " | jq '.data | select(.preview) | .preview' | jq 'fromjson'" >&2
    dbt --log-format json show $target[@] --inline "$@" --output json $limit[@] | jq '.data | select(.preview) | .preview' | jq 'fromjson'
}

With this function, we can do dbtjson -t duckdb "select * from stg_nodes" and then pipe the output to:

• jq or jless to explore the data
• dasel -r json -w csv | pspg --csv to show the data in the pspg Postgres pager (using dasel)
• ...

[jtcohen6]

I think I buy what you're suggesting as the behavior of dbt -q show!

Questions:

• Should we support the same thing for dbt compile (when you're only selecting one model, or --inline)?
• Should --quiet be the default setting for show? Similar to what we've thought for list: [CT-2767] [Feature] Use --quiet by default for dbt list --output json #7994

[b-per]

To me, the answer to both questions is Yes

[dbeatty10]

To me, the answer to both questions is Yes

Agreed! 🚀

I've run into this same thing before (as recently as this past week), and the proposed behavior would make the output MUCH more ergonomic to work with.

[dbeatty10]

Show me

Let's assume a model named show_me.sql and that jq is already installed.

models/show_me.sql

{%- set noun = "money" -%}
{%- set noun = "JSON" -%}

select 'Show me the {{ noun }}!' as jerry_maguire

Examples for --select

Here's commands that mimic the desired behavior of dbt show and dbt compile when the --output flag is json vs. text:

dbt --log-format json show    --select show_me --output json | jq -r 'select(.data.preview != null)  | .info.msg'
dbt --log-format json compile --select show_me --output json | jq -r 'select(.data.compiled != null) | .info.msg'
dbt --log-format json show    --select show_me --output text | jq -r 'select(.data.preview != null)  | .data.preview'
dbt --log-format json compile --select show_me --output text | jq -r 'select(.data.compiled != null) | .data.compiled'

Here's the output of each (along with the associated desired dbt syntax to produce it):

dbt show -s show_me --output json

{
  "node": "show_me",
  "show": [
    {
      "jerry_maguire": "Show me the JSON!"
    }
  ]
}

dbt compile -s show_me --output json

{
  "node": "show_me",
  "compiled": "select 'Show me the JSON!' as jerry_maguire"
}

dbt show -s show_me

| jerry_maguire     |
| ----------------- |
| Show me the JSON! |

dbt compile -s show_me

select 'Show me the JSON!' as jerry_maguire

Examples for --inline

To see the behavior of --inline, just swap --select show_me with --inline "$(cat models/show_me.sql)" in the commands above. It will yield identical output.

[dbeatty10]

Avoiding regressions

We'd just want to make sure that --log-format and --log-format-file still behave as desired. Namely, we don't want to introduce a regression related to the --log-format* flags on accident. See #8358 for a separate issue related to structured logs when --output json for dbt list and show (we should also consider compile).

For dbt show, there's 4 combinations to consider between the following:

• --output (default) vs. json
• --select vs. --inline

--log-format / --log-format-file each have (4) possibilities to consider as well: text (default), json, debug, and default.

[dbeatty10]

I think we can separate these into two different issues, both of which we're interested in (in priority order):

1. There is stand-alone output (without other logs) when the --quiet flag is passed to show or compile
2. --quiet is the default setting for show (and potentially compile as well)

The 2nd one needs more refinement, and I'll create a separate issue for it.

Proposed acceptance criteria (for the 1st item above)

Main scenario

When:

• The -q / --quiet flag is included
• The subcommand is show or compile
• The --inline flag is used or a single node is selected via -s / --select

Then:

• There is some output:
  • There is only valid JSON when --output json
  • There is only the relevant text when --output text (default)
  • There is not any additional log output (that begins with timestamps, etc.)
  • See #9840 (comment) for examples

Additional scenarios

When:

• --log-format json

Then:

• The JSON logs are unchanged from the current behavior

When:

• --log-format text (default)

Then:

• The text logs are unchanged from the current behavior

[dbeatty10]

For the 2nd item above, created #9843 and labeled it for further refinement.