What does the dbt snapshot command do?

The dbt snapshot command is specifically designed to execute snapshot definitions that are defined within your dbt project. Snapshots are used to capture and store historical changes in your data, allowing you to track changes over time for a set of records. When you run the snapshot command, dbt checks your defined snapshots against the current state of the source data, applying any necessary logic to create or update records in the snapshot table.

This functionality enables analytics teams to maintain audit histories, thereby providing valuable insights into how data changes over time, which is crucial for accurate reporting and analysis. The process of executing these definitions ensures that the snapshot tables are refreshed and reflect the ongoing changes in the respective source data.

While the other options suggest related actions, they do not accurately describe the primary purpose of the snapshot command. For instance, compiling updates or generating a project’s state might involve other dbt commands, and displaying snapshot paths, although relevant, does not encapsulate the core function of creating historical records from data.