Explore the Lineage View

OpenMetadata UI displays end-to-end lineage traceability for the table and column levels. OpenMetadata supports lineage for Database, Dashboard, and Pipelines. Just search for an data asset and expand the graph to unfold lineage. It’ll display the upstreams and downstreams edges for each node. The lineage details specify the SQL query, pipeline information, and column lineage.

In the lineage view, in the example below, the table on the left is the parent or Source node. The table on the right is the Target node. You can also identify the target node by looking at the arrow attached to it. The arrow connecting the data assets or tables is the Edge. Clicking on an edge connecting a source and a destination will display all the edge information: the Source, Target, Description, and SQL Query. It displays the SQL query used to generate the view (The table is of the Type View). The SQL query provides information on how the target table was generated from the source table.

Edge Information: Source and Target

Tip: Metadata ingestion also brings in the View Lineage, if the database has views (Data assets of the Type View).

You can set up the Lineage Config to display the required number of Upstream and Downstream Nodes, as well as the Nodes per layer. You can set up to 3 Upstream and Downstream Nodes.

Lineage Config

You can click on the data assets to view the data asset details.

• Users can view the Source, Name of the Data Asset, Description, Owner (Team/User details), Tier, and Usage information for the data asset.
• Based on the type of data asset (Table, Topic, Dashboard, Pipeline, ML Model, Container), the quick preview provides additional information. For example, for tables, the type of table, the number of queries, and columns are displayed.
• The data quality and profiler metrics displays the details on the Tests Passed, Aborted, and Failed.
• Users can view all the tags associated with the data asset.
• The Schema provides the details on the column names, type of column, and column description.

Quick Glance at the Data Asset from Lineage View

Clicking on the tables will display the list of columns and column-level lineage.

Column-Level Data Lineage in OpenMetadata

In case of Pipelines, we first have the lineage ingested from the databases. Further, when setting up the pipeline ingestion, we specify the database service name. That way we display the lineage of the database tables connected via pipelines. If a lineage is created through a pipeline, the same is displayed in the Edge information.

Database and Pipeline Lineage

Similarly for a Dashboard, we first have the lineage ingested from the databases. Further, when setting up the dashboard ingestion, the data models and charts are ingested. That way we display the lineage of the database tables connected using the dashboard data models.