Building SCD-2 models using the default incremental materialization #dbt

README.md

Building SCD-2 models using the default incremental materialization

1. Bootstrap the source / snapshot table source_users and the initial state of our scd2 table dim_users by running:

dbt run -m source_users dim_users

2. Copy over contents of dim_users_inc.sql replacing contents in dim_users.sql (or just rename them). Then run:

dbt run -m dim_users

Demo

dim_users.sql

-- We preload this dim_users SCD2 table with some initial data so we can 
-- incremental over it later.

with source_data as (

    select 1 as user_id, current_timestamp as updated_at, 'pending' as status union all
    select 1, dateadd(minute, 10, current_timestamp), 'active' union all
    select 2, dateadd(minute, 20, current_timestamp), 'pending'

)

select user_id
       , updated_at
       , status
       , updated_at as dbt_valid_from
       , lead(updated_at, 1) over (partition by user_id order by updated_at) as dbt_valid_to
  from source_data
 order by 1, 2

dim_users_inc.sql

-- Copy this into `dim_users.sql` after initial bootstrapping.

{{ 
    config(
        materialized='incremental',
        unique_key='md5(concat(user_id, updated_at))',
        incremental_strategy='delete+insert'
    ) 
}}

with source_rows as (
  
    select *
           , updated_at as dbt_valid_from
           , null as dbt_valid_to
           , md5(concat(user_id, updated_at)) as dbt__scd_id 
     from {{ ref('source_users') }}
  
)

{% if is_incremental() %}
    , destination_rows as (
    
        select *
               , md5(concat(user_id, updated_at)) as dbt__scd_id 
         from {{ this }} 
        where dbt_valid_to is null
    
    )

    , new_valid_to as (
    
        select d.user_id
               , s.dbt_valid_from as dbt_valid_to
          from source_rows s
          join destination_rows d
            on s.user_id = d.user_id
           and s.dbt__scd_id != d.dbt__scd_id

    )

    , add_new_valid_to as (
    
        select d.user_id
               , d.updated_at
               , d.status
               , d.dbt_valid_from
               , n.dbt_valid_to 
          from destination_rows d
          left join new_valid_to n
            on d.user_id = n.user_id

    )

    select n.user_id
           , n.updated_at
           , n.status
           , n.dbt_valid_from
           , n.dbt_valid_to 
      from add_new_valid_to n
     union
{% endif %}

select s.user_id
       , s.updated_at
       , s.status
       , s.dbt_valid_from
       , lead(s.updated_at, 1) over (partition by s.user_id order by s.updated_at) as dbt_valid_to 
  from source_rows s

source_users.sql

with source_data as (

    select 1 as user_id, dateadd(minute, 30, current_timestamp) as updated_at, 'deleted' as status union all
    select 2, dateadd(minute, 40, current_timestamp), 'active' union all
    select 3, dateadd(minute, 50, current_timestamp), 'pending'

)

select * from source_data

@jeremyyeo one think I also like to add in this setup is a config on the incremental model to avoid the full_refresh, as with snapshots we are looking to store history and we want to avoid dropping those tables by mistake.