--project-dir and DBT_PROJECT_DIR

[jtcohen6]

Contributions

• I have read the contribution docs, and understand what's expected of me.

Link to the page on docs.getdbt.com requiring updates

I don't think we document --project-dir anywhere!!

We document --profiles-dir in a few places — namely this one — but only in passing.

$ dbt build --help
Usage: dbt build [OPTIONS]

  Run all Seeds, Models, Snapshots, and tests in DAG order

Options:
...
  --profiles-dir PATH             Which directory to look in for the
                                  profiles.yml file. If not set, dbt will look
                                  in the current working directory first, then
                                  HOME/.dbt/
  --project-dir PATH              Which directory to look in for the
                                  dbt_project.yml file. Default is the current
                                  working directory and its parents.
...

What part(s) of the page would you like to see updated?

dbt subcommands have accepted a --project-dir flag since forever.

99% of the time, it makes sense to just run dbt from the same working directory as the dbt project (= where dbt_project.yml lives). This is an advanced feature, often for use in orchestration, that allows dbt commands to be run from a working directory that's different from the one where the dbt project lives.

Starting in v1.5, dbt will now accept an env var DBT_PROJECT_DIR that's equivalent to passing the --project-dir flag. If both are set, the flag wins (takes precedence).

Additional information

• add env DBT_PROJECT_DIR support #6078 dbt-core#6659

[matthewshaver]

@jtcohen6 I can build the missing docs for the flags if you can suggest the best spot for them both. I'll take care of the new env var at the same time.

[jtcohen6]

Let's just mention it on this page: https://docs.getdbt.com/reference/dbt_project.yml

Something to the effect of: "By default, dbt will look in your current working directory for dbt_project.yml, but you can set a different directory using "