schema-enricher

name

schema-enricher

description

Use this skill to enrich schema.yaml files for BigQuery tables in the bigquery-etl repository. Handles creating schema.yaml when it doesn't exist, finding and filling missing column descriptions (from base schemas, upstream source schema, query context, or application context), validating columns against the query, and generating a summary with recommendations for where to add new descriptions (global.yaml, <dataset_name>.yaml, or app_<name>.yaml). Works with column-description-finder skill.

Schema Enricher

Composable: Orchestrates column-description-finder (for finding descriptions) When to use: Creating a new schema.yaml, filling missing column descriptions, validating schema columns against the query output, or auditing an existing schema for completeness

🚨 REQUIRED READING - Start Here

BEFORE performing any schema work, review the following:

1. Column description sources — note: Base schema files (global.yaml, app_<name>.yaml, dataset-specific YAML) are fetched live from GitHub by the column-description-finder skill in Step 0c. Do not read these files inline — wait for the skill invocation in Step 0c.

2. Schema YAML conventions: READ references/schema_yaml_conventions.md

   • Field types, modes, description quality standards
   • Canonical field names and how aliases work

3. Result file format: READ assets/missing_descriptions_template.yaml

   • Template for capturing columns whose descriptions were derived from upstream source schema, query context, or application context (i.e., not found in a base schema)
   • Used to recommend additions to base schema files

Workflow

Step 0: Audit base schema coverage using column-description-finder ⚠️ MANDATORY — do not skip

BEFORE looking up any column descriptions, invoke the column-description-finder skill to audit base schema coverage. The skill fetches live base schema files from GitHub and uses deterministic scripts — avoiding the hallucination risk of reading files inline.

0a — Identify the applicable schemas:

• If metadata.yaml exists, check for an app_schema: field (e.g., app_newtab). If absent, proceed without an app schema flag.
• Note the dataset name for dataset-specific schema lookup.

0b — Confirm schema.yaml and query file:

• Check for query.sql and read it to understand SELECT output columns:
  • If query.sql exists: read it ✓
  • If only query.py exists: note it — Step 3 column validation will be skipped since column output cannot be reliably parsed from Python
• Check whether schema.yaml exists:
  • If it exists: proceed to Step 0c
  • If it does not exist: generate it first:

    ./bqetl query schema update <dataset>.<table>
    

    Then read the generated schema.yaml before proceeding to Step 0c.

0c — Invoke column-description-finder skill:

Run the audit script with the appropriate flags:

# With app schema:
python scripts/audit_base_schema_coverage.py <dataset>.<table> --app-schema <app_schema> --dataset-schema

# Without app schema:
python scripts/audit_base_schema_coverage.py <dataset>.<table> --dataset-schema

Capture the full output — it identifies:

• Columns covered by base schemas (and which file covers each)
• Columns with existing descriptions not in base schemas
• Columns with no description at all

⚠️ Wait for the skill to complete and capture its full output before proceeding to Step 1.

Step 1: Categorize columns from audit output

Using the audit output from Step 0c, categorize every column:

Column status	Source	Action
Covered by live base schema	audit output (column → source file)	Use the base schema description
Has own description	audit output	Retain existing description
No description (not in live schemas)	audit output	Check local base schema files first; if found → local_only_base_schema_columns; if not → flag for Step 2

Checking local base schema files: The column-description-finder audit fetches schemas live from GitHub. If a base schema file exists locally but not on GitHub main (returns 404 when WebFetched), the audit will not find descriptions from it. For columns marked "no description" by the audit:

1. Check local bigquery_etl/schema/*.yaml files for a match
2. If found — the description is valid but sourced from a local-only file. Tag the column as local-only and capture it in local_only_base_schema_columns in Step 6.
3. If not found in any local file either — flag for description fill in Step 2.

Base schema priority order applied by the audit script is defined in skills/column-description-finder/references/column_definition_yaml_guide.md (app-specific → dataset-specific → global).

Proceed to Step 2 for all columns with no description in any base schema (live or local).

Step 2: Fill missing descriptions

For each column without a current description in schema.yaml, use this priority order:

1–3. Base schemas — descriptions are already identified in the Step 0c audit output. Apply them directly from the audit results (app-specific → dataset-specific → global).

