Data Catalog & Access Playbook

A practical, step-by-step playbook plus an interactive dataset registration form to create and maintain a minimal governed data catalog that supports AI projects. Helps teams record owners, lineage, schemas, quality checks, and access policies so datasets are discoverable, trusted, and safe to use.

Interactive Tool

Register a Dataset — Data Catalog Entry

Data Catalog & Access Playbook

This playbook helps you create a minimal governed data catalog that AI teams can trust and use quickly. Use the form below to register each dataset that will be used for modeling, analytics, or as inputs to assistants.

Practical guidance for each step:

  • Define core datasets and owners — Choose the smallest useful set of datasets for your project. Assign a primary owner (person or team) and a steward responsible for ongoing quality and access.
  • Document lineage & schemas — Record source systems, key upstream transformations, and where the authoritative schema lives. Provide a link to schema definitions or sample records.
  • Set access policies and routes — Record who can see, copy, or export the data and what approvals are required. Mark sensitive fields and compliance constraints.
  • Register quality checks and sampling — Note the core automated checks (row counts, null rates, schema conformance, freshness) and how teams will review anomalies.
  • Operationalize onboarding for new datasets — Define the minimal acceptance criteria and who approves onboarding into production pipelines.

Use the fields below to add or update dataset records. Each submission saves a dataset entry you can use to build a searchable catalog and to drive automated checks and access workflows.

E.g., orders_clean_v1
Name or team responsible for access and decisions
What the dataset contains and why it exists (1–3 sentences)
Choose the category that best fits usage
Source systems, primary transformations, and downstream consumers (brief)
Link to schema docs, JSON schema, or sample records
Select checks you plan to run automatically or manually
Who can access this dataset and what approvals are needed
Yes = PII, PHI, PCI, or other regulated content
Any retention, residency, or contractual constraints
Where this dataset is in your operational lifecycle
Have you assigned a primary owner and a data steward?
Have you recorded sources, transformations, and schema location?
Have you recorded access rules and approval routes?
Have primary checks been identified and implemented?
Is there a minimal acceptance checklist and an approver?
E.g., orders, ecommerce, customer, pii
Links to dashboards, lineage diagrams, or runbooks
Who completed this registration
Any helpful context or next steps
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