# Bridge Queries in Redpanda SQL

DevFeed: [Bridge Queries in Redpanda SQL](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/bridge-queries-in-redpanda-sql-12677.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.redpanda.com/blog/bridge-queries-in-redpanda-sql>)

Author: Paul Wilkinson

Published: 2026-06-23T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Redpanda](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/redpanda.md>)

Topics: [Apache Iceberg](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/apache-iceberg.md>), [SQL](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/sql.md>), [Streaming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/streaming.md>), [parquet](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/parquet.md>), [Compression](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/compression.md>), [real-time](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/real-time.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/data.md>), [dashboards](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/dashboards.md>)

Tags: [analytics](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/analytics.md>), [compression](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/compression.md>), [data](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [parquet](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/parquet.md>), [real-time](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/real-time.md>), [sql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sql.md>), [storage](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/storage.md>), [streaming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/streaming.md>)

## AI overview

This article introduces bridge queries in Redpanda SQL, which combine historical data from Iceberg tables with recent messages from Redpanda topics through a single virtual SQL table. By reading the freshness gap directly from the topic, teams can flush data to Iceberg less frequently, producing better-sized Parquet files while retaining near-real-time query results and reducing compaction overhead.

## Source excerpt

Stop choosing between fresh data and robust Parquet files. Redpanda SQL bridge queries let you query live streaming topics and historical Iceberg tables together, without the compaction overhead.