# merge\_insert\_columns

**URL:** <https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/merge-insert-columns/6859>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** incremental\
**Created:** [February 19, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/merge-insert-columns/6859 "2023-02-19T07:35:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![asimalsaeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f475e1/32.png) [@asimalsaeed](https://discourse.getdbt.com/u/asimalsaeed)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/merge-insert-columns/6859/1 "2023-02-19T07:35:18Z")

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Hi everyone,  
is there anyway that I can exclude specific columns when I use materialisation = “incremental” and strategy= “merge” , I used the below Configs:  
config(  
materialized = ‘incremental’,  
incremental\_strategy = ‘merge’,  
unique\_key = ‘key’,  
ignore\_columns= [‘key’]  
)  
when its come to filter the inserted columns and not the updated column,  
If there is a configuration like merge\_update\_columns, for inserted column “merge\_insert\_columns”

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**Author:** ![akshay534\_anko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dc4da7/32.png) [@akshay534\_anko](https://discourse.getdbt.com/u/akshay534_anko)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2023, 8:22am UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/merge-insert-columns/6859/2 "2023-05-29T08:22:46Z")

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@asimalsaeed Did you find any work around ?  
I’m stuck with same issue.

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**Author:** ![Surya](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/discourse.getdbt.com/surya/32/3763_2.png) [@Surya](https://discourse.getdbt.com/u/Surya)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 4:48am UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/merge-insert-columns/6859/3 "2023-05-30T04:48:36Z")

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@asimalsaeed  
as of now there is no such feature, but u can create a custom incremental strategy for your use case

plz refer this for custom incremental strategy [incremental model (Merge) without update - #3 by Surya](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/incremental-model-merge-without-update/7505/3)

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**Author:** ![shayms8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@shayms8](https://discourse.getdbt.com/u/shayms8)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://discourse.getdbt.com/t/merge-insert-columns/6859/5 "2023-09-12T13:40:54Z")

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What about using the `merge_exclude_columns` ?  
documentation here: [merge\_exclude\_columns](https://docs.getdbt.com/docs/build/incremental-models#strategy-specific-configs)