diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/spec/schema/mod.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/spec/schema/mod.rs
index 23b0a4349b..0a15a0a082 100644
--- a/crates/iceberg/src/spec/schema/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/spec/schema/mod.rs
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use self::_serde::SchemaEnum;
 use self::id_reassigner::ReassignFieldIds;
-use self::index::{index_by_id, index_parents, IndexByName};
+pub use self::index::index_parents;
+use self::index::{index_by_id, IndexByName};
 pub use self::prune_columns::prune_columns;
 use super::NestedField;
 use crate::error::Result;
@@ -376,6 +377,14 @@ impl Schema {
         self.identifier_field_ids.iter().copied()
     }
 
+    /// Returns the set of identifier field names
+    pub fn identifier_field_names(&self) -> HashSet<String> {
+        self.identifier_field_ids
+            .iter()
+            .filter_map(|id| self.id_to_name.get(id).cloned())
+            .collect()
+    }
+
     /// Get field id by full name.
     pub fn field_id_by_name(&self, name: &str) -> Option<i32> {
         self.name_to_id.get(name).copied()
diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/mod.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/mod.rs
index 108ad10595..aba29d4dd1 100644
--- a/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/mod.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 //! This module contains transaction api.
 
 mod append;
+mod schema_update;
 mod snapshot;
 mod sort_order;
 
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ use crate::error::Result;
 use crate::spec::FormatVersion;
 use crate::table::Table;
 use crate::transaction::append::FastAppendAction;
+use crate::transaction::schema_update::SchemaUpdateAction;
 use crate::transaction::sort_order::ReplaceSortOrderAction;
 use crate::TableUpdate::UpgradeFormatVersion;
 use crate::{Catalog, Error, ErrorKind, TableCommit, TableRequirement, TableUpdate};
@@ -150,6 +152,16 @@ impl<'a> Transaction<'a> {
         snapshot_id
     }
 
+    /// Get base table
+    pub fn current(&self) -> &Table {
+        &self.current_table
+    }
+
+    /// Update table's schema
+    pub fn update_schema(self) -> SchemaUpdateAction<'a> {
+        SchemaUpdateAction::new(self)
+    }
+
     /// Creates a fast append action.
     pub fn fast_append(
         self,
diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/schema_update.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/schema_update.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b212f531dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/transaction/schema_update.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+// 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.
+
+use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
+
+use crate::spec::{index_parents, PrimitiveType, Schema, TableMetadataRef, Type};
+use crate::transaction::{Arc, Transaction};
+use crate::TableCommit;
+
+pub struct SchemaUpdateAction<'a> {
+    tx: Transaction<'a>,
+    base: TableMetadataRef,
+    schema: Arc<Schema>,
+    last_column_id: i32,
+    id_to_parent: HashMap<i32, i32>,
+    identifier_field_names: HashSet<String>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> SchemaUpdateAction<'a> {
+    pub fn new(tx: Transaction<'a>) -> Self {
+        let base = tx.current().metadata_ref();
+        let schema = base.schemas.get(&base.current_schema_id).unwrap().clone();
+        let last_column_id = base.last_column_id;
+        let id_to_parent = index_parents(schema.as_struct()).unwrap();
+        let identifier_field_names = schema.identifier_field_names();
+        Self {
+            tx,
+            base,
+            schema,
+            last_column_id,
+            id_to_parent,
+            identifier_field_names,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn add_column(self, parent: String, name: String, r#type: Type, doc: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn add_required_column(
+        self,
+        parent: String,
+        name: String,
+        r#type: Type,
+        doc: String,
+    ) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn delete_column(self, name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn rename_column(self, name: String, new_name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn require_column(self, name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn make_column_optional(self, name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn update_column(self, name: String, new_type: PrimitiveType) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn update_column_doc(self, name: String, doc: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn move_first(self, name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn move_before(self, name: String, before_name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn move_after(self, name: String, after_name: String) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn union_by_name_with(self, new_schema: Schema) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn set_identifier_fields(self, identifier_field_names: Vec<String>) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn case_sensitive(self, case_sensitivity: bool) -> Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    pub fn apply(self) -> Schema {
+        Schema::builder().build().unwrap()
+    }
+
+    pub fn commit(self) -> () {
+        // TODO apply changes to metadata first
+
+        // TODO fix this
+        // let table_commit = TableCommit::builder()
+        //     .ident(self.tx.current().identifier().clone())
+        //     .updates(self.updates)
+        //     .requirements(self.requirements)
+    }
+}