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Transform Onboarding Guide

This guide walks you through everything you need to set up Coalesce Transform and deploy your first pipeline. Work through each section in order. For detailed instructions on any step, follow the linked guides.

Who This Guide Is For​

Transform onboarding involves two main roles:

  • Admins and setup owners: Configure accounts, connect data platforms, create Projects and Workspaces, and manage Environments.
  • Developers: Build pipelines, add sources, create transformations, deploy, and run refreshes.

Prerequisites Checklist​

Before starting, confirm you have:

  • Cloud data warehouse access: Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, or Fabric. See Connection guides.
  • Git repository: For version control (or plan to create one). See Coalesce Git Requirements.
  • Basic SQL and data transformation concepts: Familiarity with SQL and data modeling.
  • Admin access: To configure integrations and add team members. See Administrative Tasks.
  • Google Chrome: The only supported browser. See System Requirements.

For network allowlisting, setup tasks, and more, see Setup Requirements.

Phase 1: Account and Organization Setup​

Create Your Account​

Configure Network Access​

Connect Your Data Platform​

  • Choose your platform and follow the connection guide:
  • Test the connection before proceeding.

Phase 2: Project and Workspace Setup​

Create Your Project​

Set Up Version Control​

Create Your Workspace​

  • From your Project, click Create Workspace.
  • Complete the Onboarding Wizard: name, description, connection.
  • Configure Storage Locations and mappings.
  • Connect the Workspace to your data platform using credentials from the Connect Your Data Platform section above.
  • See Create a Workspace for step-by-step instructions.

Phase 3: Build Your First Pipeline​

Add Sources​

  • From the Build screen, click + then Add Sources.
  • Select the tables you want to add.
  • Preview each source before adding.
  • See Add a Data Source for details.

Build Transformations​

  • Add Nodes (Stage, Dimension, Fact, View, or Custom).
  • Configure column transforms, joins, and filters.
  • Check the Marketplace for pre-built Node types that fit your use case.
  • See Transforms and Nodes for details.

Validate Your Pipeline​

  • Run the pipeline (or a subset) to populate tables.
  • Preview data in each Node to verify transformations.
  • Use the Problem Scanner to catch errors before deploying.

Phase 4: Environments and Deployment​

Create Environments​

  • Go to Build Settings > Environments in your Workspace.
  • Create Environments for DEV, QA, and Production (or your naming convention).
  • For each Environment:
    • Configure authentication (username/password, OAuth, or key pair).
    • Set Storage Mappings (database and schema).
    • Add Parameters if needed.
  • Each Environment should map to a distinct database and schema. See Create Your Environments.

Deploy​

Governance before production

Before you deploy to production, align with your organization's Git and CI/CD standards. Branch protection, required reviews, and deployment gates are enforced on your Git platform or in automation. Coalesce deploys the branch and commit you select. Read Governance and Production Deployments and DataOps Best Practices with Git and Coalesce for the full pattern.

Set Up Refresh and Jobs​

Phase 5: Team Rollout​

  • Add developers to the Project.
  • Establish a Workspace strategy (one per branch, one per user, or one per feature).
  • Designate a single developer to commit to the main branch.
  • See Coalesce Best Practices for ongoing guidance.

Optional: Advanced Paths​

AI Features​

See Coalesce AI for the full set of AI capabilities.

Programmatic Setup​

  • Project APIs: Automate project, Workspace, and Environment creation. See API documentation.
  • CLI: Deploy and refresh from the command line. See CLI.
  • Automation: Use APIs and CLI for CI/CD, Workspace provisioning, and Environment management.

Integrations​

Get Help​

Support Channels​

  • Shared Slack or Teams channel: Dedicated channel for your team and Coalesce Customer Success.
  • Email: support@coalesce.io for quick assistance.
  • In-app support: Click the question mark icon for the AI Assistant, or Get Help to open an email to support.

When contacting support, include your Environment ID, run ID, and error details. Use Copy All to Clipboard in the app to capture system information. See Contacting Support for full details.

Self-Service Resources​

What's Next?​