> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.paradime.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Column-level lineage

> Trace a single column through your dbt™ project in the Paradime Catalog: where its value comes from, where it flows, and what happened to it at every hop.

Asset lineage answers "what feeds this model?". Column-level lineage answers the sharper question: **where does this one value come from, and what happens to it along the way?** Use it before you change a column, when you are chasing a number that looks wrong, or when you need to know which downstream fields a rename would break.

## Open it

Open any dbt™ model, source, seed, or snapshot in the catalog, go to the **Columns** tab, and click a column. A drawer opens from the bottom of the screen with the lineage graph for that column.

<Info>
  Column-level lineage is built for dbt™ assets from your compiled SQL. It appears once a `dbt docs generate` has run for the model, the same production run that populates the rest of the [catalog](/products/data-catalog/index). Assets from BI and ingestion tools connect at the table level, in the [graph view](/products/data-catalog/lineage/graph-view).
</Info>

## Read the graph

The graph flows left to right: upstream sources on the left, downstream consumers on the right.

* **Each card is a model or source**, titled with its name and package, and the columns involved in this lineage are listed as rows inside it.
* **The column you opened is highlighted**, and every card on its value path stays bright. Cards that are only in the graph for context are dimmed.
* **Edges join column to column** across cards. An edge that lands on a card's header rather than on a row means the column affects that whole dataset rather than one of its columns.

### What the edges mean

The legend in the corner of the canvas names the three kinds of edge. Hover any edge to see its exact label.

| Edge             | What it means                                                                         | Labels you'll see                                        |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pass-through** | The value arrives unchanged                                                           | Pass-through                                             |
| **Transformed**  | The value was changed on the way, drawn heavier so these stand out                    | Transformed, Aggregated                                  |
| **Indirect**     | The column affects which rows come back, not the value itself, drawn dashed and muted | Joined, Grouped, Filtered, Sorted, Windowed, Conditional |

### Parse status

Each card carries the parse status of its model, because column lineage is only as good as the SQL Paradime could read:

* **Parsed**: the model's compiled SQL resolved completely.
* **Partial**: some columns could not be resolved, typically a `SELECT *` with no column schema available. The edges that did resolve are still shown.
* **Failed**: the model could not be parsed. It stays in the graph with table-level edges instead of disappearing.

Compiled SQL is parsed with your warehouse's own dialect, so BigQuery, Snowflake, and Databricks syntax (backtick identifiers, `EXCEPT`, `STRUCT`, `UNNEST`, and so on) resolves correctly. Results are cached per model, so a rebuild only re-parses what changed.

## Control what's shown

### Depth

Two fields in the toolbar set how far the graph reaches **upstream** (←) and **downstream** (→), independently. Enter a number of hops, or `+` for everything, then press `Enter` or click the apply button. Both directions apply together, and nothing refetches until you apply, so a half-typed number never redraws the graph.

Tracing a reporting column back to its sources wants deep upstream; assessing the blast radius of a change wants deep downstream.

<Tip>
  When the graph hits your depth limit, the header shows **Truncated, increase depth to see more**, and a **+** button appears just outside the cards at the edge of the graph. Click it to pull in one more level in that direction without retyping the depth.
</Tip>

### Lenses

The **Lenses** menu filters the graph on what each edge actually is. Toggle several at once:

* **Hide indirect edges**: strip the graph down to pure value flow, dropping joins, filters, and grouping.
* **Masked columns only**: keep only edges where the value passes through a masking transformation, for tracing sensitive fields.
* **Hide low-confidence edges**: drop the edges Paradime was least sure about, which mostly come from partially parsed models.

### Canvas

Zoom in and out, or **fit view** to bring the whole graph back into frame. The drawer opens at a comfortable height and can be expanded to nearly full screen for a deep graph.

## Move around

* **Click any column** on any card to refocus the graph on that column, in place, without leaving the drawer.
* **Click a card's model name** to open that model's catalog page.

## When the graph is empty

A column with no lineage shows **No column lineage available**. The usual reasons are that the model has not been through a `dbt docs generate` yet, or that its SQL could not be parsed, in which case the message names what got in the way.

<Info>
  DinoAI can trace the same lineage in chat and over MCP, which is useful for impact analysis across many columns at once. See the [Column Level Lineage tool](/products/dino-ai/tools-and-features/column-level-lineage). To see column impact on every pull request instead, set up [lineage diff](/guides/orchestrate-data-pipelines/compare-column-level-lineage).
</Info>


## Related topics

- [Column Level Lineage](/products/dino-ai/tools-and-features/column-level-lineage.md)
- [Lineage](/products/data-catalog/lineage/index.md)
- [Column-Level Lineage Diff](/products/bolt/ci-cd/lineage-diff/index.md)
- [Column-level lineage in the Catalog](/changelog/2026-09-03/column-level-lineage.md)
- [Column-Level Lineage Diff for Looker](/products/bolt/ci-cd/lineage-diff/looker.md)