June 5, 2026: Default metadata write format for Apache Iceberg™ tables (General availability)¶

You can now set a default metadata write format at the account, database, or schema level so that CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE create Apache Iceberg™ tables without the ICEBERG keyword. This release includes the following capabilities:

• DEFAULT_METADATA_WRITE_FORMAT parameter to default new tables to the Snowflake table format or the Apache Iceberg™ table format.
• Automatic DDL promotion in catalog-linked databases so CREATE TABLE creates Apache Iceberg™ tables without the ICEBERG keyword.

For more information, see Configure default metadata write format for Apache Iceberg™ tables.