dbt_pr_review always runs in lint-only mode even when manifest and warehouse are available

[lgwacker]

The dbt_pr_review tool consistently reports "⚙️ Lint-only run — no dbt manifest/warehouse was available" even when:

1. target/manifest.json exists and is fresh
2. Snowflake warehouse connections are configured and testable via warehouse_test
3. The .altimate/review.yml points to the correct manifest

This prevents the full-tier review (lineage blast radius, query equivalence, PII classification) from running.

Environment

• Project: dbt_data_platform (Snowflake)
• dbt version: 1.11.11
• altimate-code: dbt-pr-review skill
• manifest: target/manifest.json (1.9MB, generated 2026-06-05)
• Warehouse connections: snowflake_prod (ANALYTICS), snowflake_raw (RAW), snowflake_raw_treated (RAW_TREATED)
• .altimate/review.yml:

  mode: comment
  severityThreshold: suggestion
  manifestPath: target/manifest.json
  dialect: snowflake
  reviewers: []
  exclude:
    - models/legacy/**
  rubric:
    blockOn: [lineage_breakage, contract_violation, pii_exposure, semantic_change]
    warningPatternThreshold: 3
    thresholds:
      warehouseCostMinRows: 1000000

Steps to reproduce

1. Compile dbt: dbt compile → target/manifest.json created
2. Verify warehouse: warehouse_test → snowflake_prod connected successfully
3. Run review: dbt_pr_review({ base: "origin/main", head: "HEAD", manifest_path: "target/manifest.json" })
4. Result: "Lint-only run — no dbt manifest/warehouse was available"

What I tried

• Added warehouse: snowflake_prod to .altimate/review.yml — no effect
• Ran dbt_pr_review with explicit manifest_path — same result
• Verified underlying tools work independently:
  • impact_analysis ✅ (uses manifest only)
  • dbt_lineage ✅ (uses manifest only)
  • lineage_check ✅ (with schema_context provided)
  • altimate_core_equivalence ✅ (with schema_context provided)
  • warehouse_test ✅ (all 3 connections pass)

Root cause analysis
The dbt_pr_review tool is a composite that internally calls altimate_core_equivalence and lineage_check. These tools require schema in a specific format (schema_context or schema_path with a tables field), but:

• dbt_pr_review has no schema_context / schema_path / warehouse parameter
• The dbt manifest (target/manifest.json) has a different structure (nodes → columns) than what altimate_core_* expects (tables → columns)
• dbt_pr_review cannot bridge the manifest schema or warehouse schema to its underlying tools

Suggested fix
Add one of these options to dbt_pr_review:

1. A warehouse parameter to auto-resolve schema from the warehouse
2. A schema_context / schema_path parameter to pass schema directly
3. Auto-parse manifest.json schema into the format altimate_core_* expects

---

Metadata

Field	Value
CLI Version	0.8.3
Platform	linux
Architecture	x64
OS Release	6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Category	bug
Working Directory	dbt
Session ID	ses_167d1ccdaffee0VmYToIOlBCG0