How to Control the Cost of Running Data Tests in CI

Full-table tests on every PR burn warehouse credits; sampling and slim selection cut that cost sharply.

Limit CI to modified models, sample large sources with a CI-only filter, and auto-suspend the CI warehouse so idle time costs nothing.

Steps

• Restrict CI to state:modified+ so only changed models run.
• Filter large sources to a recent window in the CI target only.
• Set the CI warehouse to auto-suspend quickly.

CI-only source limit

-- models/staging/stg_events.sql
select * from {{ source('raw', 'events') }}
{% if target.name == 'ci' %}
where event_date >= current_date - 7
{% endif %}

Warehouse config

-- run once against the CI warehouse
ALTER WAREHOUSE CI_WH SET
  AUTO_SUSPEND = 60
  AUTO_RESUME = TRUE
  WAREHOUSE_SIZE = XSMALL;

Gotchas

• A short auto-suspend means the CI warehouse only bills while a job actually runs.
• Sampling changes results; keep a nightly full run so quality is still verified end to end.

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