Debugging "The selection criterion ... does not match any nodes" warnings

[jeremyyeo]

Warning message

The selection criterion ... does not match any nodes

---

You add a model my_model.sql, and then you do a dbt run or preview in dbt Cloud and things are working as expected. However, when you try using model selection (e.g. dbt run --select my_model), you get a warning in stdout:

00:20:09  The selection criterion 'my_model' does not match any nodes
00:20:09  
00:20:09  [WARNING]: Nothing to do. Try checking your model configs and model specification args

Here are some things to check:

1. Check that your SQL model file name does not contain leading spaces:

✅
/models/my_model.sql

❌
/models/ my_model.sql
        ^ leading space