Collibra Integration

What it is

The Collibra integration lets you push your Tessallite semantic model metadata into Collibra, the enterprise data governance and catalog platform. When connected, Collibra becomes the governed catalog for your metrics, dimensions, KPIs, glossary terms, and downstream reports — complete with ownership, classifications, and relationships.

Who it is for

• Modellers who want their models governed in the enterprise data catalog
• Tenant Admins who configure the connection to the Collibra instance
• Data Stewards who manage ownership, classifications, and governance workflows in Collibra

What gets exported

When you sync a model to Collibra, Tessallite exports these objects as governed assets with attributes, relations, and responsibilities:

Each asset carries its Tessallite attributes (descriptions, types, formulas, visibility). Relationships link assets together. Ownership becomes Collibra responsibilities for objects that carry an explicit owner — KPIs and downstream assets. Measures and dimensions have no owner field, so they export without a responsibility.

Lifecycle statuses are mapped automatically: deployed → Accepted, draft → Candidate, hidden → Candidate, deprecated → Deprecated.

Key difference from Solidatus

Solidatus is a lineage graph — the main deliverable is a visual map of nodes and edges. Collibra is a governance operating system — the main deliverable is a governed catalog with assets, attributes, relations, responsibilities, statuses, and classifications. The Collibra integration exports richer governance metadata: ownership, stewardship, classifications, and lifecycle states.

Step-by-step: Set up and sync

Step 1 — Get your Collibra details

Before you start, ask your Collibra administrator for:

• Base URL — the web address of your Collibra instance (e.g., https://your-company.collibra.com)
• API Token — a service account token with import permissions
• Community ID — the Collibra Community where assets will be placed
• Domain ID — the Collibra Domain within that Community

Step 2 — Open Model Settings

1. In Tessallite, open the project and model you want to sync.
2. Click the gear icon (⚙) in the top-right corner of the Model Builder.
3. The Model Configuration drawer opens.

Step 3 — Navigate to the Collibra tab

1. In the settings drawer, scroll the tabs until you see Collibra.
2. Click the Collibra tab.

Step 4 — Add a connection

1. Click the Add Connection button.
2. Fill in the dialog:
   • Display Name — a friendly name like "Collibra Production"
   • Base URL — the URL from Step 1
   • API Token — the token from Step 1 (kept encrypted)
   • Community ID — the Collibra Community ID from Step 1
   • Domain ID — the Collibra Domain ID from Step 1
3. Click Save.

Step 5 — Test the connection

1. Click the Test Connection button.
2. In this build the connection check is simulated — Tessallite does not yet contact your Collibra instance. Your configuration is saved, but it is not verified against a live Collibra API.
3. You will see an informational notice that the validation was simulated. This is not a green pass: a wrong URL or expired token will not be caught until live validation is available.

Step 6 — Preview what will be exported

1. Click the Preview Export button.
2. Tessallite builds the governance graph and shows you:
   • How many assets will be created (metrics, dimensions, tables, etc.)
   • How many relations will be created (relationships between them)
   • How many responsibilities will be assigned (ownership mappings)
3. The preview breaks down counts by asset type so you can verify coverage.

Step 7 — Dry run

1. Click the Dry Run button.
2. Tessallite runs the full sync pipeline — builds the graph, maps to Collibra assets/relations/responsibilities, calculates what would change — but does NOT push to Collibra.

Step 8 — Live push (not yet available)

Live push to Collibra is not implemented in this build, so the Sync button is disabled. The dry run in Step 7 lets you confirm exactly what would be created. When a live Collibra client is wired in, this button will push the previewed assets, relations, and responsibilities and record the result in run history.

How sync works (under the hood)

Same incremental sync engine as Solidatus:

1. Build governance graph — reads all model objects from the snapshot.
2. Map to Collibra format — converts to assets (with attributes + status), relations, and responsibilities.
3. Hash every object — SHA256 fingerprint for diffing.
4. Compare with previous sync — identifies new, changed, and unchanged objects.
5. Push only changes — sends only new and updated assets/relations to Collibra.
6. Persist mappings — saves Tessallite→Collibra ID mappings for incremental sync.

Tips and best practices

• Sync after deploy — The sync exports the deployed model state. Draft changes won't appear until deployed.
• Community and Domain matter — Make sure the Community and Domain IDs are correct. If they don't exist in Collibra, the sync will fail.
• Ownership flows through — KPIs with an owner and downstream assets with an owner become Collibra responsibilities automatically. Measures and dimensions have no owner field, so they export without a responsibility.
• Deprecate, don't delete — Removed objects are marked Deprecated in Collibra, preserving audit history.
• Business vs Technical — The export supports separate business and technical views. Hidden columns are included in technical exports.
• Asset type mappings — The default asset type names work with standard Collibra installations. Custom setups can configure the mapping.

Troubleshooting

Related

• Solidatus Integration — The equivalent integration for Solidatus lineage platform
• Model Configuration — All model-level settings
• Glossary — Manage business terms
• API Reference — REST API documentation