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

# Semantic Metrics

> How Semantic metrics tie quality rules to glossary terms, where to find them on the Metrics page, how to create one, and what each section of a semantic metric's detail page does.

**Semantic** is one of the six metric contexts in Prizm (see [Metrics](/concepts/metrics)). A semantic metric is a quality rule that is tied to a business concept in the glossary, a **Term**, rather than to a single hand-picked column. You write the rule once against the term, and Prizm evaluates it on the attributes that carry that term, so the same business definition is checked the same way wherever it appears.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Semantic metrics are authored against glossary terms. To create terms and map them to attributes, see [Glossary](/architecture/semantics/glossary).

## Where to find them

Select **Metric** in the top navigation, then select the **Semantic** tile in the row of context tiles. The tile shows how many semantic metrics exist. The list below it switches to semantic metrics only, with sub-tabs for the metric subcategories in use (for example **Query** and **Conditional**), each with a count.

Semantic metrics are marked in the list as follows:

| Column | What it shows for a semantic metric |
| - | - |
| **Name** | The metric name, with a **Term** badge beside it |
| **Context** | `Semantic` |
| **Category** | The rule type, for example `Query` or `Conditional` |
| **Subcategory** | `Glossary` |
| **Level** | `Attribute` |
| **Status** | The governance state, for example `PENDING` |

As with other metrics, **Select Columns** in the **More** menu lets you show more columns, such as **Term**, **Term ID**, **Domain**, **Product**, **Application**, **Tag**, **Owner**, **Weightage**, **Target Score**, and **Metric Priority**.

## Create a semantic metric

1. Go to **Metric** and select the **Semantic** tile.
2. Select the **+** icon above the list to open **Add Metric**.
3. Enter a **Metric Name**. This is required.
4. Choose a **Subcategory** for the rule type. The list offers Conditional, Query, Behavioral, Comparison, Lookup, and Standalone Query.
5. Optionally describe the **Purpose** of the metric.
6. Select **Create**, then configure the rule on the metric's detail page.

## The metric detail page

Selecting **Edit** on a row opens the metric's detail page. The header shows the metric name, its overall score and status, the path to the asset it runs on (source, schema or pipeline, table, and attribute), and summary counts: **Alerts**, **Issues**, **Views**, **Weightage**, **Total**, **Valid**, and **Invalid** records, plus the owner.

The page has five tabs:

| Tab | Purpose |
| - | - |
| **Overview** | Define and configure the metric |
| **Timeline** | Review results of past runs |
| **Audit** | See the history of changes to the metric |
| **Metric Configuration** | Review the saved configuration |
| **Metric Governance** | Manage ownership and governance details |

### Overview tab

The **Overview** tab contains these sections, from top to bottom.

**Metric Detail.** Shows the **Asset** the metric runs on and a **Downstream Impact** count of the assets affected if this metric fails. **Description**, **Purpose**, and **Rationale** tabs let you record what the check does and why it exists. Prizm AI can suggest a description.

**Metric configuration.** The heading names the metric's rule type and the glossary term it is tied to. Under **Select criteria** you pick the columns the rule uses, and under **Condition rules** you build the rule. Rules can be combined with `AND`, `OR`, and `NOT`, and you can add single rules or groups of rules. A **Conditional** metric offers these rule types:

| Rule type | Use it to |
| - | - |
| **Row check** | Test a condition on a single column, row by row |
| **Col vs col** | Compare one column against another |
| **Aggregate** | Test an aggregated value, such as a count or sum |
| **If–then** | Require one condition to hold whenever another is true |
| **Expression** | Write a free-form expression |

Select **Validate** to check the rule before you save it. A validation badge shows whether the rule is valid. For a **Query** metric, you write a SQL query instead of building condition rules. See [Conditional metrics](/architecture/metrics/conditional/overview) and [Query metrics](/architecture/metrics/query/usecases) for the full authoring reference.

**Scoring.** Set the **Weightage** (as a percentage), the **Pass Criteria**, and whether the metric is **Exported**. Weightage controls how much the metric contributes to the score of the asset it runs on.

**Threshold.** Choose when a result is unusual enough to raise an alert:

| Threshold type | Behavior |
| - | - |
| **Auto** | Prizm generates thresholds from historical run patterns. It needs about 30 runs of history before it can raise an alert. |
| **User Defined Limit** | You set upper and lower limits that trigger alerts. |

For Auto thresholds, the page shows four bands, based on how far a result is from its expected value: **Low** (0σ to 1σ), **Medium** (1σ to 2σ), **High** (2σ to 3σ), and **Critical** (3σ or more). Each band displays the current expected range and a short explanation of what to do.

**Semantic context.** Tag the metric so alerts reach the right team and it appears in search. You can set **Domain**, **Application**, **Product**, **Tag**, and **Dimension** (for example Consistency). See [Semantics](/architecture/semantics/overview).

**Owners.** Choose who is accountable for the metric and who fixes it when it fails. You can assign a **Custom** owner and a **Business Owner**.

**Audience.** Choose the people or groups who receive alerts and summaries for this metric.

## Row actions

Each row in the list has these actions on the right: **Edit**, **Copy** (clone the metric), **Schedule**, **Run job now**, and **Delete**. Use **Schedule** to run the metric on a schedule, or **Run job now** to run it immediately. See [Schedules](/architecture/command-center/schedule) and [Jobs](/architecture/command-center/jobs).

## Related pages

> **[Metric overview](/architecture/metric)**
>
> All metric contexts, categories, and types

> **[Glossary](/architecture/semantics/glossary)**
>
> Create terms and map them to attributes


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