Command-line tool for managing data quality tests, monitors and deployment rules on Coalesce Quality.
AGENTS.md, shipped beside the binary, is the operating guide — the deploy
loop, what a reconcile deletes, how to confirm which workspace you are pointed at,
and what each command costs. It is written for a coding agent driving the tool, and
is also published at
docs.synq.io/monitors/agent-workflow.
This README covers what the tool is and how a config is structured.
- Deploy - Deploy data quality tests, monitors and deployment rules from YAML configuration files
- Advisor - Get AI-powered suggestions for data quality tests based on your schema
- Export - Export existing monitors, tests and deployment rules to YAML format
Reference documentation:
- Every command and flag, generated from this CLI
- The YAML configuration format, field by field (rendered)
- Defining monitors in code and SQL tests on the documentation site
README_SQL_TESTS.mdfor the SQL-test YAML in depth
brew install getsynq/tap/synqclibrew upgrade synqcli from then on. Homebrew owns the binary once it installs it,
so synqcli upgrade will point you back here rather than replace it.
The archive filename carries the version, so the version has to be resolved
first. GitHub redirects /releases/latest to the newest release's tag, which
needs no API token and no login:
VERSION=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \ https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/latest | sed 's#.*/v##')
OS=$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]''[:lower:]')# darwin or linux
ARCH=$(uname -m | sed 's/x86_64/amd64/; s/aarch64/arm64/')
curl -fL "https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/synqcli_${VERSION}_${OS}_${ARCH}.tar.gz" \
| tar -xz
sudo mv synqcli /usr/local/bin/To pin a version instead, set VERSION by hand from the
releases page.
Builds are published for macOS and Linux on both amd64 and arm64, and every
release ships a checksums.txt (sha256sum -c checksums.txt --ignore-missing).
Download synqcli_<version>_windows_amd64.zip (or _arm64) from the
releases page and extract
synqcli.exe to your PATH.
synqcli upgrade --check # what it would do, without doing it
synqcli upgradeupgrade resolves the latest release, downloads the archive for this platform,
verifies it against the release's checksums.txt, and runs the new binary once to
prove it works on this machine before replacing anything. If the binary lives
somewhere you cannot write — /usr/local/bin usually is not — it says so and
changes nothing; re-run it with sudo. A binary installed by a package manager is
left to that package manager — a Homebrew install is upgraded with
brew upgrade synqcli, which upgrade will tell you.
synqcli also mentions a newer release on stderr, at most once a day. That check
reads a tag from a public GitHub URL and sends nothing but the tool name and
version — no credentials, no workspace, no identity. It never delays the command it
runs beside and never reports its own failure, so a machine with no route to the
internet behaves exactly like one that is up to date. It is already silent in CI,
when output is not a terminal, and inside a container or a Kubernetes pod. To
switch it off everywhere:
export QUALITY_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 # DO_NOT_TRACK=1 has the same effectFor interactive use, log in through the browser once:
synqcli auth login # EU, the default deployment
synqcli auth login --region us # or au
synqcli auth statusThe credential is cached under ~/.synq/oauth/ and shared with the other Coalesce
Quality CLIs, so later commands need no flag — the login records which deployment it
authenticated against.
For CI, set client credentials via environment variables:
export QUALITY_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"export QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"export QUALITY_REGION="eu"# eu (default), us, or auOr create a .env file in your project root:
QUALITY_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
QUALITY_REGION=euOr use command-line flags (highest priority):
synqcli deploy --client-id="your-id" --client-secret="your-secret" --region=euPass --endpoint (or QUALITY_API_ENDPOINT) instead of --region to reach a staging
or self-hosted deployment.
Priority order: client credentials (flags > environment variables > .env) > a
pre-issued QUALITY_TOKEN > the cached browser login. The CI paths deliberately win,
so adding a browser login cannot change what an existing pipeline authenticates as.
