[CT-2743] [Bug] dbt docs serve does not respect new input method for target-path

[rabidaudio]

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

DBT 1.5 warns that target-path in dbt_project.yml is deprecated and should be replaced with --target-path or $DBT_TARGET_PATH.

We removed target-path from our dbt_project.yml and dbt debug reports all green:

18:03:06  Running with dbt=1.5.1
18:03:06  dbt version: 1.5.1
18:03:06  python version: 3.9.17
18:03:06  python path: /project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/bin/python
18:03:06  os info: Linux-4.14.311-233.529.amzn2.x86_64-x86_64-with-glibc2.36
18:03:06  Using profiles.yml file at /project/transform/profiles/postgres/profiles.yml
18:03:06  Using dbt_project.yml file at /project/transform/dbt_project.yml
18:03:06  Configuration:
18:03:06    profiles.yml file [OK found and valid]
18:03:06    dbt_project.yml file [OK found and valid]
18:03:06  Required dependencies:
18:03:06   - git [OK found]

However, when we start the docs server it errors trying to read the target:

18:02:38  Running with dbt=1.5.1
18:02:38  Encountered an error:
[Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'target'
18:02:38  Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/cli/requires.py", line 86, in wrapper
    result, success = func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/cli/requires.py", line 71, in wrapper
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/cli/requires.py", line 142, in wrapper
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/cli/requires.py", line 168, in wrapper
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/cli/requires.py", line 215, in wrapper
    return func(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/cli/main.py", line 299, in docs_serve
    results = task.run()
  File "/project/.meltano/transformers/dbt-postgres/venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/dbt/task/serve.py", line 15, in run
    os.chdir(self.config.target_path)
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'target'

Putting target-path back resolves the issue, while returning the warning about deprecation:

18:08:58  Running with dbt=1.5.1
18:08:58  [WARNING]: Deprecated functionality
The `target-path` config in `dbt_project.yml` has been deprecated, and will no
longer be supported in a future version of dbt-core. If you wish to write dbt
artifacts to a custom directory, please use the --target-path CLI flag or
DBT_TARGET_PATH env var instead.
Serving docs at 6450
To access from your browser, navigate to: http://localhost:6450



Press Ctrl+C to exit.

Interestingly, dbt docs generate does respect the new target path config, it's only when then serving said config that it breaks.

Expected Behavior

The dbt docs serve command should respond to --target-path and respect $DBT_TARGET_PATH, starting without error if an alternate target path was used to generate.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Remove target-path: my_target_dir from dbt_project.yml
2. export DBT_TARGET_PATH=my_target_dir
3. dbt docs generate (Catalog written to my_target_dir/catalog.json)
4. dbt docs serve

Relevant log output

No response

Environment

- OS: `python:3.9` Docker Image (Debian 12)
- Python: 3.9
- dbt: 1.5.1

Which database adapter are you using with dbt?

postgres

Additional Context

Possibly related to #7418

[dbeatty10]

Thank you for reporting this @rabidaudio !

I was able to reproduce the same thing you described, and I think this would be solved by us backporting #7647 into the 1.5.latest branch.

I'll initiate a conversation to see if we can get that backported.

[rabidaudio]

Thanks! We would just update, but SQLFluff support is keeping us on 1.5

[jtcohen6]

Backport merged (#7961), this will be included in the next v1.5.x patch (most likely for release in July)