What does the term 'depends_on' signify in a dbt project?

In a dbt project, the term 'depends_on' is used to indicate a list of referable nodes. This functionality is crucial for understanding the relationships between different models and resources within the project. By specifying dependencies, dbt allows users to define how models are connected, ensuring that data transformations occur in the correct order.

This clarity in dependency management helps in building a more maintainable and efficient data pipeline. When a model depends on others, dbt recognizes these relationships and manages execution based on the dependency graph it generates, which enhances data integrity and accuracy in the analytics results.

Emphasizing the referable nodes aspect further illustrates how 'depends_on' not only signifies relationships between models but also aids in the clarity and structure of the project’s overall architecture. Each node referenced can be a model, a source table, or another resource, thereby enriching the overall data transformation process by ensuring that changes propagate correctly through the dependent structures.

The other options focus on different aspects of dbt's functionalities but do not capture the specific meaning of 'depends_on' in relation to the structural representation of dependencies within the dbt ecosystem.