For the advisor command, you need an OpenAI-compatible API key or AWS Bedrock credentials:
OpenAI (default):
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key"Custom endpoint (LiteLLM, Azure, etc.):
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-api-key"export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://your-endpoint.com/v1"AWS Bedrock (direct):
To use Claude models hosted on AWS Bedrock directly:
# Set the Bedrock model ID (required for Bedrock)export AWS_BEDROCK_MODEL_ID="anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0"# Set the AWS region (optional, defaults to us-east-1)export AWS_REGION="us-east-1"# AWS credentials are loaded from the standard AWS credential chain:# - Environment variables (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_SESSION_TOKEN)# - Shared credentials file (~/.aws/credentials)# - IAM roles (when running on AWS infrastructure)Example usage:
AWS_BEDROCK_MODEL_ID="anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0" \
AWS_REGION="us-east-1" \
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--instructions "Suggest data quality tests"Available Bedrock Claude models:
anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0(Claude Sonnet 4)anthropic.claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022-v2:0(Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2)anthropic.claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620-v1:0(Claude 3.5 Sonnet)anthropic.claude-3-haiku-20240307-v1:0(Claude 3 Haiku)
For enhanced test suggestions with data profiling, configure a database connection:
Via environment variables:
export DWH_TYPE="postgres"# postgres, mysql, bigquery, snowflake, clickhouse, redshift, databricksexport DWH_HOST="localhost"export DWH_PORT="5432"export DWH_DATABASE="mydb"export DWH_USERNAME="user"export DWH_PASSWORD="pass"Via connections file:
# connections.yaml
- id: my-postgrestype: postgreshost: localhostport: 5432database: mydbusername: userpassword: passSnowflake supports multiple authentication methods:
Password authentication:
# connections.yaml
- id: my-snowflaketype: snowflakeaccount: myaccount.us-east-1 # Account identifier (with region if needed)warehouse: COMPUTE_WHrole: ANALYSTusername: myuserpassword: mypassworddatabases: ["PROD", "DEV"] # Optional: limit to specific databasesuse_get_ddl: true # Optional: use GET_DDL for view definitionsPrivate key authentication:
# connections.yaml
- id: my-snowflake-keytype: snowflakeaccount: myaccount.us-east-1warehouse: COMPUTE_WHrole: ANALYSTusername: myuserprivate_key_file: /path/to/rsa_key.p8private_key_passphrase: optional-passphrase # If key is encrypteddatabases: ["PROD"]SSO/Browser authentication (externalbrowser):
For organizations using SSO (Okta, Azure AD, etc.), use browser-based authentication:
# connections.yaml
- id: my-snowflake-ssotype: snowflakeaccount: myaccount.us-east-1warehouse: COMPUTE_WHrole: ANALYSTusername: myuser@company.com # Your SSO username/emailauth_type: externalbrowser # Triggers browser-based SSOdatabases: ["PROD"]Or via environment variables:
export DWH_TYPE="snowflake"export DWH_ACCOUNT="myaccount.us-east-1"export DWH_WAREHOUSE="COMPUTE_WH"export DWH_ROLE="ANALYST"export DWH_USERNAME="myuser@company.com"export DWH_AUTH_TYPE="externalbrowser"How SSO authentication works:
- First connection opens your default browser for SSO login
- After successful login, the ID token is cached in your OS credential manager:
- macOS: Keychain
- Windows: Credential Manager
- Linux: File-based (requires explicit opt-in)
- Subsequent connections reuse the cached token (valid for ~4 hours)
- When token expires, browser opens again for re-authentication
Requirements for SSO:
- Your Snowflake account must have ID token caching enabled:
ALTER ACCOUNT SET ALLOW_ID_TOKEN = TRUE;
- Your organization's IdP must be configured in Snowflake
Example usage with SSO:
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "snowflake::PROD::ANALYTICS::ORDERS" \
--instructions "Suggest data quality tests" \
--connections ./connections.yamlDeploy data quality tests and monitors from YAML configuration files.
synqcli deploy [FILES...] [flags]- File Discovery - If no files specified, discovers all
.yamlfiles in current directory - Parse - Parses YAML files and converts to API format
- Resolve - Resolves the short entity ids in the YAML to full asset paths
- Preview - Shows configuration changes and delta (creates, updates, deletes)
- Confirm - Asks for confirmation (unless
--auto-confirmis used) - Deploy - Applies the configuration changes
# Deploy specific files
synqcli deploy tests.yaml monitors.yaml
# Deploy all YAML files in current directory
synqcli deploy
# Deploy all YAML files recursively
synqcli deploy **/*.yaml
# Preview changes without deploying (dry run)
synqcli deploy --dry-run
# Deploy with auto-confirmation (for CI/CD)
synqcli deploy --auto-confirm
# Deploy only specific namespaces
synqcli deploy --namespace=data-team-pipeline
# Deploy with debug output
synqcli deploy -p # prints protobuf messages in JSON formatsynqcli deploy --help, or the CLI reference.
