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Snapshot configurations

Available configurations​

Snapshot-specific configurations​

Resource-specific configurations are applicable to only one dbt resource type rather than multiple resource types. You can define these settings in the project file (dbt_project.yml), a property file (models/properties.yml for models, similarly for other resources), or within the resource’s file using the {{ config() }} macro.

The following resource-specific configurations are only available to Snapshots:

General configurations​

General configurations provide broader operational settings applicable across multiple resource types. Like resource-specific configurations, these can also be set in the project file, property files, or within resource-specific files.

tip

Configuring snapshots in YAML is recommended for new snapshot configurations. If you have existing snapshots using the .sql config, they'll continue to work as expected. When you're ready to migrate to YAML, we recommend:

  1. Creating a backup copy of your snapshots (or using version control)
  2. Converting the configurations one at a time, testing as you go
  3. Using alter statements as needed to ensure table consistency or using a script to apply the alter statements

The YAML configuration offers improved maintainability and consistency, but there's no pressure to migrate existing snapshots immediately — feel free to do so at your own pace while ensuring data quality is maintained.

dbt_project.yml

Configuring snapshots​

Snapshots can be configured in multiple ways:

Snapshot configurations are applied hierarchically in the order above with higher taking precedence.

Examples​

The following examples demonstrate how to configure snapshots using the dbt_project.yml file, a config block within a snapshot, and a .yml file.

  • Apply configurations to all snapshots​

    To apply a configuration to all snapshots, including those in any installed packages, nest the configuration directly under the snapshots key:

    dbt_project.yml
    snapshots:
      +unique_key: id

  • Apply configurations to all snapshots in your project​

    To apply a configuration to all snapshots in your project only (for example, excluding any snapshots in installed packages), provide your project name as part of the resource path.

    For a project named jaffle_shop:

    dbt_project.yml
    snapshots:
      jaffle_shop:
        +unique_key: id

    Similarly, you can use the name of an installed package to configure snapshots in that package.

  • Apply configurations to one snapshot only​

    You can also use the full resource path (including the project name, and subdirectories) to configure an individual snapshot from your dbt_project.yml file.

    For a project named jaffle_shop, with a snapshot file within the snapshots/postgres_app/ directory, where the snapshot is named orders_snapshot (as above), this would look like:

    dbt_project.yml
    snapshots:
      jaffle_shop:
        postgres_app:
          orders_snapshot:
            +unique_key: id
            +strategy: timestamp
            +updated_at: updated_at

    You can also define some common configs in a snapshot's config block. We don't recommend this for a snapshot's required configuration, however.

    dbt_project.yml
    version: 2

    snapshots:
      - name: orders_snapshot
        +persist_docs:
          relation: true
          columns: true
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