snowflake: update feature support based on 2025 GA announcements#15
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Neuw84 merged 2 commits intoJun 21, 2026
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Reflects several generally available Snowflake Iceberg features from
2025 that were missing or inaccurate in the previous data:
- position-deletes:v2: upgrade partial → full; Snowflake now reads AND
writes positional delete files for externally managed tables (GA Oct
2025). Notes clarify ICEBERG_MERGE_ON_READ_BEHAVIOR='AUTO' default.
- copy-on-write:v2: remove "exclusive" claim; MoR is now also supported
(and is the default for externally managed v2 tables).
- merge-on-read:v2: fix deprecated ENABLE_ICEBERG_MERGE_ON_READ param
name → ICEBERG_MERGE_ON_READ_BEHAVIOR; update notes to reflect that
AUTO mode enables MoR by default for all externally managed tables
and that MoR is also configurable for Snowflake-managed v2 tables.
- hidden-partitioning:v2: upgrade partial → full; partitioned writes
GA (Oct 2025) adds proper Iceberg-spec-compliant partition writing
for all v2 transforms (year/month/day/hour/bucket/truncate/identity)
for both Snowflake-managed and externally managed tables.
- partition-evolution:v2: update notes; partitioned writes GA means
Snowflake correctly writes to tables whose partition spec has evolved.
- table-maintenance:v2+v3: add ENABLE_DATA_COMPACTION parameter (Sep
2025) that lets users disable automatic compaction, and target file
size feature (GA Oct 2025) for controlling compaction output.
- write-insert:v2 & write-merge-update-delete:v2: update to reflect
that externally managed tables now support full DML (INSERT, UPDATE,
DELETE, MERGE) as GA since October 2025, not just Snowflake-managed
tables. External writes commit back to the linked REST catalog.
References:
- Write support for externally managed tables (GA Oct 17 2025):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2025/other/2025-10-17-iceberg-external-writes-cld-ga
- Partitioned writes (GA Oct 17 2025):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2025/other/2025-10-17-iceberg-partitioned-writes-ga
- Prevent data compaction / ENABLE_DATA_COMPACTION (Sep 22 2025):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2025/other/2025-09-22-enable-data-compaction-parameter
Incorporates Snowflake Iceberg announcements from Summit 2026 (Jun 1-4)
and other 2026 GA releases that were not reflected in the matrix:
unity-catalog:v2+v3: partial → full
Write support for Unity Catalog is GA on AWS (Oct 2025) and Azure
(Apr 6, 2026). CTAS is also GA (Mar 31, 2026). Removes the stale
"read-only" classification.
snowflake-horizon-catalog:v2+v3: expand notes
- External engine READ via Horizon Catalog: GA Feb 6, 2026
- External engine WRITE via Horizon Catalog: GA May 26, 2026
- Masking + row access policy enforcement via Spark: GA Jan 27, 2026
- Snowflake storage tables (no external volume) accessible via
Horizon Catalog: GA Jun 1, 2026
catalog-integration:v2: expand notes
- Google BigLake Metastore REST catalog integration: GA Jun 2, 2026
- Microsoft Fabric / OneLake bi-directional access: GA Jan 30, 2026
- Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 external volumes: GA Jun 12, 2026
rest-catalog:v2: expand notes
- BigLake Metastore + Fabric/OneLake as supported REST catalogs
- Private connectivity for catalog-vended credentials: GA Jun 2, 2026
table-creation:v2: add Snowflake storage and DEFAULT_METADATA_WRITE_FORMAT
- Snowflake storage for Iceberg tables (GA Jun 1, 2026): no external
volume needed, Fail-safe protected, works on AWS + Azure
- DEFAULT_METADATA_WRITE_FORMAT parameter (GA Jun 5, 2026): create
Iceberg tables via standard CREATE TABLE without ICEBERG keyword
hidden-partitioning:v2: add hierarchical path layout
- PATH_LAYOUT=HIERARCHICAL (Hive-style) partitioned writes:
Preview Feb 2026 (Release 10.6)
References:
- Snowflake storage for Iceberg (GA Jun 1 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-06-01-iceberg-snowflake-storage-ga
- BigLake Metastore GA (Jun 2 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-06-02-iceberg-google-biglake-metastore-catalog-integration-ga
- Unity Catalog write support on Azure (GA Apr 6 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-04-06-iceberg-write-support-azure-unity-catalog
- CTAS for Unity Catalog (GA Mar 31 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-03-31-ctas-unity-catalog-external-volumes
- Horizon Catalog read GA (Feb 6 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-02-06-tables-iceberg-query-using-external-query-engine-snowflake-horizon-ga
- Fabric bi-directional access GA (Jan 30 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-01-30-iceberg-microsoft-fabric-bidirectional-data-access-ga
- Azure DLS Gen2 GA (Jun 12 2026):
https://docs.snowflake.com/en/release-notes/2026/other/2026-06-12-iceberg-azure-dls-external-volumes-ga
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Summary
This PR updates the Snowflake entry in the iceberg-matrix to reflect Iceberg features that reached General Availability in 2025–2026, including Summit 2026 announcements (June 1–4, 2026). The previous data was stale on several important capability levels.
Commit 1 — 2025 GA features (late Oct–Dec 2025)
position-deletes:v2copy-on-write:v2merge-on-read:v2ENABLE_ICEBERG_MERGE_ON_READdeprecated →ICEBERG_MERGE_ON_READ_BEHAVIOR;AUTOdefault enables MoR for all externally managed tableshidden-partitioning:v2partition-evolution:v2table-maintenance:v2+v3ENABLE_DATA_COMPACTION(Sep 2025) and target file size (Oct 2025)write-insert:v2write-merge-update-delete:v2Commit 2 — Summit 2026 and 2026 GA features (Jan–Jun 2026)
unity-catalog:v2+v3snowflake-horizon-catalog:v2catalog-integration:v2rest-catalog:v2table-creation:v2DEFAULT_METADATA_WRITE_FORMATparameter (GA Jun 5, 2026)hidden-partitioning:v2PATH_LAYOUT=HIERARCHICAL(Hive-style, Preview Feb 2026)Key 2026 Reference Links
Test plan
npm test -- --run)