Get AI-powered suggestions for data quality tests based on your table schema.
synqcli advisor [flags]- Fetch Context - Retrieves table schema, existing checks, and code from Coalesce Quality
- Profile Data (optional) - If DWH connection is configured, profiles columns to discover actual values, min/max bounds, and null rates
- Analyze - AI analyzes the schema (and profiling results) to generate appropriate test suggestions
- Output - Returns JSON (default) or writes YAML files to specified directory
- Deploy - Optionally deploys generated tests immediately
# Get suggestions for a single entity (outputs JSON)
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--instructions "Suggest basic data quality tests"# Generate YAML files for multiple entities
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--entity-id "postgres::public::orders" \
--entity-id "postgres::public::products" \
--instructions "Suggest comprehensive tests for e-commerce tables" \
--output ./generated-tests
# Use instructions from a file
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "snowflake::analytics::customers" \
--instructions-file ./test-instructions.txt \
--output ./tests
# Generate and deploy in one step
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "bigquery::dataset::events" \
--instructions "Suggest freshness and volume monitors" \
--output ./tests \
--deploy \
--auto-confirm
# Customize namespace and severity
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::transactions" \
--instructions "Suggest tests for financial data" \
--output ./tests \
--namespace "finance-team" \
--severity "ERROR"# Force overwrite existing files
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--instructions "Suggest tests" \
--output ./tests \
--force
# With DWH connection for data profiling (discovers actual values)
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--instructions "Suggest accepted_values tests for enum-like columns" \
--connections ./connections.yaml \
--output ./tests
# DWH connection via environment variables
DWH_TYPE=postgres DWH_HOST=localhost DWH_DATABASE=mydb \
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--instructions "Suggest min/max tests based on actual data ranges"# Verbose mode to see AI reasoning and tool calls
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--instructions "Suggest tests" \
--connections ./connections.yaml \
--verbose
# Filter suggestions to specific columns (comma-separated)
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::users" \
--columns "status,email,role" \
--instructions "Suggest accepted_values tests for these columns"# Filter to specific columns (multiple flags)
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "postgres::public::orders" \
--columns status \
--columns priority \
--columns region \
--instructions "Suggest tests for these enum-like columns" \
--output ./testssynqcli advisor --help, or the CLI reference.
Export existing monitors to YAML format.
synqcli export [flags] <output-file># Export all app-created monitors
synqcli export --namespace=exported-monitors output.yaml
# Export monitors for a specific table
synqcli export \
--namespace=orders-monitors \
--monitored="bq-prod.dataset.orders" \
output.yaml
# Export monitors from multiple tables
synqcli export \
--namespace=sales-monitors \
--monitored="bq-prod.dataset.orders" \
--monitored="bq-prod.dataset.customers" \
output.yaml
# Export all monitors (including API-created)
synqcli export --namespace=all-monitors --source=all output.yaml
# Export monitors from a specific integration
synqcli export \
--namespace=dbt-monitors \
--integration="dbt-cloud-prod" \
output.yamlBy default export writes all three resource types (custom monitors, SQL tests,
deployment rules). Use --type (repeatable) to narrow, or pass an ID-scoped flag and
the type is inferred automatically.
# Only SQL tests
synqcli export --type=sql-tests generated/tests.yaml
# SQL tests + deployment rules, no custom monitors
synqcli export --type=sql-tests --type=deployment-rules generated/tests_and_rules.yaml
# One specific test (auto-narrows to --type=sql-tests)
synqcli export --sql-test=<test-uuid> generated/one_test.yaml
# All monitors plus one specific test (union — explicit --type widens, doesn't restrict)
synqcli export --type=monitors --sql-test=<test-uuid> generated/mix.yamlQuery-based deployment rules are authoring-only and are never exported; export
writes the single-asset rules only.
synqcli export --help, or the CLI reference.
synqcli uses the v1beta2 YAML format for defining tests and monitors.
