• Snapshots
• The dbt snapshot command

<Tabs groupId="config-languages" defaultValue="project-yaml" values={[ { label: 'Project file', value: 'project-yaml', }, { label: 'Property file', value: 'property-yaml', }, { label: 'Config block', value: 'config', }, ] }>

snapshots:
  [<resource-path>](resource-path):
    [+](plus-prefix)[target_schema](target_schema): <string>
    [+](plus-prefix)[target_database](target_database): <string>
    [+](plus-prefix)[unique_key](unique_key): <column_name_or_expression>
    [+](plus-prefix)[strategy](strategy): timestamp | check
    [+](plus-prefix)[updated_at](updated_at): <column_name>
    [+](plus-prefix)[check_cols](check_cols): [<column_name>] | all

Note: Required snapshot properties may not work when defined in config yaml blocks. We recommend that you define these in dbt_project.yml or a config() block within the snapshot .sql file.

version: 2

snapshots:
  - name: [<snapshot-name>]
    config:
      [target_schema](target_schema): <string>
      [target_database](target_database): <string>
      [unique_key](unique_key): <column_name_or_expression>
      [strategy](strategy): timestamp | check
      [updated_at](updated_at): <column_name>
      [check_cols](check_cols): [<column_name>] | all

{{ config(
    [target_schema](target_schema)="<string>",
    [target_database](target_database)="<string>",
    [unique_key](unique_key)="<column_name_or_expression>",
    [strategy](strategy)="timestamp" | "check",
    [updated_at](updated_at)="<column_name>",
    [check_cols](check_cols)=["<column_name>"] | "all"
) }}

<Tabs groupId="config-languages" defaultValue="project-yaml" values={[ { label: 'Project file', value: 'project-yaml', }, { label: 'Property file', value: 'property-yaml', }, { label: 'Config block', value: 'config', }, ] }>

snapshots:
  [<resource-path>](resource-path):
    [+](plus-prefix)[enabled](enabled): true | false
    [+](plus-prefix)[tags](resource-configs/tags): <string> | [<string>]
    [+](plus-prefix)[pre-hook](pre-hook-post-hook): <sql-statement> | [<sql-statement>]
    [+](plus-prefix)[post-hook](pre-hook-post-hook): <sql-statement> | [<sql-statement>]
    [+](plus-prefix)[persist_docs](persist_docs): {<dict>}

version: 2

snapshots:
  - name: [<snapshot-name>]
    config:
      [enabled](enabled): true | false
      [tags](resource-configs/tags): <string> | [<string>]
      [pre-hook](pre-hook-post-hook): <sql-statement> | [<sql-statement>]
      [post-hook](pre-hook-post-hook): <sql-statement> | [<sql-statement>]
      [persist_docs](persist_docs): {<dict>}

{{ config(
    [enabled](enabled)=true | false,
    [tags](resource-configs/tags)="<string>" | ["<string>"],
    [pre_hook](pre-hook-post-hook)="<sql-statement>" | ["<sql-statement>"],
    [post_hook](pre-hook-post-hook)="<sql-statement>" | ["<sql-statement>"]
    [persist_docs](persist_docs)={<dict>}
) }}

Snapshots can be configured in one of three ways:

1. Using a config block within a snapshot
2. Using a config resource property in a .yml file
3. From the dbt_project.yml file, under the snapshots: key. To apply a configuration to a snapshot, or directory of snapshots, define the resource path as nested dictionary keys.

Snapshot configurations are applied hierarchically in the order above.

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

snapshots:
  +target_schema: snapshots

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

For a project named jaffle_shop:

snapshots:
  jaffle_shop:
    +target_schema: snapshot_data

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

We recommend using config blocks if you need to apply a configuration to one snapshot only.

{% snapshot orders_snapshot %}
    {{
        config(
          unique_key='id',
          strategy='timestamp',
          updated_at='updated_at'
        )
    }}
    -- Pro-Tip: Use sources in snapshots!
    select * from {{ source('jaffle_shop', 'orders') }}
{% endsnapshot %}

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:

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.

version: 2

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