> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/apache/iceberg/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Actions API Overview

> Overview of Apache Iceberg Actions API for table maintenance operations

# Actions API

The Actions API provides a high-level interface for performing table maintenance operations in Apache Iceberg. Actions are designed to work with query engines like Apache Spark to distribute parts of the work.

## What are Actions?

Actions are operations performed on Iceberg tables that extend beyond basic read/write operations. They are typically maintenance tasks that optimize table performance, clean up old data, or reorganize table structure.

All actions implement the base `Action` interface:

```java theme={null}
public interface Action<ThisT, R> {
  ThisT option(String name, String value);
  ThisT options(Map<String, String> options);
  R execute();
}
```

## Available Actions

Iceberg provides several built-in actions for common maintenance tasks:

### Data Management

* **[ExpireSnapshots](/api/actions/expire-snapshots)** - Remove old snapshots and their associated files
* **[RewriteDataFiles](/api/actions/rewrite-data-files)** - Optimize file layout and size
* **[DeleteOrphanFiles](/api/actions/delete-orphan-files)** - Remove orphaned files not referenced by any snapshot

### Metadata Management

* **[RewriteManifests](/api/actions/rewrite-manifests)** - Optimize manifest file organization
* **[ComputeTableStats](/api/actions/compute-table-stats)** - Collect and store table statistics

## Using Actions

Actions are obtained through an `ActionsProvider` implementation. The typical workflow is:

1. Get an action instance from the provider
2. Configure the action with options
3. Execute the action
4. Process the result

### Example

```java theme={null}
// Get an action
ExpireSnapshots action = actions.expireSnapshots(table);

// Configure it
action
  .expireOlderThan(System.currentTimeMillis() - TimeUnit.DAYS.toMillis(7))
  .retainLast(5);

// Execute and get results
ExpireSnapshots.Result result = action.execute();

System.out.println("Deleted " + result.deletedDataFilesCount() + " data files");
```

## Common Patterns

### Configuring Actions

All actions support configuration through:

* Method chaining with specific configuration methods
* Generic `option()` and `options()` methods for advanced settings

```java theme={null}
action
  .option("max-concurrent-deletes", "10")
  .options(Map.of(
    "custom-setting", "value",
    "another-setting", "value"
  ));
```

### Results

Each action returns a result object containing execution summary information:

```java theme={null}
Result result = action.execute();
// Access result-specific metrics
long filesDeleted = result.deletedDataFilesCount();
```

## Implementation Notes

* Actions may use query engines to distribute work across a cluster
* Some actions modify table metadata and create new snapshots
* Actions are designed to be safe and atomic where possible
* Long-running actions may support partial progress and retry mechanisms

## Next Steps

Explore the specific action documentation to learn about configuration options and use cases:

* [ExpireSnapshots](/api/actions/expire-snapshots)
* [RewriteDataFiles](/api/actions/rewrite-data-files)
* [RewriteManifests](/api/actions/rewrite-manifests)
* [DeleteOrphanFiles](/api/actions/delete-orphan-files)
* [ComputeTableStats](/api/actions/compute-table-stats)