# What is data lineage? Definition and Examples | Silicon

URL: https://meetsilicon.com/glossary/data-lineage/

> Data lineage is a map of how data flows from its sources, through transformations, to the metrics, dashboards and reports that use it.

Lineage answers two questions: where did this number come from, and what will break if I change this? Column-level lineage tracks individual fields, which is what you need to predict the impact of a rename.
## Table-level and column-level lineage
Table-level lineage shows that a dashboard depends on fct_orders, which depends on stg_orders. Column-level lineage shows that a chart uses fct_orders.customer_id, which comes from orders.user_id in the source. Impact analysis for a rename needs column level, because most changes touch one field rather than a whole table.
## Where lineage comes from
dbt builds lineage between models from ref() calls. Lineage beyond dbt, into dashboards, saved queries and AI answers, has to come from the tools that run those queries, which is why many teams have lineage for the warehouse but not for the reports people read.
## How Silicon handles it
Silicon combines dbt lineage with the charts, dashboards and metrics built on it, so a pull request comment can list the exact content a column change affects.
FAQ
## Data lineage questions
### What is data lineage used for? +
Mainly two things. Tracing a wrong number back to its source, and predicting what will break before a change is made.
### Does dbt provide data lineage? +
Yes, between dbt models and sources. It does not include the dashboards and queries in BI tools unless those tools add it.
## Related
- Schema drift ->
- dbt ->
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