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dbt Core

ANALYTICS
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dbt-core spent a day backporting one deprecation warning across eight EOL branches — the message is: upgrade.

analytics-engineeringdeprecationbackportsdbt-fusionpython-eol
◆Current state
dbt-core maintains an unusually wide set of live branches, and on August 14 it cut releases for 1.1 through 1.8 in a single day. Every one of them carries the same single feature: a warning when the user is running a deprecated dbt version. The older branches picked up a few long-standing backports alongside it — semver comparison, JSON log formatting, seeds from stored manifest data — and 1.4 through 1.6 dropped Python 3.8 testing now that it is end of life.
◆Where it's heading
This is a coordinated deprecation campaign rather than product work. Shipping the same warning to every ancient branch at once is how a maintainer starts reclaiming a support surface, and the parallel removal of Python 3.8 support points the same way. The actual development is happening on 1.11 and 1.12, where recent releases sync JSON schemas from dbt-fusion and fix adapter config recognition — the branch where the Fusion engine transition is visible.
◆Prediction
Expect formal end-of-life announcements for the branches that just received the warning, and continued dbt-fusion schema convergence on 1.12. The backport waves should thin out once the deprecated branches are formally retired.

◆Recent moves

  1. 4d ago

    dbt 1.2.7 backports the deprecated-version warning and old fixes

    The deprecated-version warning plus four old backports: a packaging pin removal, semver numeric comparison, JSON log formatting, and seeds from stored manifest data. Housekeeping on a branch that is years past its prime.

    View source ↗
  2. 4d ago

    dbt 1.1.6 backports the deprecated-version warning and old fixes

    Identical content to the 1.2.7 release published six minutes earlier — the same warning and the same four backported fixes, applied to the oldest maintained branch. One campaign, not two releases.

    View source ↗
  3. 4d ago

    dbt 1.3.8 backports the deprecated-version warning

    The deprecation warning with two of the semver and packaging fixes. Part of the same eight-branch sweep, nothing branch-specific.

    View source ↗
  4. 4d ago

    dbt 1.4.10 drops Python 3.8 and warns on deprecated versions

    The deprecation warning plus removal of Python 3.8 support and testing now that the runtime is end of life. Two forms of the same cleanup arriving together.

    View source ↗
  5. 4d ago

    dbt 1.5.12 drops Python 3.8 and warns on deprecated versions

    The same pairing as 1.4.10 — deprecation warning and Python 3.8 removal — on the 1.5 branch. Maintenance, no user-facing capability.

    View source ↗
  6. 5d ago

    dbt 1.6.19 drops Python 3.8 and warns on deprecated versions

    The third and last branch to receive both the deprecation warning and the Python 3.8 removal. Above 1.6, the releases carry the warning alone.

    View source ↗