---
title: "Lineage and changes · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/lineage-and-changes
parts: 4
tokens_total: 2528
updated: 2026-10-22
tokens: 621
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Lineage and changes

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Data engineering](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-22.

> Know where every column comes from and where it goes. Check what a change breaks before merging, give readers notice, and backfill with the same code.

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/lineage-and-changes">Agent Wranglers data engineering playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

## Recommended

- DEN-19 [Record lineage from the code](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/lineage-and-changes/lineage-from-code.md) · 629 tokens · updated 2026-10-22
  Generate lineage from the pipeline code and its run logs, from each source column to each dashboard. Never draw it by hand.
- DEN-20 [Check what a change breaks before merging](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/lineage-and-changes/impact-check.md) · 535 tokens · updated 2026-10-22
  In CI, build each changed model and every model downstream of it, and run their tests. List the dashboards that read them in the pull request.
- DEN-21 [Give notice before removing a column people use](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/lineage-and-changes/deprecation-notice.md) · 576 tokens · updated 2026-10-22
  Treat the tables that dashboards and other teams read as a public interface. Add columns freely, but keep a renamed or removed column for at least 30 days after notice.
- DEN-22 [Backfill with the same code and record it](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/lineage-and-changes/backfills.md) · 788 tokens · updated 2026-10-22
  Rebuild past data by running the normal pipeline for each past window, a day or a week at a time. Log every backfill with its reason, window and result.

- Previous: [Data quality tests](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/data-quality-tests.md)
- Next: [Personal data in the warehouse](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering/personal-data-in-the-warehouse.md)
- [All chapters](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/data-engineering.md)