Manage Curation Rules¶
Alation Cloud Service Applies to Alation Cloud Service instances of Alation
As a Catalog or Server Admin, you can create, edit, delete, and rerun a curation rule.
This topic explains how to manage curation automation rules.
Create a Curation Rule¶
Admins define the rule, scope its application, and apply it. When the rule is run, it propagates those standards, filling in missing values automatically and surfacing before-and-after previews so every change is verifiable.
Before you create a rule, ensure that you:
Obtain Server Admin or Catalog Admin role.
Ensure that the target data assets and custom fields exist in the catalog (for example, the specific data objects and custom metadata fields that your rule will manage).
Define clear internal standards for acceptable values (for example, which fields are required). For more information, see Understand Curation Automation Rules.
Follow these steps to create a rule:
Step 2: Define Your Rule¶
Click Create Rule.
The Enter Details page opens.
Provide the rule details, such as the title and purpose of the rule, and click Next: Select Assets to move to the next step, where you define the scope for this rule.
Note
You can use up to 2,000 characters to frame your purpose.
Step 3: Select Assets¶
Click Select a data source to select the data source to which this rule will apply.
Note
After adding the data source, you can click on the data source name to open and view the data source catalog page.
Select the specific assets (data objects) the curation rule will manage.
Specify schemas to include.
Select All schemas (in this data source) to include the entire data asset.
Select Select specific schemas to pick individual schemas from a list.
Select Do not apply to schemas if you want to curate particular tables or columns regardless of their schema.
Expand the Exclude Schemas section and select any schemas that you want to exempt from this rule.
Select table and column inclusion. Repeat the selection process for the Tables and Columns sections to narrow down the scope for your rule.
Note
Selecting All schemas, All tables, or All columns implies that the rule is applicable to all schemas, tables, or columns of the selected data source and will affect all the assets. Therefore, carefully review your selection.
Click Add Scope to apply the same rule to assets from different data sources.
Click Confirm All Scopes to finalize the scope of your rule.
You will be prompted to review the assets.
Click Confirm All after verifying your selection. You will be navigated to the Field Selection screen, where you can include the fields to populate.
Step 4: Select Fields¶
Click Add field and click on the Choose Field list to open the field selection list.
Select the required built-in or custom fields from your catalog templates ( Example: Title, Description, or PII Classification). For details on field types, refer to About Templates and Fields.
Choose one of the following value generation methods:
AI-generated values: You can choose to use the AI to generate the values for the fields selected. Turn on the Use AI Agent toggle and provide an instruction for the AI to use before generating the field values. You can use up to 2,000 characters to construct your instruction statement.
Manual: For fixed values, you can manually select the values. Turn off the Use AI Agent toggle and select the required value from the provided drop-down.
AI-Only: Some fields are by default designated as AI-only. The Use AI Agent toggle is turned on by default. Provide an instruction for the AI to use before generating the field values.
Click Next: Configure Agents. You will be navigated to the Configure Agents screen where you can review the fields.
Step 5: Configure Agents¶
On the Configure Agents screen, select an asset (schema, table, or column) from the data source you added in the Step 3: Select Assets step to preview the before and after changes.
A table appears that displays the field name, Agent (AI or manual), the Agent instruction that you provided in the Step 4: Select Fields step, the current and generated field values, and the AI confidence score.
Note
Low-confidence (AI suggestions with a confidence score of less than 80%) results are not applied. Confidence thresholds aren’t user-configurable.
Note
Rows remain grayed out if the AI Agent made no changes.
If you are not satisfied with the AI confidence score or the generated value, you can edit the AI instruction.
To edit the AI instruction:
Click on the edit icon on the right side of the table. A new window opens for you to update your AI instructions.
Make the required changes and click Re-generate to generate the field values based on the updated instruction.
Click Save. You are navigated back to the Configure Agents screen. The table now displays the results based on the updated instruction.
Click Next: Preview Changes. You will be navigated to the Preview Summary screen, where you can review the curation summary.
Step 6: Preview and Run the Rule¶
In the Preview Summary screen, preview the details of the rule in the Rule Preview table. You can also make a note of the AI Actions score and the overall curation summary.
After verifying, click Save and Run.
Running the rule takes some time, and the status is displayed on the Curation Automation page. You can click your rule from the Curation Automation page to view the execution report, metrics, and the run history.
The Rule Execution Report provides a detailed summary of the performance and outcome of the curation rule after you run it. The Metrics section provides the details of the number of assets curated by the rule. See Understand the Metric.
Click on Download full Report to download the rule run report (CSV file), which includes the details of objects involved, data source name, fields included, and old and new values, and if AI Agents applied the values or not.
To view the report later (both latest run report and run history), in the Actions column of your rule on the Curation Automation page, click the three dots and select View Report.
Edit a Curation Rule¶
After you create a rule, any time later you can choose to edit it based on your requirements. To edit a rule:
Click on the Curate and Govern icon from the left navigation panel of Alation user interface.
From the Governance page, click on the Curation Automation option from the Curate section.
Under the Actions column of the rule you want to edit, click on the three dots and select Edit.
Edit the required rule details, such as the title and purpose, and click Next: Select Assets.
In the Select Assets section, click Add Scope to add a new scope or click on the existing scope to make changes to it. For details, see Create a Curation Rule.
Click Confirm All Scopes.
On the Field Selection page, add, edit, or delete fields. For details, see Create a Curation Rule.
Click Next: Preview Changes.
On the Rule Preview page, verify the changes applied. You can select an asset (schema, table, or column) to preview the before and after changes.
After verifying, click Save and Run.
Rerun a Rule¶
You can manually rerun an existing rule at any time to:
Apply logic to new assets added to the catalog that match the rule’s scope and filters.
Update existing assets after making changes to the rule logic or configurations.
Refresh the curation logic whenever a manual sync is required.
Every time you re-run a rule, Alation processes and updates only the assets or fields that have been added or modified.
To re-run a rule:
Click on the Curate and Govern icon from the left navigation panel of Alation user interface.
From the Governance page, click on the Curation Automation option from the Curate section.
Under the Actions column of the rule you want to edit, click on the three dots and select Run.
Running a rule takes some time. The status is displayed on the Curation Automation page. You can click your rule from the Curation Automation page to view the execution report and the run history.
Delete a Curation Rule¶
Follow these steps to permanently remove an existing curation rule from the Curation Automation dashboard:
Click on the Curate and Govern icon from the left navigation panel of Alation user interface.
From the Governance page, select the Curation Automation option from the Curate section.
Under the Actions column of the rule you want to delete, click on the three dots and select Delete.
Click on the Delete Rule button.