# Data Lineage See your data's full journey — at every level [Get Collate Free](/welcome) ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%271400%27%20height=%27600%27/%3e)![Data Lineage](/images/data-lineage/data-lineage-header.png) ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%2744%27%20height=%2744%27/%3e)![Get complete visibility](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7) ![Get complete visibility](/images/platform/build-trust.svg) Get complete visibility Track all assets in a single platform to fully understand your data ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%2744%27%20height=%2744%27/%3e)![Simplify asset tracking](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7) ![Simplify asset tracking](/images/platform/speed-up-insight.svg) Simplify asset tracking Spend far less time and effort capturing the lineage of all your data assets ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%2744%27%20height=%2744%27/%3e)![Go beyond lineage](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7) ![Go beyond lineage](/images/data-quality/ai-icon.svg) Go beyond lineage Leverage lineage as a starting point for your other critical data management capabilities ## Get complete visibility of all your assets Capture and share all information about all your data assets Over 120 native connectors Capture lineage from all your data assets including Snowflake, Databricks, and many other data platforms All asset types View lineage for all your assets, including tables, views, stored procedures, pipelines, object storage, dashboards, streams, and more Comprehensive metadata Capture a broad range of metadata in a unified semantic graph including tags, documentation/descriptions, tiers, glossary terms, ownership, etc. Column-level lineage and more View lineage graphs at the table level and the column level, as well as at the domain and data product levels ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%27780%27%20height=%27500%27/%3e)![\[object Object\]](/images/data-lineage/complete-visibility.png) ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%27780%27%20height=%27500%27/%3e)![\[object Object\]](/images/data-lineage/complete-visibility.png) ## Simplify asset tracking to stay up to date Leverage automated lineage extraction and easy-to-use, drag/drop manual editing ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%27780%27%20height=%27500%27/%3e)![\[object Object\]](/images/data-lineage/simplified-tracking.png) Query parsing Quickly extract data lineage information from query logs to quickly build a lineage graph Pipeline and code parsing extraction Quickly extract data lineage information from your pipelines in Databricks, dbt, Apache Airflow, etc. Manual lineage editing UI Create lineage graphs or make updates to existing graphs with the easy-to-use lineage editing UI OpenLineage integration Import existing OpenLineage information while capturing greater lineage specification in your graphs ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%27780%27%20height=%27500%27/%3e)![\[object Object\]](/images/data-lineage/simplified-tracking.png) ## Go beyond lineage for added value Treat lineage as a starting point for discovery quality, impact analysis, and automated tagging Search and data discovery Use lineage graphs to find other related assets upstream and downstream in your data pipelines Data quality overlays View data quality test results in your lineage, and accelerate root cause analysis by quickly identifying upstream errors Impact analysis Identify upstream and downstream dependencies to proactively address the potential impact from changes that might break pipelines and dashboards Metadata Propagation and Reverse Metadata Propagate tags, documentation, tiers, glossary terms, etc. along lineage flows, and upload metadata back into your sources with reverse metadata ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%27780%27%20height=%27500%27/%3e)![\[object Object\]](/images/data-lineage/beyond-lineage.png) ![](data:image/svg+xml,%3csvg%20xmlns=%27http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%27%20version=%271.1%27%20width=%27780%27%20height=%27500%27/%3e)![\[object Object\]](/images/data-lineage/beyond-lineage.png) ## Built for modern data & AI practices Designed for changing needs of data & AI teams AI-Driven Automation Improve productivity, enforce governance and reduce costs with AI driven automation Unified Platform One platform for all your teams for data discovery, observability and governance Collaborate Around Data Accelerate development of data assets with social workspaces and knowledge centers Get started with Collate today for free [Get Collate Free](/welcome) Managed Service for Production Data Teams [Book a Demo](/contact-sales) ## FAQs Expand All What is data lineage used for?+ Data lineage is used to trace the journey of data from source to end-destination. A common use case is to investigate data errors such as seemingly incorrect dashboards or reports. If an error is discovered, or suspected, data engineers can follow the upstream path to see where an error might have been introduced. In the Collate Semantic Intelligence Platform, which consolidates multiple data management capabilities into one platform, data lineage can also be a starting point for discovery, assessing data quality, performing impact analysis, or for automatically propagating metadata across the data’s journey. What are the key advantages of Collate data lineage?+ Collate data lineage captures more sources (via over 100 native connectors), more asset types (including pipelines and dashboards), multiple levels of lineage (including column level and domain level), and the comprehensive metadata exposed in the lineage graph. Since you get data lineage as part of the Collate Semantic Intelligence Platform, a big advantage is you get the critical data management capabilities you need all in one place. There is no need to stitch together multiple single-purpose solutions that have limited information or leave visibility gaps in your data landscape. Does Collate support lineage on Snowflake? On Databricks? On dbt?+ Yes, Collate excels in capturing and displaying lineage information for Snowflake, Databricks, and dbt, along with many other data platforms. What is a unified semantic graph? Why is it useful?+ A unified semantic graph is a set of data in the Collate Semantic Intelligence Platform that captures metadata plus relationships in the data so you get a deeper understanding of what the data means. As an example, you might tag data with the term, “PII,” and a unified semantic graph will associate that tag with related terms such as “sensitive data,” and “PHI,” and “GDPR.” You don’t have to apply all those tags on your PII data because the unified semantic graph knows the relationship between those terms. So now you can look for all PHI data without having to also look for PII. What is metadata propagation?+ Metadata propagation is the process of copying metadata from a data set to its upstream and downstream instances. This allows you to tag data, and have those tags automatically apply to all upstream and downstream instances of that data. For example, you can tag phone numbers and email addresses as PII, and the system will also tag instances of that data both upstream and downstream in the data, saving you from the time-consuming effort of manually tagging all instances. What is reverse metadata?+ Reverse metadata is the process of copying metadata from Collate back into the original data source. This ensures that no matter how the data is viewed, it is properly tagged to help users understand the data. How do you automate the capture of lineage information from various assets?+ Collate automates the capture of lineage information by a variety of ways, including the parsing of query logs/history, reading configuration files, API/SDK integration, code parsing, and even with custom agents for platforms that do not track lineage on their own. Why is a manual lineage editing UI useful?+ Manual lineage editing is useful for creating lineage graphs on uncommon data platforms that do not provide lineage information. It is also useful for editing existing lineage graphs if a mistake was encountered. Collate provides a complete lineage editing environment that makes it easy for any user to add lineage information. Why use Collate if I already use OpenLineage?+ Enterprises that already use OpenLineage can use Collate to solve their other data management challenges regarding discovery, data quality and observability, and governance, and then import OpenLineage data to capture a complete picture of their data. However, enterprises often see value in the richer lineage specification in Collate (more supported assets, more lineage extraction methods, more automation, etc.), and deploy Collate as an upgrade to OpenMetadata while also gaining many other capabilities. Why is data lineage hard to set up?+ Data lineage is hard to set up because most enterprises have complex, fragmented, heterogeneous ecosystems with diverse data types and assets. Trying to accurately capture lineage across all these silos without gaps requires significant effort. This is how Collate can help. With many years invested in building the data lineage capabilities, including community-led efforts on the open-source OpenMetadata project, Collate delivers the leading solution for capturing lineage and using that as a starting point for other data management practices like data discovery and data quality.