version: v1beta2namespace: my-projectdefaults:
severity: WARNINGentities:
- id: postgres::public::userstests:
- type: not_nulldescription: Ensure critical user identifiers are always presentcolumns: [user_id, email]monitors:
- type: automatedmetrics: [ROW_COUNT, DELAY]# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://schemas.synq.io/synq-monitors/v1/config.schema.jsonversion: v1beta2namespace: data-team-pipelinedefaults:
severity: ERRORschedule:
type: dailyquery_delay: 2hmode:
anomaly_engine:
sensitivity: BALANCEDentities:
- id: bq-prod.dataset.orderstime_partitioning_column: created_attests:
# Ensure critical columns are never null
- type: not_nulldescription: Order ID, customer ID and total amount are required for all orderscolumns:
- order_id
- customer_id
- total_amount# Ensure order_id is unique
- type: uniquedescription: Each order must have a unique identifiercolumns: [order_id]# Validate status values
- type: accepted_valuesdescription: Order status must be one of the valid workflow statescolumn: statusvalues: [pending, processing, shipped, delivered, cancelled]# Ensure amounts are positive
- type: min_valuedescription: Order amounts cannot be negativecolumn: total_amountmin_value: 0# Business rule: ship_date must be after order_date
- type: relative_timedescription: Ship date must be on or after order datecolumn: ship_daterelative_column: order_datemonitors:
# Automated monitoring for volume, freshness, and delays
- type: automatedmetrics: [ROW_COUNT, DELAY, VOLUME_CHANGE_DELAY]severity: ERRORsensitivity: BALANCED# Volume monitoring segmented by region
- id: orders_by_regiontype: volumesegmentation:
expression: regionfilter: "region IN ('US', 'EU', 'APAC')"# Field statistics monitoring
- id: order_statstype: field_statscolumns:
- total_amount
- discount_amount
- id: bq-prod.dataset.customerstests:
- type: not_nulldescription: Customer ID and email are required for all customerscolumns: [customer_id, email]
- type: uniquedescription: Email addresses must be unique across all customerscolumns: [email]
- type: business_ruledescription: Updated timestamp must be on or after creation timestampsql_expression: "created_at <= updated_at"Reference the JSON schema in your YAML files for IDE autocompletion and validation:
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://schemas.synq.io/synq-monitors/v1/config.schema.jsonversion: v1beta2The published schema always describes the current release. To pin the schema to the CLI version you deploy with, write it out and reference the local file instead:
synqcli schema > schema.json# yaml-language-server: $schema=./schema.jsonversion: v1beta2A rendered, browsable version of the same schema is at https://schemas.synq.io/synq-monitors/v1/config.html.
A monitor under an entities[].id targets a single asset. To cover many assets by a
rule instead of listing each one, author query-based deployment rules at the top level
with a ResolverQL selection string —
the same selection the app and the API expose. New assets that match are covered
automatically, with no YAML edit.
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://schemas.synq.io/synq-monitors/v1/config.schema.jsonversion: v1beta2namespace: "data-team-pipeline"# Inclusion: deploy monitors to every matching asset (full config).deployment_rules:
- name: snowflake tables row-count and delaytype: table_statsresolver_ql: with_type("table", filter=with_platform("snowflake"))severity: ERRORsensitivity: RELAXEDmetrics:
- ROW_COUNT
- DELAY# Exclusion: carve matching assets OUT of coverage. Only a selection — no# metrics/severity/sensitivity (those describe how to monitor, not what to skip).deployment_exclusions:
- name: exclude staging tablestype: table_statsresolver_ql: with_type("table", filter=with_tag("staging"))Notes:
nameis required on every rule and exclusion; it labels the rule in the deploy preview. It does not affect rule identity (that is derived from the selection), so renaming a rule does not create a duplicate.resolver_qlis the only selection form supported here. The string is forwarded verbatim; the backend compiles and validates it, so an invalid query fails at deploy time.- A query rule authored here and the same
resolver_qlauthored via the API resolve to the same rule, so the two paths converge rather than creating duplicates. - Query rules are authoring-only:
exportdoes not emit them (it writes single-assetentitiesrules). A full example isexamples/v1beta2/query_deployment_rules.yaml. - The deploy preview (before confirm, and under
--dry-run) shows each query rule's downstream effect — how many monitors it will create / delete / change, plus skipped assets. The asset lists are capped; pass--verboseto list every affected asset.
SQL tests are data quality validation rules that run SQL queries to check your data.
README_SQL_TESTS.md covers the parts this summary leaves out:
business_query evaluators, save_failures, and exactly which edits reset a test.
Ensures specified columns do not contain null values.
- type: not_nulldescription: Critical user fields must always have valuescolumns:
- user_id
- email
- created_atEnsures specified columns are not empty strings.
- type: emptydescription: Description and notes should contain meaningful content when presentcolumns:
- description
- notesEnsures column values are unique, optionally within a time window.
