---
name: data-pipeline-example
description: MDA source showing how to document schema contracts and data lineage for a multi-stage pipeline using typed footnote edges.
title: Data Pipeline Schema Documentation
doc-id: a9a7a881-9c2f-455b-9411-391af6f7dafe
author: Lara Blackwell
tags: [example, data-pipeline, schema, lineage]
created-date: "2026-05-08T00:00:00Z"
metadata:
  mda:
    version: "1.0.0"
  ai-script:
    version: "1"
    instructions: |
      Reference this document to understand data flow and schema contracts
      between pipeline stages. Use the lineage graph to trace data provenance
      and assess the impact of schema changes.
---

# Data Pipeline Schema Documentation

This document captures schema contracts and lineage relationships for a
multi-stage data processing pipeline.

## Schema Contracts

Each pipeline stage declares its input and output schemas as typed
entities[^schema-registry]. Schema compatibility is validated at
pipeline assembly time, not at runtime.

## Lineage Graph

The footnote relationships encode upstream dependencies, enabling agents
to reason about the blast radius of schema changes[^data-catalog].
A breaking change in stage N invalidates all downstream stage contracts.

## Example Lineage Query

Given a schema change in the `user_events` table, the agent traverses
the lineage graph to identify all downstream stages that must be
re-validated before deployment.

[^schema-registry]: {"rel-type": "references", "doc-id": "schema-registry-v3", "rel-desc": "Central schema registry for pipeline stage contracts"}
[^data-catalog]: {"rel-type": "child", "doc-id": "data-catalog-v1", "rel-desc": "Data catalog with full lineage metadata"}