developing-incremental-models
Installation
SKILL.md
dbt Incremental Model Development
Choose the right strategy. Design the unique_key carefully. Handle edge cases.
When to Use Incremental
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Source data < 10M rows | Use table (simpler, full refresh is fast) |
| Source data > 10M rows | Consider incremental |
| Source data updated in place | Use incremental with merge strategy |
| Append-only source (logs, events) | Use incremental with append strategy |
| Partitioned warehouse data | Use insert_overwrite if supported |
Default to table unless you have a clear performance reason for incremental.
Critical Rules
- ALWAYS test with
--full-refreshfirst before relying on incremental logic
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