Docs: Document nightly snapshots

site/docs/how-to-release.md

@@ -360,6 +360,7 @@ Once this is done, create a PR against the `javadoc` branch, similar to https://
 
 Submit a PR, following the approach in https://github.com/apache/iceberg/pull/12242,
 to update the Iceberg version, the links to the new version's documentation, and the release notes.
+Also bump `snapshotVersion` in `site/mkdocs.yml` to the next development version (the new release with its minor version incremented, suffixed with `-SNAPSHOT`) so the [nightly snapshots](nightly-snapshots.md) page stays current.
 
 Once this PR is merged, the [`site-ci`](https://github.com/apache/iceberg/blob/main/.github/workflows/site-ci.yml)
 GitHub Actions workflow is automatically triggered for any push to `main` that touches `docs/`, `site/`,

site/docs/multi-engine-support.md

@@ -135,6 +135,6 @@ This allows the Iceberg support to evolve with the engine.
 Projects such as [Trino](https://trino.io/docs/current/connector/iceberg.html) and [Presto](https://prestodb.io/docs/current/connector/iceberg.html) are good examples of such support strategy.
 
 In this approach, an Iceberg version upgrade is needed for an engine to consume new Iceberg features.
-To facilitate engine development against unreleased Iceberg features, a daily snapshot is published in the [Apache snapshot repository](https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots/org/apache/iceberg/).
+To facilitate engine development against unreleased Iceberg features, [nightly snapshots](nightly-snapshots.md) are published daily to the Apache snapshot repository.
 
 If bringing an engine directly to the Iceberg main repository is needed, please raise a discussion thread in the [Iceberg community](community.md).

site/docs/nightly-snapshots.md

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+---
+title: "Nightly Snapshots"
+---
+<!--
+ - Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ - contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ - this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ - The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ - (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ - the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ -
+ -   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ -
+ - Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ - distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ - WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ - See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ - limitations under the License.
+ -->
+
+# Nightly Snapshots
+
+Every night, Apache Iceberg publishes a snapshot of every module to the
+[Apache snapshot repository](https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots/org/apache/iceberg/).
+These nightly snapshots let developers build and test against the latest unreleased
+changes on `main` before they are included in an official release.
+
+!!! warning "For Iceberg developers only"
+
+    Snapshots are **unreleased**, in-development builds. They are **not** an official
+    Apache release, may change or break at any time, and **must not be used in
+    production**. For production use, always depend on an official
+    [release](releases.md). Per the ASF
+    [release policy](https://apache.org/legal/release-policy#publication), unreleased
+    artifacts are intended only for developers who are actively participating in
+    Iceberg development.
+
+## Snapshot version
+
+Snapshots are published daily at 00:00 UTC under the version `{{ snapshotVersion }}`,
+which tracks the next unreleased version (the latest release with its minor version
+incremented). Browse the
+[snapshot repository listing](https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots/org/apache/iceberg/)
+to see which modules and versions are available.
+
+## Usage
+
+Add the Apache snapshot repository to your build and depend on the `{{ snapshotVersion }}`
+version of the Iceberg modules you need. The examples below use `iceberg-core`; replace
+it with the artifacts your project requires, such as an engine runtime like
+`iceberg-spark-runtime-{{ sparkVersionMajor }}`.
+
+=== "Gradle"
+
+    In `build.gradle`:
+
+    ```gradle
+    repositories {
+      mavenCentral()
+      maven {
+        url = uri("https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots")
+      }
+    }
+
+    dependencies {
+      implementation "org.apache.iceberg:iceberg-core:{{ snapshotVersion }}"
+    }
+    ```
+
+=== "Maven"
+
+    In `pom.xml`:
+
+    ```xml
+    <repositories>
+      <repository>
+        <id>apache-snapshots</id>
+        <url>https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots</url>
+        <snapshots>
+          <enabled>true</enabled>
+        </snapshots>
+      </repository>
+    </repositories>
+
+    <dependencies>
+      <dependency>
+        <groupId>org.apache.iceberg</groupId>
+        <artifactId>iceberg-core</artifactId>
+        <version>{{ snapshotVersion }}</version>
+      </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+    ```
+
+=== "sbt"
+
+    In `build.sbt`:
+
+    ```scala
+    resolvers += "Apache Snapshots" at "https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots"
+
+    libraryDependencies += "org.apache.iceberg" % "iceberg-core" % "{{ snapshotVersion }}"
+    ```
+
+=== "Spark"
+
+    Pass the snapshot repository and a snapshot runtime to `spark-shell` (or
+    `spark-sql`, `pyspark`, or `spark-submit`):
+
+    ```sh
+    spark-shell \
+      --repositories https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots \
+      --packages org.apache.iceberg:iceberg-spark-runtime-{{ sparkVersionMajor }}:{{ snapshotVersion }}
+    ```

site/mkdocs.yml

@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ markdown_extensions:
 
 extra:
   icebergVersion: '1.11.0'
+  snapshotVersion: '1.12.0-SNAPSHOT'
   nessieVersion: '0.105.3'
   flinkVersion: '2.1.0'
   flinkVersionMajor: '2.1'

site/nav.yml

@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ nav:
   - Project:
     - Contributing: contribute.md
     - Multi-engine support: multi-engine-support.md
+    - Nightly snapshots: nightly-snapshots.md
     - Benchmarks: benchmarks.md
     - Security: security.md
     - How to release: how-to-release.md