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BigQuery Impact Analysis

Map which BigQuery tables, views, dashboards and pipelines break when a BigQuery asset changes

Source Download skill
Repository
google/skills
Stars
21,782
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
3 files

What it does

When a BigQuery table or view is broken, stale, or about to be changed or paused, this skill tells the agent to trace the data lineage (how data flows from one asset to another) on Google Cloud and list everything downstream that would be affected. The agent queries the Data Lineage MCP server, builds a table of affected assets with their transform processes and depth, flags high-priority items such as production or dashboard assets, and reports the search boundaries so the user can widen them.

Great for

  • Data engineers planning to delete, rename, or pause updates to a BigQuery table before changing it
  • Analytics teams investigating why a dashboard or report is stale or broken
  • Platform owners who need a quick list of downstream dependencies for a BigQuery asset

Skip it if

  • General BigQuery querying or analysis, since the skill only maps lineage and does not answer data questions (use BigQuery tools instead)
  • Creating or editing lineage links, which the skill explicitly does not do
  • Non-BigQuery storage such as Cloud Storage files unless they appear in BigQuery lineage, as results may be incomplete

Try asking

  • “What downstream tables and dashboards will break if I pause updates to bigquery:my-prod-project.analytics.orders?”
  • “Run a blast radius analysis on the sales_daily view before I drop it.”
  • “Our customers_clean table is stale. Which downstream assets are affected?”
Step-by-step guide: how to use BigQuery Impact AnalysisInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 3 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    datalineage-bigquery-asset-impact-analysis.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip datalineage-bigquery-asset-impact-analysis.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip datalineage-bigquery-asset-impact-analysis.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Give the full asset name in the form bigquery:project.dataset.table so the agent does not have to guess.
  • If results look incomplete, ask the agent to rerun with more locations or a larger depth limit, since the defaults are depth 10 and 5 processes per link.
  • Remember that an empty lineage result means no recorded dependencies in the searched locations, not a guarantee that none exist.

What's inside

  • references/attribution.md
  • references/mcp-usage.md
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from google/skills under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.