Help With +tags versus just tags

[robin.sarac]

Hi there! I’m sorry for the super basic question but I can’t seem to find a clear answer. After some reading, I’ve come to learn that tags are inherited. So, if I set a tag on a source, my models will inherit that tag. Makes good sense! What I can’t seem to get clarity on is where to use +tags versus just tags when configuring tags.

I thought it might be related to graph operators, but the leading plus selects upstream but the tags are being inherited downstream.

I would appreciate any help you could offer clarifying +tags versus tags and where to use one or the other.

[joellabes]

Hey @robin.sarac,

I assume you’re talking about your dbt_project.yml file? The + prefix makes it possible to differentiate between resource paths and their configs:

Using the + prefix | dbt Developer Hub

If you were talking about node selection, then you’re correct that dbt run -s +tag:my_tag would run nodes tagged my_tag and their upstream parents.

[robin.sarac]

Gosh, thank you, @joellabes ! I really appreciate the thorough answer. I feel much better proceeding…I’m a details person. Thank you once again!