[CT-3010] [Regression] Dbt ls failing to find models when using path selector and project-dir flag

[jsteele-om1]

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

In upgrading from 1.3 to 1.6, we've noticed an issue with running dbt ls --select <model-path> --project_dir <project> .... It only appears to be this combination that fails to find any models. It works with:

• dbt build command with project dir flag and path selector
• dbt ls with model path and no project dir flag
• dbt ls with project dir flag and specific model selected

Expected Behavior

dbt ls --select <model-path> --project_dir <project> ... select models under <project-dir>/<model-path>

Steps To Reproduce

1. Sample Environment:

parent_directory/
  sample_project/
    dbt_project.yml
    models/
      example/
        sample_model.sql

2. cwd = parent_directory: dbt ls --select models/example --project-dir sample_project/ returns: no nodes selected

Relevant log output

18:59:16  Running with dbt=1.6.0
18:59:16  Registered adapter: snowflake=1.6.0
18:59:26  Found nnnn models, nnnn tests, nnnn seeds, nnnn operations, nnnn sources, nnn exposures, nnn metrics, nnnn macros, nnnn groups, nnnn semantic models
18:59:26  The selection criterion 'models/<...>' does not match any nodes
18:59:26  No nodes selected!

Environment

- OS: `Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)`
- Python: `3.9.5`
- dbt: `1.6.0`

Which database adapter are you using with dbt?

snowflake

Additional Context

No response

[dbeatty10]

Thanks for reporting this @jsteele-om1 🙏

After testing this out myself, I can verify that using file/fqn syntax like the following works in both 1.5 and 1.6:

dbt ls --project-dir sample_project/
dbt ls --select example --project-dir sample_project/
dbt ls --select file:example.sql --project-dir sample_project/

But path-based selection that worked in 1.5 no longer works in 1.6:

dbt ls --select models/example.sql --project-dir sample_project/
dbt ls --select path:models/example.sql --project-dir sample_project/

I tried using both absolute and relative paths as well as setting the DBT_PROJECT_DIR environment variable, but path-based selection didn't work in 1.6 regardless.

[jtcohen6]

Thanks team! This is a duplicate of #8385, and I believe it was fixed in #8388. You can try using v1.5.5 or v1.6.1rc1 to confirm.