Hi, I propose requiring each new snapshot in a v4 table to have a timestamp-ms strictly greater than its parent snapshot’s timestamp on the same branch. Root snapshots are unconstrained, and v1–v3 behavior remains unchanged.
This ensures snapshot timestamps align with snapshot order. This change would resolve time travel issues caused by out-of-order snapshot timestamps. This can also enable a row timestamp metadata column inherited from the snapshot timestamp (a separate follow-up v4 spec change). Spec PR: #16294 <https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/16294> Reference implementation: #16293 <https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/16293> Please vote in the next 72 hours: [ ] +1 Adopt the requirement [ ] +0 No preference [ ] -1 Do not adopt the requirement (please explain) Thanks, Steven Discussion thread: https://lists.apache.org/thread/cln7xtjy9kw2096gzqlg5c4gg8b9td10
