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What is Gold namespace

The Gold namespace is the curated, analytics-ready tier of the Atlan Lakehouse. It transforms raw catalog metadata into standardized, queryable tables for reporting, dashboards, and AI consumption.

Architecture​

The Lakehouse uses a medallion architecture with two primary layers:

  • Bronze layer: Raw metadata stored directly in your Atlan catalog. This includes unprocessed information about assets, lineage, tags, and governance as it's collected from your data sources.
  • Gold namespace: Curated tables that transform Bronze layer metadata into analytics-ready formats. This namespace provides standardized schemas that are consistent across all supported query engines.

The Bronze layer is the source of truth. The Gold namespace is the consumption layer.

Gold namespace: How it works​

The Gold namespace is built natively into the Lakehouse catalog. Tables are pre-materialized and kept in sync with the underlying metadata in real time. There is no setup, no refresh schedule to manage, and no customer-managed compute required.

You query Gold namespace tables using standard SQL from any connected query engine, just like any other table in the catalog.

What is included​

The Gold namespace provides standardized tables across several metadata domains:

  • Asset registry: ASSETS provides a unified asset inventory with core attributes like name, type, owners, and certification.
  • Relational assets: RELATIONAL_ASSET_DETAILS provides domain-specific details for databases, schemas, tables, views, columns, and functions.
  • Business intelligence: BI_ASSET_DETAILS provides BI-specific attributes for PowerBI, Tableau, Looker, and Sigma assets.
  • Data quality: DATA_QUALITY_DETAILS captures data quality checks from Anomalo, Soda, and Monte Carlo.
  • Business glossary: GLOSSARY_DETAILS maps glossaries, categories, and terms to assets.
  • Pipeline and orchestration: PIPELINE_DETAILS consolidates pipeline metadata across orchestration tools.
  • Data mesh: DATA_MESH_DETAILS captures data domains and data products.
Tags, custom metadata, readmes, and lineage

Tags, custom metadata, readmes, and lineage data are available in the raw entity_metadata namespace. Query the TagRelationship, CustomMetadata, Readme, and process tables (for example, Process, ColumnProcess) directly for these use cases.

Gold namespace: When to use it​

The Gold namespace makes metadata queryable at scale. It provides consistent schemas across query engines, supports analytics-ready queries, and enables automation and AI-driven workflows. Use it to build dashboards, generate compliance reports, and power metadata-driven applications.

Entity-relationship diagram​

An entity-relationship diagram for the Gold namespace is shown below.

Lakehouse Gold namespace ER diagram

How it fits with Atlan​

Use the Atlan UI for interactive exploration and collaborative governance. Use the Gold namespace when you need programmatic access, custom analytics, or bulk operations on metadata.

See also​