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Metadata Editor

The Metadata Editor lets you make bulk changes to owners, tags, descriptions, and more across your Catalog assets. Admins can perform bulk metadata edits.

For Tables, Dashboards and Knowledge​

Actions you can perform in bulk on your assets are:

  1. Add owners
  2. Add tags
  3. Certify or uncertify
  4. Deprecate or undeprecate

It's a 3-step process:

Step 1: Select the Tables You Want to Modify​

Use the enhanced filtering system with intelligent cascading filters and lineage-based options.

Basic Filters:

  • Source, Database, Schema: Hierarchical selection where database options depend on selected sources, and schema options depend on selected databases
  • Tags: Filter by existing tags
  • Owner: Filter by asset owners

Advanced Lineage Filters:

  • Ancestors: Filter tables by their upstream dependencies using lineage relationships
    • Supports flexible search formats: database.schema.table or database schema table
    • Case-insensitive search
    • Considers all lineage types: AUTOMATIC, MANUAL_CUSTOMER, MANUAL_OPS, and OTHER_TECHNOS

Smart cascading selection: The Source > Database > Schema filters work hierarchically to prevent invalid combinations. When you select a source, only databases from that source appear. When you select databases, only schemas from those databases appear.

Lineage-based filtering: Use the Ancestors filter to find all tables that depend on a specific upstream table. This is perfect for propagating ownership, tags, or other metadata changes downstream through your data lineage.

Metadata Editor interface displaying a list of tables with columns for Name, Popularity, Owners, Tags, Certified, and Deprecated.

Step 2: Click on the Action You Want to Perform​

Edit 7 selected with options: Owners highlighted, Tags, Certification, and Deprecation buttons displayed.

Step 3: Apply Your Changes​

Modal window titled "Add owners on 7 selected tables" with a dropdown showing "Product team" and buttons for "Cancel" and "Assign owners."

Your assets are immediately updated.

Advanced Use Cases​

Propagating Governance Downstream​

The Ancestors filter is particularly powerful for data governance workflows:

Example Scenario: You have a core customer table prod.core.customers and want to assign the same owner to all downstream tables that depend on it.

  1. In the metadata editor, use the Ancestors filter
  2. Search for prod.core.customers or prod core customers
  3. All tables with lineage relationships to this table will be displayed
  4. Select the tables you want to update
  5. Apply ownership changes in bulk

This eliminates the need to manually navigate through lineage tabs for each dependent table.

Multi-Source Environment Management​

The hierarchical filtering system makes it easy to work across complex data environments:

Example Scenario: You need to tag all tables in specific schemas across multiple Snowflake databases.

  1. Select your Snowflake source first
  2. Choose the relevant databases. Only Snowflake databases from that source appear.
  3. Select the specific schemas. Only schemas from the chosen databases appear.
  4. Apply tags to all selected tables

This prevents accidentally selecting tables from the wrong source or invalid database and schema combinations.

Columns​

Actions you can perform in bulk on your assets are:

  1. Add, replace, or remove descriptions
  2. Add, replace tags
  3. Flag as PII
  4. Flag as Primary Key

Many columns have the same names. Shouldn't they also have the same description?

When you run Apply All on columns, you use the same Select all matching assets flow and limits as for other asset types. Before a large run, read When There Are More Results Than the List Shows for how paging works, how filters set scope, and the maximum number of assets you can include in one operation.

Bulk Descriptions Workflow​

Use the Ancestors filter to select downstream tables that depend on a source table, then add or replace descriptions in bulk. This works well when column description propagation doesn't apply, for example columns with transforms or multiple parents.

For initial import of descriptions from a CSV, see Upload existing descriptions. Use the Metadata Editor for ongoing bulk updates after import.

When There Are More Results Than the List Shows​

The Metadata Editor loads a limited number of matching assets at a time, for example the first 500. When your filters match more assets than appear in the grid, you can still update every matching asset in one operation.

Use Select all matching assets to start Apply All. The product runs your metadata action against the full filtered set in the background, not only the rows you see on the page. While the job runs, watch the Metadata Editor header for progress and status. You can keep working, or check back when the job finishes.

Before you start Apply All, keep these rules in mind:

  • Filters set the scope. Whatever filters are active when you start Apply All apply to the whole run. Narrow or widen filters first so the scope matches what you intend.

What's Different From Selecting Rows on the Page?​

If you are choosing between selecting on the page and Select all matching assets, compare these two behaviors:

  • Selecting checkboxes on the loaded page updates only those visible or selected assets.
  • Select all matching assets targets all assets that match the filter, including those not yet loaded in the grid.