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Glean sync

Common questions about what the Glean connector syncs, how permissions work, and how incremental sync behaves.

What Atlan assets are synced to Glean?​

Only glossary terms (AtlasGlossaryTerm) are synced. Columns, tables, schemas, databases, and other Atlan asset types aren't synced to Glean.

What is not synced to Glean?​

The following aren't included in the sync:

  • Custom metadata attributes: not included in the document or Answer payload.
  • Lineage: not represented in Glean.
  • Term relationships (synonyms, antonyms, translations): not mapped. see_also links are included as a custom property.
  • Term attachments (file uploads): not synced.

Who can see synced terms in Glean?​

Index documents are created with unrestricted permissions—all Glean users can discover and view synced terms. There isn't any per-term access control applied during sync.

Which glossary terms become Glean Answers?​

When Enable Curated Answers is on, all synced terms become Answers regardless of glossary or certificate status. The answer scope is either ALL (visible to all users) or NONE (no answer).

How does incremental sync work?​

The connector maintains a persistent state file keyed by datasource name. On each run it computes a SHA-256 content hash for each term from 8 fields: name, description, glossary_name, categories, certificate_status, certificate_updated_by, readme_content, and see_also. It then compares the hash to the previous run and takes the minimum required action:

  • New term: creates a new Answer
  • Unchanged term (hash match): no API call
  • Changed term with existing Answer: updates the Answer in place
  • Changed term without Answer: creates a new Answer
  • Term removed from Atlan: deletes the Answer from Glean
  • enable_answers toggled off: deletes all existing Answers

How are Glean Answers managed across runs?​

The answer_id returned by Glean when creating an Answer is stored in the state file and reused on subsequent runs for edit and delete operations. If a delete fails (for example, if the Answer was already removed in Glean), the connector retries on the next run and clears the answer_id from state once the delete succeeds.

See also​

Need help​

If you can't find the answer you're looking for, contact Atlan support.