## Understand Asset ↔ Term Linker

URL: https://docs.atlan.com/product/capabilities/governance/context-agents-studio/concepts/asset-term-linker

> Learn how the Asset ↔ Term Linker agent template decides which glossary terms belong on which tables, views, and columns, what it writes, and the guardrails that keep a human in the loop.

# Understand Asset ↔ Term Linker 

Asset ↔ Term Linker is an agent template that links glossary terms you already have to the tables, views, and columns that implement them. It reads two things you already maintain in Atlan, a glossary and an asset collection, and proposes a link for every pair it can justify, each with the reason it was made.

It links only what already exists. It never creates a term, edits a definition, or writes a description, and it never removes or replaces a link.

> **Info**
>
> Asset ↔ Term Linker follows the same shape as every [agent template](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/concepts-agent-templates/llms.txt): scope it, say what you want, sample, then run. What's different is where it reads from. Instead of a knowledge source outside Atlan, it reads your glossary and an asset collection inside Atlan, so there is no source to connect.

## Why linking needs agents

A term linked to the column that holds its value is what lets a person, or an AI agent working through Atlan's MCP server, go from a business question to the right data. Most glossaries are rich in definitions and poor in links, because linking by hand means someone has to know both the glossary and the physical estate, column by column.

Name matching alone doesn't close that gap. `Gross Margin %` and `gm_amt` share a concept but not a unit, and linking them sends a reader to the wrong number. Asset ↔ Term Linker treats those mismatches as the main risk, not an edge case.

## What it reads

| Input | What it reads |
| --- | --- |
| **Glossaries** | Up to 10 glossaries. Only terms certified **Verified** are read, counted, or linked. For each term it reads the name, definition, README, and custom metadata |
| **Asset collection** | One [collection](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/collections/llms.txt). Tables, views, and materialized views in it, plus their columns. For each asset it reads the name, path, description, README, custom metadata, and the terms already linked to it |
| **Run instructions** | Optional guidance on where terms must link and which copies count |
| **Workspace skills** | Optional house rules, such as your naming conventions |

Everything is read as the person who starts the run, under that person's permissions. If you can't read a glossary or the collection, the run is refused.

> **Warning: Draft terms are never linked**
>
> Currently, a term must be certified **Verified** to be linked. Draft terms, terms with no certificate, and AI-generated terms that nobody has verified are left out entirely and don't appear anywhere in the output. Verify the terms you want linked before you run.
>
> This includes terms created by the [Business Graph Term Generator](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/concepts-agent-templates/llms.txt), which aren't verified by default. Review and verify them first, then run Asset ↔ Term Linker to link them.

## How links are decided

Every term is paired with candidate assets, and every pair passes through the same stages. The first rule that applies decides the pair.

### 1. Explicit references link first

If a term names its asset outright, the pair links without any model judgement. A reference counts as explicit when the term's definition, README, or custom metadata carries a fully qualified name such as `db.schema.table.column`, or a row-value reference such as `metric_name = 'EBIT'`.

This is the most reliable way to get a link right, and the one you control. See [Prepare your glossary](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/link-terms-to-assets/llms.txt).

### 2. Existing links are kept and learned from

A pair that's already linked is never decided again or written again. Existing links are shown to the decision model as examples of how your organization links, so the links your team made by hand steer the ones the agent proposes.

### 3. Candidates come from words and mentions

For every other pair, the agent looks for overlap:

- **Words in the name and description.** An asset becomes a candidate when it carries at least half of the term's words. A word in the asset name counts more than a word in its description. Common abbreviations are expanded first, so `qty` matches *quantity*.
- **Mentions in a README or custom metadata.** If an asset's README or custom metadata names the term, the pair becomes a strong candidate. A mention alone never creates a link; it gets the pair in front of the decision model.

Each term keeps its 15 strongest candidates.

### 4. Gates block variants

A term and an asset that differ in **unit**, **currency**, **period**, **scenario**, or **comparison** are blocked outright, and the reason names the dimension. A percentage term never lands on an amount column, a budget term never lands on actuals, and a year-over-year term never lands on a current-period value.

