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    Time Travel Queries in Apache Iceberg

    1 min read
    Data Engineering Apache Iceberg SQL

    Discovered today that Apache Iceberg makes time travel queries incredibly simple. This is a game-changer for debugging data pipelines.

    Query as of a Timestamp

    SELECT * FROM catalog.db.table
FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF TIMESTAMP '2025-03-07 10:00:00'

    Query a Specific Snapshot

    SELECT * FROM catalog.db.table
FOR SYSTEM_VERSION AS OF 123456789

    Why This Matters

    1. Debugging - Reproduce issues by querying data as it existed when the bug occurred
    2. Auditing - See what data looked like at any point in time
    3. Recovery - Easily rollback to a previous state if something goes wrong

    Pro Tip

    Combine with DESCRIBE HISTORY to see all available snapshots:

    DESCRIBE HISTORY catalog.db.table

    This shows snapshot IDs, timestamps, and what operation created each snapshot.

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