Apache Iceberg Tagging Brings Point-in-Time Bookmarks to Your Data Lakehouse

Apache Iceberg tags in Starburst provide immutable named references to specific table snapshots, functioning like Git tags while Iceberg branches remain mutable pointers for ongoing work. Tags support audit-ready regulatory snapshots, reproducible analytics and machine-learning datasets, release checkpoints, and protection of important snapshots from expiration through configurable retention policies. Starburst uses extended CREATE BRANCH syntax to create, replace, query, and drop tags, including tags for current or historical snapshots and tags captured from a branch. Tagged data can be queried with standard time-travel syntax and retains the schema that existed at the time of the snapshot, supporting accurate historical records. The article also describes tiered retention strategies using short-lived weekly, medium-term monthly, and long-term annual tags to balance storage costs with historical-access and compliance needs.

Use this post, company, and trend context to find content marketing opportunities, perform competitive analysis, or address product feature gaps via the Plushcap MCP server or the Plushcap API.