dbt: Could not find profile named 'jaffle_shop'

dbt: Could not find profile named 'jaffle_shop'

TL;DR: the name in dbtproject.yml has no matching profile block in profiles.yml, or dbt is reading a different profiles.yml than you think. Open ~/.dbt/profiles.yml, add (or rename) the block so its name matches the profile: value in dbtproject.yml exactly, or point dbt at the right file with --profiles-dir.

Could not find profile named 'jaffle_shop'

Steps

1. Check the profile name your project expects: open dbt_project.yml and read the profile: line.

1. Open the profiles file dbt is actually reading, usually ~/.dbt/profiles.yml, and look for a top-level block with that exact name. Expected: the block exists and the spelling, underscores, and case match exactly.

1. If dbt uses a custom profiles dir, either set DBTPROFILESDIR to that directory or pass --profiles-dir [path]. Verify with dbt debug --profiles-dir [path], which prints the path it read.

1. Rename the block or the profile: value so they agree, save, and rerun dbt debug. Expected: dbt debug reports the connection instead of the not-found error.

When this applies

• the exact Could not find profile named error on dbt run, dbt test, or dbt debug
• a project that worked on another machine but not this one (different ~/.dbt/profiles.yml)
• CI runs where the profiles file is generated at build time

When it doesn't

• warehouse auth failures like wrong password or host unreachable — the profile was found, the connection is the problem
• dbt Cloud CLI errors about dbt_cloud.yml, which uses a different auth file
• Jinja/env_var errors inside a profile that already resolves

Compatibility

dbt Core and dbt Fusion CLIs; profiles.yml in ~/.dbt (or DBTPROFILESDIR / --profiles-dir). Verified against the dbt troubleshooting FAQ.

Variant phrasings

• dbt could not find profile named
• dbt profile not found error
• dbt debug profile named error

Root cause

dbt resolves the project name to a profile name via dbt_project.yml, then looks that name up in profiles.yml. Any typo, renamed project, or wrong profiles dir breaks the lookup before any connection attempt.

Edge cases

• DBTPROFILESDIR pointing at an empty dir in CI gives this error with zero hint about the path; print it in the failing step
• profiles.yml with a .bak extension or YAML syntax error can also surface as not-found rather than parse-failed
• dbt Cloud CLI ignores profiles.yml entirely; this skill is Core-only