Fixes issue where metricflow can't identify profiles.yml in the home directory

.changes/unreleased/Fixes-20251105-180255.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+kind: Fixes
+body: Fixes metricflow not being able to find the profiles.yml in the home directory
+time: 2025-11-05T18:02:55.20941+02:00
+custom:
+    Author: pekapa
+    Issue: https://github.com/dbt-labs/metricflow/issues/1719

dbt-metricflow/dbt_metricflow/cli/cli_configuration.py

@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ def setup(
         Returns: None
         """
         cwd = pathlib.Path.cwd()
+        home = pathlib.Path.home()
+
+        dbt_profiles_dir_default_path = cwd if (cwd / "profiles.yml").exists() else home / ".dbt"
 
         dbt_profiles_dir_env_var = os.environ.get(CLIConfiguration.DBT_PROFILES_DIR_ENV_VAR_NAME)
         dbt_profiles_dir_from_env = (
@@ -75,7 +78,7 @@ def setup(
             pathlib.Path(dbt_project_dir_env_var) if dbt_project_dir_env_var is not None else None
         )
 
-        dbt_profiles_path = dbt_profiles_path or dbt_profiles_dir_from_env or cwd
+        dbt_profiles_path = dbt_profiles_path or dbt_profiles_dir_from_env or dbt_profiles_dir_default_path
         dbt_project_path = dbt_project_path or dbt_project_dir_from_env or cwd
         dbt_project_yaml_path = dbt_project_path / "dbt_project.yml"
         if not dbt_project_yaml_path.exists():

tests_metricflow/cli/test_isolated_command_runner.py

@@ -13,10 +13,7 @@
 from metricflow_semantics.toolkit.mf_logging.pretty_print import PrettyFormatDictOption, mf_pformat_dict
 
 from dbt_metricflow.cli.cli_configuration import CLIConfiguration
-from tests_metricflow.cli.cli_test_helpers import (
-    create_tutorial_project_files,
-    run_dbt_build,
-)
+from tests_metricflow.cli.cli_test_helpers import create_tutorial_project_files, run_dbt_build
 from tests_metricflow.cli.isolated_cli_command_interface import IsolatedCliCommandEnum
 from tests_metricflow.cli.isolated_cli_command_runner import IsolatedCliCommandRunner
 from tests_metricflow.snapshot_utils import assert_str_snapshot_equal
@@ -156,3 +153,66 @@ def test_environment_variables(
             snapshot_str=result.output,
             expectation_description="A table showing the `transactions` metric.",
         )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.slow
+def test_home_profiles_dir(
+    request: FixtureRequest,
+    mf_test_configuration: MetricFlowTestConfiguration,
+) -> None:
+    """Tests running an MF CLI command with the profiles file in the home directory."""
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_directory:
+        tmp_directory_path = Path(tmp_directory)
+        dbt_project_path = create_tutorial_project_files(tmp_directory_path)
+
+        # Move the `profiles.yml` to a the home directory to isolate the two variables.
+        dbt_profiles_path = Path.home() / ".dbt"
+        if not dbt_profiles_path.exists():
+            os.mkdir(dbt_profiles_path)
+
+        if (dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml").exists():
+            # Backup the existing profiles.yml file.
+            shutil.move(
+                src=dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml",
+                dst=dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml.backup",
+            )
+
+        shutil.move(
+            src=dbt_project_path / "profiles.yml",
+            dst=dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml",
+        )
+
+        cli_runner = IsolatedCliCommandRunner(
+            dbt_project_path=dbt_project_path,
+            # No need to specify the profiles path since it's in the home directory.
+        )
+        with cli_runner.running_context():
+            run_dbt_build(cli_runner)
+            result = cli_runner.run_command(
+                command_enum=IsolatedCliCommandEnum.MF_QUERY,
+                command_args=[
+                    "--metrics",
+                    "transactions",
+                ],
+            )
+
+        if (dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml.backup").exists():
+            # Restore the original profiles.yml file.
+            #   We need to do this before the result is checked
+            #   to avoid raising an exception and failing to restore the original file.
+            shutil.move(
+                src=dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml.backup",
+                dst=dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml",
+            )
+        else:
+            # No backup so let's cleanup the profiles.yml file.
+            os.remove(dbt_profiles_path / "profiles.yml")
+
+        result.raise_exception_on_failure()
+        assert_str_snapshot_equal(
+            request=request,
+            mf_test_configuration=mf_test_configuration,
+            snapshot_id="result",
+            snapshot_str=result.output,
+            expectation_description="A table showing the `transactions` metric.",
+        )

tests_metricflow/snapshots/test_isolated_command_runner.py/str/test_home_profiles_dir__result.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+test_name: test_home_profiles_dir
+test_filename: test_isolated_command_runner.py
+docstring:
+  Tests running an MF CLI command with the profiles file in the home directory.
+expectation_description:
+  A table showing the `transactions` metric.
+---
+  transactions
+--------------
+            50