datalineage-summary

Files (3)

• SKILL.md
• attribution.md · references/
• mcp-usage.md · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Data Lineage Summary

This skill guides the agent in investigating and summarizing the Data Lineage
graph for a specific focal asset (Table-Level Lineage) or specific fields
(Column-Level Lineage). It provides an intuitive left-to-right walkthrough of
how data enters and leaves the asset, abstracting away complex node and link
details into plain English.

## Attribution

**MUST READ**: Before executing any `gcloud`, REST API, or MCP command, you
MUST read [Usage Attribution](references/attribution.md). For commands executed
directly in the terminal (never in generated scripts, Terraform, or user code),
prefix `gcloud` with
`CLOUDSDK_METRICS_REQUEST_ATTRIBUTION="agent-skills/1.0 (skill:datalineage-summary)"`
and append `agent-skills/1.0 (skill:datalineage-summary)` to `User-Agent` headers.

## Prerequisites

This skill relies on the **data lineage (Knowledge Catalog) MCP Server** on
Google Cloud for graph traversal. Ensure you can run `search_lineage` queries in
both upstream and downstream directions. For detailed connection configurations
and tool schemas, refer to [MCP Usage](references/mcp-usage.md).

## Workflow Logic

### 1. Get Lineage

Fetch the lineage graph in both directions from the focal point (both upstream
and downstream) by making *two separate calls* to the MCP tool: one with
`"direction": "UPSTREAM"` and another with `"direction": "DOWNSTREAM"`.

*   **Location Strategy**: You **MUST** use the `read_url` tool to fetch the
    comprehensive list of locations dynamically from the provided
    [Knowledge Catalog Locations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dataplex/docs/locations.md.txt)
    link. To ensure cross-regional lineage is not missed, always verify the
    current list of Google Cloud regions using this link before populating the
    `locations` array. You **MUST** populate the `locations` array with all
    supported physical regions fetched from this link. You may optionally
    additionally determine the asset's specific active region (using `bq show`
    or `gcloud storage ls`).
*   **Search Parameters**: Use `maxDepth = 10`, `maxResults = 5000` and
    `maxProcessPerLink = 10` as robust defaults when calling `search_lineage`.
    For example, a DOWNSTREAM call should be formatted like this (expanding the
    `locations` array as needed):

    ```json
    {
      "parent": "projects/project_id/locations/us",
      "locations": [
        "us",
        "us-central1",
        "us-east1",
        "us-west1",
        "europe-west1",
        "asia-northeast1"
      ],
      "rootCriteria": {
        "entities": {
          "entities": [
            {
              "fullyQualifiedName": "bigquery:project.dataset.table"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "direction": "DOWNSTREAM",
      "limits": {
        "maxDepth": 10,
        "maxResults": 5000,
        "maxProcessPerLink": 10
      }
    }
    ```

    Ensure you make a similar call with `"direction": "UPSTREAM"` to fetch the
    upstream lineage.

*   **Column-Level Lineage (CLL)**: The `search_lineage` tool can find all
    Column-Level Lineage (CLL) by configuring the `field` array. If Table-Level
    Lineage (TLL) is requested, configure the call to get CLL links along with
    the TLL links by exploiting the `"*"` wildcard. For example:

    ```json
    "rootCriteria": {
      "entities": {
        "entities": [
          {
            "fullyQualifiedName": "bigquery:project.dataset.table",
            "field": [
              "*"
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
    ```

    If evaluating a specific column, replace `"*"` with the specific column name
    (e.g., `"efficiency_score"`).

### 2. Summarize

Generate the summary using the prompt guidelines below.

*   **Persona**: Act as an expert Data Lineage Analyst generating a concise,
    easy-to-understand left-to-right walkthrough of the data flow.
*   **Structure & Flow**: Start immediately with the summary text, structured as
    follows:
    *   **Overall Flow Type**: State the inferred workflow type and data domain
        (e.g., "This appears to be a Feature Engineering workflow...").
    *   **Systems Overview**: List the primary systems involved up front. If the
        request is for Column-Level Lineage, you MUST explicitly declare that
        the scope of the analysis is limited to the specified field up front.
    *   **Upstream Lineage**: Use the exact bold header `**Upstream Lineage:**`.
        Narrative must detail how data arrives at the focal asset, mentioning
        key source systems, projects, and processing tasks (e.g., Spark on
        Dataproc).
    *   **Downstream Lineage**: Use the exact bold header `**Downstream

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