4. Upstream source schema.yaml — for columns that are pass-through dimensions from a source table:

   • Identify the source table(s) from the FROM clause of query.sql
   • If the source table ends in _live or _stable (a Glean ingestion table): invoke the glean-description-lookup skill to fetch descriptions from the Glean Dictionary — no local schema.yaml exists for those tables
   • Otherwise: locate the source table's directory under sql/ and read its schema.yaml
   • If the column exists and has a description, copy it directly
   • If the upstream schema.yaml is absent or the column has no description there, fall through to priority 5

5. Query context — examine query.sql to understand what the column computes:

   • Aggregation of clicks → "Total number of clicks recorded"
   • Boolean flag → "Whether [feature] is enabled for this user"
   • SAFE_DIVIDE expression → rate or ratio description

6. Application context — if no query context is clear, derive description from:

   • Column name semantics
   • Dataset/product area (e.g., newtab, pocket, topsites, search)
   • Related columns nearby in the schema

⚠️ For any column whose description came from upstream source schema.yaml (priority 4), query context (priority 5), or application context (priority 6) — i.e., not from a base schema — capture it in <table_name>_missing_metadata.yaml (Step 6).

Nested RECORD fields

Base schema matching covers top-level fields only (as noted in the Step 0c audit output). For nested fields within RECORD types, apply the same priority order as above — upstream source schema.yaml first, then query context, then application context. Descriptions derived from priorities 4, 5, or 6 for nested fields should also be captured in <table_name>_missing_metadata.yaml. Quality check (Step 4) applies to nested field descriptions as well.

Step 3: Validate columns

Compare columns in schema.yaml against the query's SELECT output. Skip this step if only query.py exists (noted in Step 0b).

⚠️ This command may update schema.yaml on disk. Do NOT re-read schema.yaml after running — continue working from the field list and descriptions established in Steps 1–2. Use the command output (diff) only to identify structural additions and removals; apply those changes to your in-memory enriched schema, then write everything in Step 5.

./bqetl query schema update <dataset>.<table>

Review the diff to identify:

• Columns in query but missing from schema.yaml → add them with descriptions (check Step 0c audit output first; fall back to Step 2 priority order if not found)
• Columns in schema.yaml but not in query → flag for removal (confirm with user before deleting)
• Type mismatches → correct to match query output

Step 4: Description quality check

Every description — whether sourced from a base schema, retained from the existing schema.yaml, or derived from context — is verified against:

• Not empty or null
• Not a restatement of the column name
• States what the value represents (count, flag, dimension, rate)
• Consistent with data type
• Contextually accurate for the product domain

Failing descriptions are corrected automatically.

Step 5: Write schema.yaml

Write the enriched schema.yaml preserving field order, names, types, and modes. Only description: entries are added or updated.

On write failure: attempt write to schema_enriched_draft.yaml in the same directory and report the alternate path.

Then read back the written file and confirm:

• All original fields are present
• Every field has a non-empty description
• No fields renamed or removed
• Field count matches pre-write count (plus any additions from Step 3)

Then validate the schema against BigQuery:

./bqetl query schema validate <dataset>.<table>

On verification or validation failure: report which fields are missing/incorrect and attempt automatic remediation.

Step 6: Write <table_name>_missing_metadata.yaml (if non-live-base-schema descriptions were needed)

Create this file if ANY of the following is true:

• One or more columns required description from upstream source schema.yaml, query context, or application context (Step 2)
• One or more columns were matched from a local-only base schema file (Step 1)

Write to:

bigquery_etl/schema/missing_metadata/<table_name>_missing_metadata.yaml

Structure — READ assets/missing_descriptions_template.yaml and COPY its format. The block below is a structural preview only; if it differs from the template file, the template is authoritative:

table: "<project>.<dataset>.<table>"
generated_date: "<YYYY-MM-DD>"

# Section 1: Columns whose descriptions came from upstream source schema, query context, or application context
# (not found in any base schema — live or local)
missing_columns:
  - name: "<column_name>"
    type: "<BigQuery type>"
    mode: "<NULLABLE|REQUIRED|REPEATED>"
    inferred_description: >-
      <Description derived from upstream source schema, query context, or application/product context.>
    inference_basis: "<column name semantics | related column | product domain | data type signal | query context | upstream source schema>"
    recommended_target: "<global.yaml | app_<name>.yaml | <dataset_name>.yaml>"
    recommendation_reason: >-
      <Why this column belongs in the recommended target.>

# Section 2: Columns matched in LOCAL-ONLY base schema files
# (descriptions are valid but sourced from files not yet on GitHub main)
local_only_base_schema_columns:
  - name: "<column_name>"
    type: "<BigQuery type>"
    mode: "<NULLABLE|REQUIRED|REPEATED>"
    description: >-
      <Description sourced from the local-only base schema file.>
    source_file: "<app_<name>.yaml | <dataset_name>.yaml>"
    source_status: "local-only — not on GitHub main"
    recommended_action: >-
      Merge <source_file> to GitHub main to make this description authoritative.

