tracing-upstream-lineage
Trace upstream data lineage to identify sources, DAGs, and dependencies feeding a table or column.
- Supports tracing three target types: tables, columns, and DAGs; uses Airflow DAG source code and task inspection to find producing pipelines
- Handles SQL sources (FROM clauses), external systems (S3, Postgres, Salesforce, HTTP APIs), and file-based sources; recursively traces upstream chains
- Includes column-level tracing through direct mappings, transformations, and aggregations in DAG code
- Generates lineage reports with diagrams, source details, transformation chains, and data quality implications
- Leverages Astro's visual Lineage tab for quick exploration; falls back to manual DAG inspection for OSS Airflow
Upstream Lineage: Sources
Trace the origins of data - answer "Where does this data come from?"
Lineage Investigation
Step 1: Identify the Target Type
Determine what we're tracing:
- Table: Trace what populates this table
- Column: Trace where this specific column comes from
- DAG: Trace what data sources this DAG reads from
Step 2: Find the Producing DAG
Tables are typically populated by Airflow DAGs. Find the connection:
- Search DAGs by name: Use
af dags listand look for DAG names matching the table nameload_customers->customerstable
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