Metadata catalogs that data teams actually use

A catalog that lists every table without owners or lineage becomes shelfware. Useful catalogs answer “can I trust this field for revenue?” in seconds.

Start with critical data products

Document the datasets behind top KPIs first: owners, grain, freshness, and known caveats. Expand coverage after those pages stay accurate.

Connect catalog to pipelines

Auto-ingest schema and freshness from warehouses and ETL. Manual wiki pages rot the week after launch.

Make discovery part of delivery

Require a catalog entry before a dashboard goes to production. Discovery is a release gate, not a side project.

Building discovery for your data platform? Contact BI Forge.