# Simple unique check
- type: uniquedescription: Order ID must be unique across all orderscolumns: [order_id]# Composite unique key
- type: uniquedescription: Customer can only have one order per daycolumns:
- customer_id
- order_date# Unique within time window (e.g., last 30 days)
- type: uniquedescription: Transaction IDs must be unique within rolling 30-day windowcolumns: [transaction_id]time_partition_column: created_attime_window_seconds: 2592000# 30 daysEnsures column values are within a predefined list of acceptable values.
# String values
- type: accepted_valuesdescription: Account status must be a valid lifecycle statecolumn: statusvalues:
- active
- inactive
- pending# Numeric values
- type: accepted_valuesdescription: Priority must be between 1 (highest) and 5 (lowest)column: priorityvalues: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Ensures column values are NOT in a predefined list of blocked values.
- type: rejected_valuesdescription: Error codes must not contain placeholder or invalid valuescolumn: error_codevalues:
- -1
- 0
- 999Ensures column values are greater than or equal to a minimum value.
# Numeric minimum
- type: min_valuedescription: Users must be at least 18 years oldcolumn: agemin_value: 18# Strict comparison (greater than, not equal)
- type: min_valuedescription: Quantity must be positive (greater than zero)column: quantitymin_value: 0strictly: true# Date minimum
- type: min_valuedescription: Start date must be in 2024 or latercolumn: start_datemin_value: "2024-01-01"Ensures column values are less than or equal to a maximum value.
# Numeric maximum
- type: max_valuedescription: Product price cannot exceed maximum allowed pricecolumn: pricemax_value: 1000.99# Use SQL expression (e.g., no future dates)
- type: max_valuedescription: Created timestamp cannot be in the futurecolumn: created_atmax_value:
type: expressionvalue: NOW()strictly: trueEnsures column values fall within a specified range.
# Numeric range
- type: min_maxdescription: Percentage values must be between 0 and 100column: percentagemin_value: 0max_value: 100# Date range
- type: min_maxdescription: Event dates must fall within the 2024 calendar yearcolumn: event_datemin_value: "2024-01-01"max_value: "2024-12-31"# Temperature range
- type: min_maxdescription: Temperature readings must be within valid sensor rangecolumn: temperaturemin_value: -40max_value: 120Ensures data is updated within a specified time window.
- type: freshnessdescription: Table should be updated at least every 2 hourstime_partition_column: updated_attime_window_seconds: 7200# 2 hoursEnsures temporal relationships between columns (e.g., end_date >= start_date).
- type: relative_timedescription: Ship date must be on or after order datecolumn: ship_daterelative_column: order_date
- type: relative_timedescription: End time must be after start timecolumn: end_timerelative_column: start_timeValidates custom SQL expressions that represent business logic. The expression should return TRUE for invalid rows.
# Accounting equation must balance
- type: business_ruledescription: Assets must equal liabilities plus equity (accounting equation)sql_expression: "assets = liabilities + equity"# Discount cannot exceed total
- type: business_ruledescription: Discount amount cannot exceed order totalsql_expression: "discount_amount <= total_amount"# Complex validation
- type: business_ruledescription: Shipped orders must have a ship datesql_expression: "status = 'shipped' AND ship_date IS NOT NULL OR status != 'shipped'"Monitors continuously track metrics and detect anomalies in your data.
The simplest way to monitor table health. Tracks volume, freshness, and change delays automatically.
- type: automatedseverity: ERRORsensitivity: BALANCEDmetrics:
- ROW_COUNT # Monitor row count changes
- DELAY # Monitor data freshness
- VOLUME_CHANGE_DELAY # Monitor when data typically changesMonitors row count with optional segmentation and filtering.
# Basic volume monitoring
- type: volume# Volume with segmentation (creates separate time series per segment)
- id: orders_by_regiontype: volumesegmentation:
expression: regioninclude_values:
- US
- EU# Volume with filter
- id: high_value_orderstype: volumefilter: "total_amount > 1000"Monitors data freshness based on a timestamp column.
- id: orders_freshnesstype: freshnessexpression: created_atMonitors column-level statistics including null rates, distinct values, and min/max values.
- id: customer_statstype: field_statscolumns:
- email
- status
- created_atmode:
anomaly_engine:
sensitivity: BALANCEDMonitors custom SQL aggregations.
