ingestiontime

Ingestion time is the timestamp assigned to data at the moment it is received by a data store, input layer, or processing pipeline. It is metadata that records when the data entered the system and may be stored as a dedicated field or in system logs.

Ingestion time is distinct from event time, which is the time the data describes, and from processing time, which is when the data is processed or consumed. The ingestion timestamp enables measurement of data freshness and ingestion latency, calculated as the current time minus the ingestion time.

In practice, systems use ingestion time to order records, partition data for near-real-time queries, and handle late-arriving data. It supports data lineage, quality checks, and monitoring of end-to-end latency in streaming and batch workflows.

Common challenges include clock skew among distributed components, time zone handling, and ensuring consistent time sources. Backfills or late data can cause mismatches between ingestion time and event time, requiring reconciliation, deduplication, or window adjustments.

In many pipelines, ingestion time complements event time and processing time. Analysts may compare the three to assess timeliness, diagnose delays, or determine appropriate windowing strategies for analytics and dashboards.