tracing-downstream-lineage

What this skill does

# Downstream Lineage: Impacts

Answer the critical question: "What breaks if I change this?"

Use this BEFORE making changes to understand the blast radius.

## Impact Analysis

### Step 1: Identify Direct Consumers

Find everything that reads from this target:

**For Tables:**

1. **Search DAG source code**: Look for DAGs that SELECT from this table
   - Use `af dags list` to get all DAGs
   - Use `af dags source <dag_id>` to search for table references
   - Look for: `FROM target_table`, `JOIN target_table`

2. **Check for dependent views**:
   ```sql
   -- Snowflake
   SELECT * FROM information_schema.view_table_usage
   WHERE table_name = '<target_table>'

   -- Or check SHOW VIEWS and search definitions
   ```

3. **Look for BI tool connections**:
   - Dashboards often query tables directly
   - Check for common BI patterns in table naming (rpt_, dashboard_)

### On Astro

If you're running on Astro, the **Lineage tab** in the Astro UI provides visual dependency graphs across DAGs and datasets, making downstream impact analysis faster. It shows which DAGs consume a given dataset and their current status, reducing the need for manual source code searches.

**For DAGs:**

1. **Check what the DAG produces**: Use `af dags source <dag_id>` to find output tables
2. **Then trace those tables' consumers** (recursive)

### Step 2: Build Dependency Tree

Map the full downstream impact:

```
SOURCE: fct.orders
    |
    +-- TABLE: agg.daily_sales --> Dashboard: Executive KPIs
    |       |
    |       +-- TABLE: rpt.monthly_summary --> Email: Monthly Report
    |
    +-- TABLE: ml.order_features --> Model: Demand Forecasting
    |
    +-- DIRECT: Looker Dashboard "Sales Overview"
```

### Step 3: Categorize by Criticality

**Critical** (breaks production):
- Production dashboards
- Customer-facing applications
- Automated reports to executives
- ML models in production
- Regulatory/compliance reports

**High** (causes significant issues):
- Internal operational dashboards
- Analyst workflows
- Data science experiments
- Downstream ETL jobs

**Medium** (inconvenient):
- Ad-hoc analysis tables
- Development/staging copies
- Historical archives

**Low** (minimal impact):
- Deprecated tables
- Unused datasets
- Test data

### Step 4: Assess Change Risk

For the proposed change, evaluate:

**Schema Changes** (adding/removing/renaming columns):
- Which downstream queries will break?
- Are there SELECT * patterns that will pick up new columns?
- Which transformations reference the changing columns?

**Data Changes** (values, volumes, timing):
- Will downstream aggregations still be valid?
- Are there NULL handling assumptions that will break?
- Will timing changes affect SLAs?

**Deletion/Deprecation**:
- Full dependency tree must be migrated first
- Communication needed for all stakeholders

### Step 5: Find Stakeholders

Identify who owns downstream assets:

1. **DAG owners**: Check `owners` field in DAG definitions
2. **Dashboard owners**: Usually in BI tool metadata
3. **Team ownership**: Look for team naming patterns or documentation

## Output: Impact Report

### Summary
"Changing `fct.orders` will impact X tables, Y DAGs, and Z dashboards"

### Impact Diagram
```
                    +--> [agg.daily_sales] --> [Executive Dashboard]
                    |
[fct.orders] -------+--> [rpt.order_details] --> [Ops Team Email]
                    |
                    +--> [ml.features] --> [Demand Model]
```

### Detailed Impacts

| Downstream | Type | Criticality | Owner | Notes |
|------------|------|-------------|-------|-------|
| agg.daily_sales | Table | Critical | data-eng | Updated hourly |
| Executive Dashboard | Dashboard | Critical | analytics | CEO views daily |
| ml.order_features | Table | High | ml-team | Retraining weekly |

### Risk Assessment

| Change Type | Risk Level | Mitigation |
|-------------|------------|------------|
| Add column | Low | No action needed |
| Rename column | High | Update 3 DAGs, 2 dashboards |
| Delete column | Critical | Full migration plan required |
| Change data type | Medium | Test downstream aggregations |

### Recommended Actions

Before making changes:
1. [ ] Notify owners: @data-eng, @analytics, @ml-team
2. [ ] Update downstream DAG: `transform_daily_sales`
3. [ ] Test dashboard: Executive KPIs
4. [ ] Schedule change during low-impact window

### Related Skills
- Trace where data comes from: **tracing-upstream-lineage** skill
- Check downstream freshness: **checking-freshness** skill
- Debug any broken DAGs: **debugging-dags** skill
- Add manual lineage annotations: **annotating-task-lineage** skill
- Build custom lineage extractors: **creating-openlineage-extractors** skill