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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.

dbt_project.yml
snapshots:
  <resource-path>:
    +enabled: true | false
    +tags: <string> | [<string>]
    +alias: <string>
    +pre-hook: <sql-statement> | [<sql-statement>]
    +post-hook: <sql-statement> | [<sql-statement>]
    +persist_docs: {<dict>}
    +grants: {<dict>}

Configuring snapshots​

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.

Examples​

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​

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

snapshots/postgres_app/orders_snapshot.sql
{% 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:

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
    config:
      persist_docs:
        relation: true
        columns: true
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