begin

Available in the dbt Cloud "Latest" release track and dbt Core v1.9 and higher.

Definition

Set the begin config to the timestamp value at which your microbatch model data should begin — at the point the data becomes relevant for the microbatch model. You can configure begin for a model in your dbt_project.yml file, property YAML file, or config block. The value for begin must be a string representing an ISO formatted date OR date and time.

Examples

The following examples set 2024-01-01 00:00:00 as the begin config for the user_sessions model.

Example in the dbt_project.yml file:

dbt_project.yml

models:
  my_project:
    user_sessions:
      +begin: "2024-01-01 00:00:00"

Example in a properties YAML file:

models/properties.yml

models:
  - name: user_sessions
    config:
      begin: "2024-01-01 00:00:00"

Example in sql model config block:

models/user_sessions.sql

{{ config(
    begin='2024-01-01 00:00:00'
) }}