From 28a5f0e90ec9177f8d11b7aaccb61235d1d7a51b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: George Sittas <giwrgos.sittas@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2025 12:57:23 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] Fix: warn on dbt variable definition failure instead of
 raising

---
 sqlmesh/dbt/context.py                        | 5 ++++-
 tests/dbt/test_config.py                      | 2 ++
 tests/fixtures/dbt/sushi_test/dbt_project.yml | 3 +++
 3 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/sqlmesh/dbt/context.py b/sqlmesh/dbt/context.py
index a56a6ca4d6..67e70d3c79 100644
--- a/sqlmesh/dbt/context.py
+++ b/sqlmesh/dbt/context.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import logging
 import typing as t
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field, replace
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@
     from sqlmesh.dbt.seed import SeedConfig
     from sqlmesh.dbt.source import SourceConfig
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
 
 @dataclass
 class DbtContext:
@@ -125,7 +128,7 @@ def _var(name: str, default: t.Optional[t.Any] = None) -> t.Any:
             try:
                 rendered_variables[k] = _render_var(v)
             except Exception as ex:
-                raise ConfigError(f"Failed to render variable '{k}', value '{v}': {ex}") from ex
+                logger.warning(f"Failed to render variable '{k}', value '{v}': {ex}")
 
         self.variables = rendered_variables
 
diff --git a/tests/dbt/test_config.py b/tests/dbt/test_config.py
index 0e96024aa1..c484b8e126 100644
--- a/tests/dbt/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/dbt/test_config.py
@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ def test_variables(assert_exp_eq, sushi_test_project):
             "some_var": ["foo", "bar"],
         },
         "some_var": "should be overridden in customers package",
+        "invalid_var": "{{ ref('ref_without_closing_paren' }}",
     }
     expected_customer_variables = {
         "some_var": ["foo", "bar"],  # Takes precedence over the root project variable
@@ -370,6 +371,7 @@ def test_variables(assert_exp_eq, sushi_test_project):
             {"name": "item1", "value": 1},
             {"name": "item2", "value": 2},
         ],
+        "invalid_var": "{{ ref('ref_without_closing_paren' }}",
     }
     assert sushi_test_project.packages["sushi"].variables == expected_sushi_variables
     assert sushi_test_project.packages["customers"].variables == expected_customer_variables
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/dbt/sushi_test/dbt_project.yml b/tests/fixtures/dbt/sushi_test/dbt_project.yml
index 920dea7216..0b5f6b0f83 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/dbt/sushi_test/dbt_project.yml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/dbt/sushi_test/dbt_project.yml
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ vars:
     - name: 'item2'
       value: 2
 
+  # Despite this being an invalid variable definition, dbt doesn't mind if it's unused
+  invalid_var: "{{ ref('ref_without_closing_paren' }}"
+
 
 on-run-start:
   - 'CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS analytic_stats (physical_table VARCHAR, evaluation_time VARCHAR);'