Get a DuckLake metadata table

DuckLake keeps all of its bookkeeping – snapshots, table schemas, data file locations, and more – in ordinary tables inside the catalog database. This function gives you a lazy reference to any of them, which is handy for auditing and for understanding how your lake evolves.

Usage

get_metadata_table(tbl_name, ducklake_name = NULL)

Arguments

tbl_name

Character string, name of the metadata table to retrieve (e.g., "ducklake_snapshot").

ducklake_name

Character string, name of the ducklake database (optional, defaults to the currently active ducklake).

Value

A lazy table that works with dplyr verbs.

Details

Commonly useful tables include ducklake_snapshot (one row per snapshot), ducklake_table (registered tables), and ducklake_data_file (the Parquet files backing each table). The full list is in the DuckLake specification.

See also

list_table_snapshots() for a friendlier view of snapshot history.

Other table operations: create_table(), ducklake_exec(), get_ducklake_table(), replace_table(), show_ducklake_query()

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
attach_ducklake("my_lake", lake_path = "~/data/lake")

# Every snapshot ever taken
get_metadata_table("ducklake_snapshot") |> dplyr::collect()

# Which Parquet files back the lake?
get_metadata_table("ducklake_data_file") |>
  dplyr::select(data_file_id, path) |>
  dplyr::collect()
} # }