[Bug] unrendered config doesn't show raw value for configs set in the model's .yml file

[dbernett-spring]

Is this a new bug in dbt-core?

• I believe this is a new bug in dbt-core
• I have searched the existing issues, and I could not find an existing issue for this bug

Current Behavior

If I define the severity (or really any config, severity is just an example) as follows in the dbt_project.yml:

data_tests:
  +severity: "{{ var('default_test_severity', env_var('DEFAULT_TEST_SEVERITY', 'error')) }}"

Then the unrendered_config for each test appears as follows in the manifest.json:

"unrendered_config": {
    "store_failures": true,
    "store_failures_as": "view",
    "limit": 1000,
    "severity": "{{ var('default_test_severity', env_var('DEFAULT_TEST_SEVERITY', 'error')) }}"
}

However, if I define the severity using the exact same logic, but put it in a particular model's .yml file, e.g.,:

data_tests:
  - not_null:
      config:
        severity: "{{ var('default_test_severity', env_var('DEFAULT_TEST_SEVERITY', 'error')) }}"

Then the unrendered_config for that test appears as follows in the manifest.json:

"unrendered_config": {
    "store_failures": true,
    "store_failures_as": "view",
    "limit": 1000,
    "severity": "ERROR"
}

Expected Behavior

I would expect that, regardless of whether I put this logic in the dbt_project.yml or in my_model.yml the unrendered config to look like the first version above.

This is important when using state_modified with the state_modified_compare_more_unrendered_values flag. If the unrendered_config looks like the second version above, then the test will be considered "modified" when using -s state:modified even though nothing has changed.

Obviously if we wanted to apply this to all tests or to entire directories, we could simply define the config in the dbt_project.yml, but if we need to apply it to specific models, that becomes less useful.

Steps To Reproduce

See above.

Relevant log output

Environment

- OS: MacOS 15.5 (24F74)
- Python: 3.12.11
- dbt: 1.9.4

Which database adapter are you using with dbt?

snowflake

Additional Context

No response

[dbernett-spring]

Note that I also tried this on dbt 1.10.3 for good measure and am finding the same issue.

[JoshEKruse]

We have observered the same issue. Showing our example below:

Scenario 1 ( schema jinja configured in _models.yml or configured in model.sql file )

model config defined as:
"schema": "{%- if target.name in ['local_dev','ci_cd'] -%} {{ target.schema }}\n{%- else -%} segment\n{%- endif -%}\n"

1. run dbt compile

• previous manifest .unrendered_config:
  "schema": "master"

• current manifest .unrendered_config:
  "schema": "jkruse"

2. run dbt list --select:modified.relation

• detects changes as schemas are different

Scenario 2 ( schema jinja configured in dbt_project.yml )

model config defined as:
"schema": "{%- if target.name in ['local_dev','ci_cd'] -%} {{ target.schema }}\n{%- else -%} segment\n{%- endif -%}\n"

1. run dbt compile

• previous manifest .unrendered_config:
  "schema": "{%- if target.name in ['local_dev','ci_cd'] -%} {{ target.schema }}\n{%- else -%} segment\n{%- endif -%}\n"

• current manifest .unrendered_config:
  "schema": "{%- if target.name in ['local_dev','ci_cd'] -%} {{ target.schema }}\n{%- else -%} segment\n{%- endif -%}\n"

2. run dbt list --select:modified.relation

• detects no changes as schemas are not different

---

Found relevant issue #5338 and PR #5344

This comment, by @jtcohen6 seems relevant

I remember discussing that we don't have any way to access the unrendered form of patch (.yml) configs for the model, but that is the most correct set of information to include in the model's unrendered_config.