A data contract is an explicitly defined API spec that captures the schema and semantics of an asset. When paired with an enforcement mechanism, data contracts become a powerful tool in preventing unexpected changes to crucial downstream data assets.

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Data Contracts and Gable

Using Gable’s platform, you will be able to write your first data contract and set up the Gable CLI to publish it to Gable. After creating a data contract, you can use Gable’s CLI to deploy checks that compare the schema of an asset with proposed changes in CI/CD. If there are any breaking changes that affect downstream contracts, Gable can post a Github message in the offending PR, notifying data producers of the contract they are going to affect with their change. We can also alert consumers when a backwards incompatible change is made, allowing downstream teams to either advocate or adjust before something goes wrong.