Where only one side names a scenario or a comparison, the pair can reach review but never links on its own.

### 5. Decision model judges rest

A decision model reads both sides of each remaining pair and decides whether the asset **implements** the term, is a **variant** of it, is merely **related**, or is **unrelated**. How sure it's decides what happens next:

| Model confidence that the asset implements the term | Result |
| --- | --- |
| 80% or higher | **Link** |
| 50% to 80% | **Review**. The most promising of these get a second opinion from the agent, which can accept, reject, or leave them in review |
| Below 50% | **Denied** |
| Judged a variant | **Denied**, whatever the other scores |
| No answer | **Review**. A pair is never linked without an answer |

Content in READMEs and custom metadata is treated as evidence, never as instructions. A value that tries to tell the agent what to do is ignored.

### 6. Policy keeps links at right grain

Before anything is proposed as a link, a set of policies moves risky links to review:

- **Column first.** If a column carries a term, its table isn't also linked to it.
- **Metrics stored as rows.** Some tables hold many metrics in one column, one metric per row, for example a `metric_name` column with rows such as `EBITDA` and `Net Revenue`, next to a `value` column. That `metric_name` column holds every metric, not just one, so a term like *EBITDA* isn't linked to it. The link moves to the table or view instead and goes to review.
- **Generic terms.** A one-word term with a definition of four words or fewer goes to review, because a name like *Status* matches too much.
- **Raw copies.** Links in `raw`, `bronze`, `landing`, or `staging` schemas go to review.
- **Caps.** More than 10 links for one term sends the excess to review.

## What runs produce

Each pair ends in one of three outcomes:

| Outcome | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Link** | Proposed as a link. Written when you publish |
| **Review** | Plausible, but a person needs to confirm. Never written by the agent |
| **Denied** | Blocked by a gate, judged a variant, or too unlikely. Never written |

Every sample run comes with a CSV you can download to review the proposed links in a spreadsheet: one row per pair, with its outcome, what decided it, the model's confidence, and the reason. See [Download the CSV](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/link-terms-to-assets/llms.txt).

### What gets written, and where

A link is written as a term assignment on the asset, the same relationship you create when you link a term by hand. Links are **added**, never replaced: the terms already on an asset stay exactly where they are. Links are written as the person who publishes them.

Nothing else changes. No terms, definitions, descriptions, or custom metadata are written.

## Trust guardrails

Term links are consumed the moment they exist, by people searching Atlan and by AI agents reading it through MCP, and there's no bulk undo. Asset ↔ Term Linker is built so that a person reviews every link before it's written.

- **A sample run decides every pair and writes nothing.** It's the same decision a published run makes, so what you review, on screen or in the CSV, is what you get.
- **Publishing writes the sample's links, without deciding again.** Before each link is written it's checked once more: the term must still be verified and in the agent's glossaries, the asset must still be in the collection, and the pair must not already be linked. A link that fails a check is skipped and reported.
- **Publishing a stale sample is refused.** A sample older than seven days, or one that failed, can't be published. Run a new sample.
- **Every run is capped.** A run writes at most 250 new links, highest confidence first, and an agent writes at most 1,000 links a day. See [Asset ↔ Term Linker limits](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/asset-term-linker-limits/llms.txt).

> **Warning: There is no undo yet**
>
> Published links stay until someone removes them. Removing a link is a manual step on the asset or the term, and there's no bulk undo by run. Review the sample before you publish.

## Need help

If you need assistance after reviewing this page, contact [Atlan support](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/submit-request/submit-request/llms.txt).

## See also

- [Link terms to assets](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/link-terms-to-assets/llms.txt): create the agent, sample, review, and publish
- [Asset ↔ Term Linker limits](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/asset-term-linker-limits/llms.txt): what one run and one agent can do
- [FAQ - Asset ↔ Term Linker](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/faq-asset-term-linker/llms.txt): common questions
- [Understand agent templates](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/platform/context-agents-studio/concepts-agent-templates/llms.txt): how templates work

_Last updated: 21 October 2026._

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