event_time

Available in dbt Cloud Versionless and dbt Core v1.9 and higher.

Models

dbt_project.yml

models:
  resource-path:
    +event_time: my_time_field

models/properties.yml

models:
  - name: model_name
    config:
      event_time: my_time_field

models/modelname.sql

{{ config(
    event_time='my_time_field'
) }}

Seeds

dbt_project.yml

seeds:
  resource-path:
    +event_time: my_time_field

seeds/properties.yml

seeds:
  - name: seed_name
    config:
      event_time: my_time_field

Snapshots

dbt_project.yml

snapshots:
  resource-path:
    +event_time: my_time_field

Sources

dbt_project.yml

sources:
  resource-path:
    +event_time: my_time_field

models/properties.yml

sources:
  - name: source_name
    config:
      event_time: my_time_field

Definition

Set the event_time to the name of the field that represents the timestamp of the event, as opposed to an event ingestion date. You can configure event_time for a model, seed, or source in your dbt_project.yml file, property YAML file, or config block.

Here are some examples of good and bad event_time columns:

• ✅ Good:

  • account_created_at — This represents the specific time when an account was created, making it a fixed event in time.
  • session_began_at — This captures the exact timestamp when a user session started, which won’t change and directly ties to the event.

• ❌ Bad:

  • _fivetran_synced — This isn't the time that the event happened, it's the time that the event was ingested.
  • last_updated_at — This isn't a good use case as this will keep changing over time.

event_time is required for Incremental microbatch and highly recommended for Advanced CI's compare changes in CI/CD workflows, where it ensures the same time-slice of data is correctly compared between your CI and production environments.

Examples

Models

Here's an example in the dbt_project.yml file:

dbt_project.yml

models:
  my_project:
    user_sessions:
      +event_time: session_start_time

Example in a properties YAML file:

models/properties.yml

models:
  - name: user_sessions
    config:
      event_time: session_start_time

Example in sql model config block:

models/user_sessions.sql

{{ config(
    event_time='session_start_time'
) }}

This setup sets session_start_time as the event_time for the user_sessions model.

Seeds

Here's an example in the dbt_project.yml file:

dbt_project.yml

seeds:
  my_project:
    my_seed:
      +event_time: record_timestamp

Example in a seed properties YAML:

seeds/properties.yml

seeds:
  - name: my_seed
    config:
      event_time: record_timestamp

This setup sets record_timestamp as the event_time for my_seed. It ensures that the record_timestamp is used consistently in Advanced CI's compare changes or incremental microbatching.

Snapshots

Here's an example in the dbt_project.yml file:

dbt_project.yml

snapshots:
  my_project:
    my_snapshot:
      +event_time: record_timestamp

Example in a snapshot properties YAML:

my_project/properties.yml

snapshots:
  - name: my_snapshot
    config:
      event_time: record_timestamp

This setup sets record_timestamp as the event_time for my_snapshot. Setting event_time allows the snapshot to compare data based on the event occurrence and not ingestion time. It also ensures record_timestamp is used consistently in Advanced CI's compare changes or incremental microbatching.

Sources

Here's an example of source properties YAML file:

models/properties.yml

sources:
  - name: source_name
    tables:
      - name: table_name
        config:
          event_time: event_timestamp

This setup sets event_timestamp as the event_time for the specified source table.