Omit a section entirely if it has no entries.

recommended_target rules for missing_columns — this is also the decision logic for choosing which base schema file to recommend:

Condition	Target
Column useful across many datasets/products	global.yaml
Column specific to one product (newtab, pocket, ads)	app_<product_name>.yaml
Column specific to one dataset	<dataset_name>.yaml

⚠️ Apply product-specificity check first. A column that appears only in one dataset is not automatically a <dataset_name>.yaml candidate — if the column represents a product feature or product-scoped concept, it belongs in app_<product_name>.yaml regardless of which dataset it lives in.

For auditing recommended_target across multiple tables at once, use the base-schema-audit skill (decision tree: skills/base-schema-audit/references/base_schema_classification_guide.md).

If neither condition is met, skip this step and note in the summary: <table_name>_missing_metadata.yaml not created — all columns matched in live base schemas

Step 7: Write summary markdown file ⚠️ MANDATORY — do not skip

Write a summary markdown file to:

bigquery_etl/schema/missing_metadata/<table_name>-metadata-summary.md

Use the Write tool to create this file with the following structure:

# Schema Enricher — Metadata Summary

**Table:** `<project>.<dataset>.<table>`
**Run date:** <YYYY-MM-DD>

---

## Phase Results

| Phase (Step) | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery (Step 0) | ✅/❌ | Base schemas found |
| Categorization (Step 1) | ✅/❌ | X covered, Y retained, Z flagged |
| Description Fill (Step 2) | ✅/❌ | X from base schemas, Y from upstream schema/query/application context |
| Column Validation (Step 3) | ✅/❌/⏭️ | X/Y match query output (or: skipped — only query.py exists) |
| Quality Check (Step 4) | ✅/❌ | X descriptions pass |
| Write (Step 5) | ✅/❌ | schema.yaml written |
| Verification (Step 5) | ✅/❌ | All fields confirmed |

---

## Base Schema Coverage

| Column | Matched Field | Source File | Source Status | Alias Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <column_name> | <matched_field> | <source_file> | live | no |
| <column_name> | <canonical_name> | <source_file> | live | yes (alias: <column_name>) |
| <column_name> | <matched_field> | <source_file> | local-only | no |
| <column_name> | — | (none) | non-base-schema | — |

---

## Local-Only Base Schema Columns

| Column | Source File | Recommended Action |
|---|---|---|
| <column_name> | <> | Merge  to GitHub main |



---



| Column | Description | Inference Basis | Recommended Base Schema |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  | .yaml \| .yaml> |



---





  [list or "none"]
  [list or "none"]
  [list or "none"]

---



  — enriched with all X descriptions
  — Y non-base-schema descriptions (priorities 4–6) + Z local-only base schema columns
  (or:  not created — all columns matched in live base schemas)
  — this summary file

Step 8: Completion checklist ⚠️ VERIFY before declaring task complete

Before reporting done, confirm all required output files have been written using the Read tool or ls:

• sql/<project>/<dataset>/<table>/schema.yaml — every field has a non-empty description
• bigquery_etl/schema/missing_metadata/<table_name>-metadata-summary.md — summary markdown written
• bigquery_etl/schema/missing_metadata/<table_name>_missing_metadata.yaml — written if any columns required description from priorities 4, 5, or 6 OR came from local-only base schemas; explicitly noted as not created if all columns matched in live base schemas

If any file is missing, create it before proceeding.

Integration with Other Skills

Skill	When to invoke
column-description-finder	Always — invoked in Step 0c to audit base schema coverage using live GitHub schema files
glean-description-lookup	Step 2 priority 4 — when the upstream source table ends in _live or _stable (no local schema.yaml)
base-schema-audit	Before enriching many tables — classifies missing columns into correct base schema targets across a full dataset
create-pr	After enrichment is complete — stages, commits, and opens a draft PR

Key Commands

# Generate schema structure from query output (Step 0b)
./bqetl query schema update <dataset>.<table>

# Validate schema against BigQuery (Step 5)
./bqetl query schema validate <dataset>.<table>