# Data Lineage

> See what a model, dataset, or dashboard is built from and what depends on it, below your code in the IDE.

:::info Coming Soon
This feature is not yet available. We'll update this page when it launches. The behavior below reflects the planned first version.
:::

## Overview

Every model, dataset, and dashboard is connected to the others through the code that defines it. The lineage graph reads those connections straight from your project code to answer two questions:

- **What will break if I change this?** Rename or delete a field, or edit a metric, and a dashboard you did not know about can break silently.
- **Where does this number come from?** When a figure looks wrong, tracing it back through metric, dataset, model, and table by hand takes hours.

## What it is

Lineage graph answers both questions. Open any model, dataset, or dashboard, and a panel appears below your code showing what the object is built from and what depends on it. Because the graph is read straight from your project code, it is always accurate, and it reflects the exact branch you are working on.

<VideoPlayer src="https://media.holistics.io/modeling/lineage-graph-video.mp4" title="Lineage graph in the Holistics IDE" />

## Key capabilities

- **Trace both ways:** see what depends on an object before you change it, and follow any number back through model and source table to find where it goes wrong.
- **Judge each object as you trace:** hover any node to see its metadata, so you can verify each dependency without leaving the graph.
- **Always up to date:** lineage is compiled from your project code, not scanned, so it never goes stale, and switching branches switches the graph with it.

## How it works

Open a model, dataset, or dashboard, and its lineage appears in a panel at the bottom of the editor. The object you opened sits in the middle. Everything on one side is what it is built from (its sources); everything on the other side is what uses it (its consumers).

A few conventions make the whole graph easy to read:

- **"Built from" and "used by":** follow the arrows back to see what an object is built from, and forward to see what would break if you changed it.
- **Collapsed by default:** each object shows as a single node so the graph stays clean. Expand a node to see its fields; hidden connections roll up onto the node, so nothing is lost.