Currently, Elementary does not support displaying the test alias or the custom test name (set via the name or alias fields) as the test name in the dashboard for anomaly detection tests (such as volume_anomalies or column_anomalies). This limitation has been discussed in several community threads and confirmed by Elementary support staff. While dbt core and dbt-utils tests do show custom names in the dashboard, Elementary's anomaly tests do not—these appear with generic names like column_anomalies or volume_anomalies, regardless of the alias or name you set in your test configuration. The recommended workaround is to use the meta.description field to provide a custom description for each test. This description will appear in the dashboard when you expand the test result, making it easier to differentiate between similar tests. For example:

yaml tests:   - elementary.column_anomalies:       column_anomalies:         - standard_deviation       where_expression: "acct_channel = 'direct'"       meta:         description: "Anomaly detection for direct channel"

This approach is confirmed by Elementary support and community members as the current best practice until native support for displaying aliases or custom names is added to the dashboard. There are open GitHub issues tracking this feature request, and you can follow or contribute to the discussion there: [GitHub Issue #1224](https://github.com/elementary-data/elementary/issues/1224) and related threads in the community Slack channels. For now, using meta.description is the only way to make tests more distinguishable in the dashboard for anomaly tests [Slack thread 1](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1702640567056559) [Slack thread 2](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1697729858077339) [Slack thread 3](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1705372587987189).

Based on the knowledge sources, the correct way to have a test description appear in the Elementary dashboard is to specify the description inside the meta field of your test configuration. For example:

yaml tests:   - unique:       meta:         description: "This is a very cool test :)"

This approach is confirmed to work for both standard dbt tests and Elementary anomaly tests. When set this way, the description should appear in the Elementary dashboard under the test result, as well as in alerts and the dbt_tests table [Slack thread](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1708443408220759) [Slack thread](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1736818351146109). If you are setting meta.description and it appears in the dbt_tests table but not in the dashboard, please ensure: - You are using the correct syntax (description must be under meta). - You are running the latest version of the Elementary package. - You have re-run your dbt tests and refreshed the Elementary report after making changes. If you are still not seeing the description in the dashboard after following these steps, it may be a version-specific issue or a limitation. There have been reports that Elementary only picks up descriptions from the meta field, and not from other locations or doc blocks [Slack thread](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1698150269410739) [Slack thread](https://slack.com/archives/C02CTC89LAX/p1682047471671549). In summary: - Use meta.description in your test config. - Make sure you are on a recent version of Elementary. - Re-run your tests and refresh the report. If the issue persists, it may be a current product limitation, and you may want to open an issue with the Elementary team for further support.