# Monitor active user count
- id: active_userstype: custom_numericmetric_aggregation: "COUNT(DISTINCT user_id)"mode:
fixed_thresholds:
min: 100max: 100000# Monitor average order value
- id: avg_order_valuetype: custom_numericmetric_aggregation: "AVG(total_amount)"mode:
anomaly_engine:
sensitivity: HIGH# Monitor with segmentation
- id: revenue_by_countrytype: custom_numericmetric_aggregation: "SUM(revenue)"segmentation:
expression: countryseverity: INFO | WARNING | ERROR# Daily scheduleschedule:
type: dailyquery_delay: 2h# Wait 2 hours after midnight before running# Hourly scheduleschedule:
type: hourlyquery_delay: 15mtime_partitioning_column splits the asset into time segments (one data point per day or
hour) and is set on the monitor, the entity, or in defaults:
entities:
- id: bq-prod.dataset.orderstime_partitioning_column: created_atmonitors:
- type: volumeid: orders_volumeOmit it to monitor the asset without time segmentation — the metric is computed over the whole asset once per run, and there is no historical backfill on the first run:
entities:
- id: bq-prod.dataset.reference_datamonitors:
- type: volumeid: reference_data_row_counttime_partitioning_interval (ondemand schedules) requires a time_partitioning_column.
Without time segmentation there are no segments to skip, so ignore_last has no effect.
# Anomaly detectionmode:
anomaly_engine:
sensitivity: LOW | BALANCED | HIGH# Fixed thresholdsmode:
fixed_thresholds:
min: 0max: 1000A monitor can declare its own categories. category is the technical dimension — what kind of check this is mechanically, e.g. volume or freshness. governance_category is what the check is for, the data quality dimension governance reports on, e.g. timeliness. Both are free-form strings — use whatever vocabulary your categorisation rules already use — and they resolve independently, so a monitor may set either, both, or neither:
entities:
- id: bq-prod.dataset.orderstime_partitioning_column: created_atmonitors:
- type: volumeid: orders_volumecategory: volumegovernance_category: timeliness
- type: freshnessid: orders_freshnessexpression: created_atcategory: freshness# governance category left to the categorisation rulesWhat a monitor declares here takes precedence over your workspace's categorisation rules for that monitor. Leave a category out and the rules decide it as before; delete one from the file and the next deploy hands that dimension back to the rules. Values are shown with underscores as spaces, so snake_case reads well.
A segmented monitor's segments take the monitor's categories. A segment is the same monitor sliced by a column value, so it cannot declare categories of its own.
There is deliberately no defaults: entry for either field. A default would categorise every monitor in the file, and because a declared category outranks the rules, that would switch the rules off for all of them rather than fill a gap.
Changing a category does not reset a monitor's learned baseline.
Tests and monitors use deterministic UUID generation based on their configuration:
- Same configuration = Same UUID: Redeploying with identical configuration updates the existing test
- Changed configuration = New UUID: Changing critical fields creates a new test
Tests are reset (re-triggered) when these fields change:
- Schedule/recurrence
- Severity
- Test type
- Template configuration (columns, values, expressions, etc.)
Tests are NOT reset when only metadata changes (name, description).
The recommended workflow for production environments separates test generation from deployment:
- Local Development: Use
advisorto generate YAML files locally - Code Review: Commit and review generated files via pull request
- Automated Deployment: CI/CD automatically deploys on merge to main
my-data-project/
├── data-quality/
│ ├── orders.yaml # Tests for orders table
│ ├── customers.yaml # Tests for customers table
│ └── products.yaml # Tests for products table
├── .github/
│ └── workflows/
│ └── deploy-data-quality.yml
└── README.md
# 1. Generate tests using advisor
synqcli advisor \
--entity-id "bq-prod.dataset.orders" \
--entity-id "bq-prod.dataset.customers" \
--instructions "Suggest comprehensive data quality tests" \
--output ./data-quality \
--namespace "production-tests"# 2. Review generated files
cat data-quality/*.yaml
# 3. Make any manual adjustments if needed# Edit files as necessary# 4. Commit and push
git add data-quality/
git commit -m "Add data quality tests for orders and customers"
git push origin feature/add-dq-tests
# 5. Create PR for review# After approval and merge, CI/CD handles deploymentCreate .github/workflows/deploy-data-quality.yml:
name: Deploy Data Quality Testson:
push:
branches: [main]paths:
- 'data-quality/**/*.yaml'pull_request:
branches: [main]paths:
- 'data-quality/**/*.yaml'jobs:
validate:
