> ## 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.

# Application

> How to register Applications in Prizm — the source systems, processing platforms, and consumption tools connected to your data.

<script type="application/ld+json">
  {`{
            "@context": "https://schema.org",
            "@type": "TechArticle",
            "headline": "Application",
            "description": "How to register Applications in Prizm - the source systems, processing platforms, and consumption tools connected to your data.",
            "url": "https://docs.dqlabs.ai/architecture/semantics/application",
            "publisher": {
              "@type": "Organization",
              "name": "DQLabs Inc",
              "logo": "https://media.brand.dev/332adc35-5bc4-4d2b-bf78-256aa4a5e414.svg"
            }
            }`}
</script>

An **Application** represents a system or tool in your data ecosystem — the software that creates, processes, or consumes data. Unlike Domains (which set ownership) or Products (which group assets), Applications model the operational layer: where data originates, where it is transformed, and where it is consumed.

Applications are independent of the domain hierarchy. A single application can link to multiple domains and multiple products, reflecting how real systems (like Salesforce or Snowflake) serve multiple business areas simultaneously.

## Application types

| Type                 | Description                                              | Examples                                           |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| **Source-aligned**   | Systems that originate authoritative data                | SAP ERP, Salesforce CRM, Workday HRIS, ServiceNow  |
| **Aggregate**        | Systems that combine or transform data across domains    | Snowflake, Databricks, dbt, Spark, Fivetran        |
| **Consumer-aligned** | Systems that deliver data to end users                   | Tableau, Power BI, Looker, API services, ML models |
| **Governance**       | Platforms that observe or manage data quality and policy | Prizm, Collibra, Alation                           |

## How to create an Application

<Steps>
  <Step title="Navigate to Semantics → Application">
    Click **Semantics** in the top navigation bar, then select **Application**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click + Add Application">
    Click **+ Add Application** to open the creation form.

    <Frame>
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/dqlabs/Qsn1uj9FNsBus5LS/images/image-110.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Qsn1uj9FNsBus5LS&q=85&s=92b3178c5067065543f3e39f8163defe" alt="Image" width="2488" height="1204" data-path="images/image-110.png" />
    </Frame>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill in the details">
    | Field           | Required | Notes                                                              |
    | --------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
    | **Name**        | Yes      | Use the system's common name, e.g., `Salesforce`, `Snowflake Prod` |
    | **Type**        | Yes      | Source \| Processing \| Consumer \| Governance                     |
    | **Description** | No       | What this system does and which teams use it                       |
    | **Owner**       | No       | The team that operates or is accountable for this system           |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Link to Domains">
    In the right-side panel, link the application to one or more domains. For each link, set the **relationship type**:

    | Relationship type | Meaning                                                |
    | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
    | **Owner**         | This application is the primary system for this domain |
    | **Contributor**   | This application feeds data into this domain           |
    | **Consumer**      | This application reads data from this domain           |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Link to Products">
    Optionally, link the application to one or more Data Products. For each link, set the **role type**:

    | Role type       | Meaning                                              |
    | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Source**      | This application produces the data in this product   |
    | **Processing**  | This application transforms the data in this product |
    | **Consumption** | This application consumes or displays this product   |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save**. The application appears in the list and is available as a filter in the Asset catalog.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Application list

| Column            | Description                                 |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **Name**          | Application name                            |
| **Type**          | Source, Processing, Consumer, or Governance |
| **Score**         | Average quality score across linked assets  |
| **Alert**         | Active alert count                          |
| **Issue**         | Open issue count                            |
| **Linked Assets** | Number of assets linked to this application |
| **Action**        | Edit or delete                              |

## Application detail page

Clicking an application name opens its detail view with:

* **Overview** — Key metrics (Health Index, Freshness SLA, Adoption, Impact) and recent alerts
* **Linked Assets** — Add or remove assets associated with this application
* **Audit** — Full change log
* **Readme** — Free-form documentation

The right-side panel shows all relationships: linked Domains (with relationship type), linked Products (with role type), Tags, Owner, and Users.

## Use cases

**Source system traceability** — register SAP as a Source-aligned application. Link all tables that originate from SAP. When SAP has a batch failure, filter affected assets by the SAP application in one click.

**Consumption layer visibility** — register your Tableau environment. Link the dashboards and their underlying tables. When a source table degrades in quality, see immediately which Tableau reports are affected.

**Cross-domain lineage** — an application like Snowflake spans Finance, Sales, and Customer domains. Registering it as an Aggregate application with contributor links to all three domains makes that span visible in the catalog.

**Quality by system tier** — view the quality score page grouped by Application to compare data quality across your source systems, your transformation layer, and your BI layer side by side.

<Tip>
  When linking assets to an application, use Prizm's bulk-link feature from the Asset catalog — filter by database or source, select all, and assign the application in one action.
</Tip>