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How Lineage Works

Lineage in Qualytics traces how data flows across containers (tables, files, computed assets) and the fields inside them. Each container has a dedicated Lineage tab where you can explore connections upstream and downstream from that point.

Why Lineage Matters

Lineage supports several data quality workflows:

  • Impact analysis: When an anomaly is detected, lineage shows the downstream consumers that may be affected and the upstream sources that may be the root cause.
  • Pipeline understanding: Team members can navigate a multi-stage pipeline visually instead of reading pipeline code.
  • Cross-datastore awareness: When the same logical entity is materialized in multiple datastores at different stages (bronze, silver, gold), lineage keeps those connections visible even when they live in separate datastores.

Granularity: Container-level vs Field-level

Qualytics supports lineage at two levels of granularity, and both can coexist in the same graph:

  • Container-level lineage connects entire containers. For example, orders flows into daily_revenue.
  • Field-level lineage connects specific fields between containers. For example, customers.email flows into marketing_contacts.email_address. Field-level lineage gives you precise visibility into which columns are involved in each flow, making it possible to trace exactly how a transformation propagates and understand the impact of a data quality issue down to the column level.

Both sides of a connection must be at the same granularity: container-to-container or field-to-field. Mixing a container on one side with a field on the other is not supported.

For details on how connections are created and where they come from, see Lineage Sources.

Availability

Lineage is available as an add-on on top of the base platform. The Lineage tab is visible on a container only when the add-on is enabled for your deployment. An Admin user can review and toggle which add-ons are enabled from the Add-ons side panel in the top-right menu.

Permissions for editing lineage follow the platform user roles:

  • Admin and Manager users can add, modify, or remove connections.
  • Member users can read the graph but cannot change it.