Deprecation warning for 'zorder' config key in dbt-core 1.11

[asos-dipeshbhundia]

Describe the bug

When using the zorder config key in dbt-databricks model configurations with dbt-core 1.11, a deprecation warning is raised:

[WARNING][CustomKeyInConfigDeprecation]: Deprecated functionality
Custom key `zorder` found in `config` at path `models[0].config` in file `...yml`. 
Custom config keys should move into the `config.meta`.

The warning indicates that zorder is treated as a custom/unknown config key, even though it is a legitimate dbt-databricks configuration option that has been supported since version 1.4.3 (April 19, 2023).

Steps To Reproduce

1. Create a dbt model with a zorder config in the model YAML contract:

   models:
     - name: my_model
       config:
         zorder: ["column1", "column2"]

2. Run dbt compile or dbt run with dbt-core 1.11 and dbt-databricks 1.11.4

3. The compilation succeeds but raises the deprecation warning

Expected behavior

The zorder config should be recognized as a valid dbt-databricks config key without raising a deprecation warning when using dbt-core 1.11+.

Screenshots and log output

dbt compile --select my_model

07:17:58  Running with dbt=1.11.2
07:18:01  Registered adapter: databricks=1.11.4
07:18:02  Unable to do partial parsing because of a version mismatch
07:18:03  Encountered an error:
Compilation Error
  [WARNING][CustomKeyInConfigDeprecation]: Deprecated functionality
  Custom key `zorder` found in `config` at path `models[0].config` in file `...yml`. 
  Custom config keys should move into the `config.meta`.

System information

The output of dbt --version:

Core:
  - installed: 1.11.2
  - latest:    1.11.2 - Up to date!

Plugins:
  - databricks: 1.11.4 - Up to date!
  - spark:      1.10.0 - Up to date!

The operating system you're using: Windows

The output of python --version:

Python 3.12.12

Additional context

Root cause analysis:

This issue appears to be caused by dbt-core 1.11's stricter config validation. dbt-core now validates all config keys against a JSON schema (https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core/blob/main/core/dbt/jsonschemas/resources/latest.json) to warn users about deprecated or unknown config keys.

The zorder config key was introduced to dbt-databricks in version 1.4.3 (April 19, 2023, ref: https://github.com/databricks/dbt-databricks/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md#dbt-databricks-143-april-19-2023) and is currently used in the optimize.sql macro to generate ZORDER BY clauses for table optimization.

Current workaround:

Users can suppress the warning by moving the zorder config to config.meta, and override the optimize macro, although this is not the intended location for this config:

config:
  meta:
    zorder: ["column1", "column2"]

However, this workaround is not ideal as meta is intended for custom metadata, not dbt-databricks-specific configurations.

Suggested solution:

The zorder config key should be registered with dbt-core's schema validation so it is recognized as a valid dbt-databricks config option. This will eliminate the deprecation warning while maintaining backward compatibility with existing code.

[excavator-matt]

This sounds similar to deprecated warning in this issue