A distributed data store labels operations with globally unique identifiers that contain approximate timestamps. The labels are used to address causes of inconsistency in the distributed data store while ensuring progress. A first mode is provided that stores the latest label for each entry is useful if re-inserts and deletes are rare. Another mode is provided that stores a history of labels for each entry can be used if there are many re-inserts and deletes. A further mode is provided that stores a history of labels for queries can report updates to query answers as inserts and deletes settle across the distributed data store.