dbt_valid_to_current

Available in 1.9 or with Versionless dbt Cloud.

snapshots/schema.yml

snapshots:
  my_project:
    +dbt_valid_to_current: "to_date('9999-12-31')"

snapshots/<filename>.sql

{{
    config(
        unique_key='id',
        strategy='timestamp',
        updated_at='updated_at',
        dbt_valid_to_current='to_date('9999-12-31')'
    )
}}

dbt_project.yml

snapshots:
  <resource-path>:
    +dbt_valid_to_current: "to_date('9999-12-31')"

Description

Use the dbt_valid_to_current config to set a custom indicator for the value of dbt_valid_to in current snapshot records (like a future date). By default, this value is NULL. When set, dbt will use this specified value instead of NULL for dbt_valid_to in the snapshot table.

This approach makes it easier to assign a custom date, work in a join, or perform range-based filtering that requires an end date.

warning

To avoid any unintentional data modification, dbt will not automatically adjust the current value in the existing dbt_valid_to column. Existing current records will still have dbt_valid_to set to NULL.

Any new records inserted after applying the dbt_valid_to_current configuration will have dbt_valid_to set to the specified value (like '9999-12-31'), instead of the default NULL value.

Considerations

• Date expressions — Provide a hardcoded date expression compatible with your data platform, such as to_date('9999-12-31'). Note that syntax may vary by warehouse (for example, to_date('YYYY-MM-DD') or date(YYYY, MM, DD)).

• Jinja limitation — dbt_valid_to_current only accepts static SQL expressions. Jinja expressions (like {{ var('my_future_date') }}) are not supported.

• Deferral and state:modified — Changes to dbt_valid_to_current are compatible with deferral and --select state:modified. When this configuration changes, it'll appear in state:modified selections, raising a warning to manually make the necessary snapshot updates.

Default

By default, dbt_valid_to is set to NULL for current (most recent) records in your snapshot table. This means that these records are still valid and have no defined end date.

If you prefer to use a specific value instead of NULL for dbt_valid_to in current and future records, you can use the dbt_valid_to_current configuration option. For example, setting a date in the far future, 9999-12-31.

The value assigned to dbt_valid_to_current should be a string representing a valid date or timestamp, depending on your database's requirements. Use expressions that work within the data platform.

Impact on snapshot records

When you set dbt_valid_to_current, it affects how dbt manages the dbt_valid_to column in your snapshot table:

• For existing records — To avoid any unintentional data modification, dbt will not automatically adjust the current value in the existing dbt_valid_to column. Existing current records will still have dbt_valid_to set to NULL.

• For new records — Any new records inserted after applying the dbt_valid_to_current configuration will have dbt_valid_to set to the specified value (for example, '9999-12-31'), instead of NULL.

This means your snapshot table will have current records with dbt_valid_to values of both NULL (from existing data) and the new specified value (from new data). If you'd rather have consistent dbt_valid_to values for current records, you can manually update existing records in your snapshot table where dbt_valid_to is NULL to match your dbt_valid_to_current value.

Example

snapshots/schema.yml

snapshots:
  - name: my_snapshot
    config:
      strategy: timestamp
      updated_at: updated_at
      dbt_valid_to_current: "to_date('9999-12-31')"
    columns:
      - name: dbt_valid_from
        description: The timestamp when the record became valid.
      - name: dbt_valid_to
        description: >
          The timestamp when the record ceased to be valid. For current records,
          this is either `NULL` or the value specified in `dbt_valid_to_current`
          (like `'9999-12-31'`).

The resulting snapshot table contains the configured dbt_valid_to column value:

id	dbt_scd_id	dbt_updated_at	dbt_valid_from	dbt_valid_to
1	60a1f1dbdf899a4dd...	2024-10-02 ...	2024-10-02 ...	9999-12-31 ...
2	b1885d098f8bcff51...	2024-10-02 ...	2024-10-02 ...	9999-12-31 ...