name: Validate Configurationruns-on: ubuntu-lateststeps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Install synqclirun: | # The archive filename carries the version, so resolve it first. Set # VERSION to a literal instead to pin the pipeline to a known release. VERSION=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \ https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/latest | sed 's#.*/v##') curl -fL "https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/synqcli_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz" | tar -xz sudo mv synqcli /usr/local/bin/ synqcli --version - name: Validate YAML filesenv:
QUALITY_CLIENT_ID: ${{ secrets.QUALITY_CLIENT_ID }}QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET: ${{ secrets.QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET }}QUALITY_API_ENDPOINT: https://developer.synq.iorun: | synqcli deploy data-quality/**/*.yaml --dry-rundeploy:
name: Deploy to Coalesce Qualityruns-on: ubuntu-latestneeds: validateif: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Install synqclirun: | # The archive filename carries the version, so resolve it first. Set # VERSION to a literal instead to pin the pipeline to a known release. VERSION=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \ https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/latest | sed 's#.*/v##') curl -fL "https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/synqcli_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz" | tar -xz sudo mv synqcli /usr/local/bin/ synqcli --version - name: Deploy tests and monitorsenv:
QUALITY_CLIENT_ID: ${{ secrets.QUALITY_CLIENT_ID }}QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET: ${{ secrets.QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET }}QUALITY_API_ENDPOINT: https://developer.synq.iorun: | synqcli deploy data-quality/**/*.yaml --auto-confirmThis workflow:
- On Pull Request: Validates YAML files with
--dry-run(no actual deployment) - On Merge to Main: Deploys tests and monitors to Coalesce Quality
Create .gitlab-ci.yml:
stages:
- validate
- deployvalidate-data-quality:
stage: validateimage: alpine:latestscript:
- apk add --no-cache curl# The archive filename carries the version, so resolve it first. Set VERSION# to a literal instead to pin the pipeline to a known release.
- VERSION=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/latest | sed 's#.*/v##')
- curl -fL "https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/synqcli_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz" | tar -xz
- mv synqcli /usr/local/bin/
- synqcli --version
- synqcli deploy data-quality/**/*.yaml --dry-runvariables:
QUALITY_CLIENT_ID: $QUALITY_CLIENT_IDQUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET: $QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRETQUALITY_API_ENDPOINT: https://developer.synq.iorules:
- if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"changes:
- data-quality/**/*.yamldeploy-data-quality:
stage: deployimage: alpine:latestscript:
- apk add --no-cache curl# The archive filename carries the version, so resolve it first. Set VERSION# to a literal instead to pin the pipeline to a known release.
- VERSION=$(curl -fsSLI -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/latest | sed 's#.*/v##')
- curl -fL "https://github.com/getsynq/synqcli/releases/download/v${VERSION}/synqcli_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.tar.gz" | tar -xz
- mv synqcli /usr/local/bin/
- synqcli --version
- synqcli deploy data-quality/**/*.yaml --auto-confirmvariables:
QUALITY_CLIENT_ID: $QUALITY_CLIENT_IDQUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET: $QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRETQUALITY_API_ENDPOINT: https://developer.synq.iorules:
- if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == "main"changes:
- data-quality/**/*.yamlAdd these secrets to your CI/CD environment:
| Secret | Description |
|---|---|
QUALITY_CLIENT_ID | Your Coalesce Quality API client ID |
QUALITY_CLIENT_SECRET | Your Coalesce Quality API client secret |
For GitHub: Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret
For GitLab: Settings → CI/CD → Variables
Authentication errors:
Error: failed to connect to Coalesce Quality API: authentication failed
- Verify
QUALITY_CLIENT_IDandQUALITY_CLIENT_SECRETare correct - Check you're using the correct
QUALITY_API_ENDPOINTfor your region
Entity not found:
Error: failed to resolve entity: postgres::public::users
- Verify the entity ID matches exactly what's shown in the app
- Check the entity exists and is synced to Coalesce Quality
Invalid YAML:
Error: failed to parse YAML: ...
- Validate your YAML syntax
- Reference the JSON schema for field names and types
Use -p flag to print detailed protobuf messages:
synqcli deploy tests.yaml -pEvery Coalesce Quality customer has a shared Slack channel with a Technical Account Manager. Ask there for anything — getting a configuration deployed, a platform you want supported, or something that looks wrong. Support has the details, and docs.synq.io covers the rest of the platform.