> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.parable.work/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Data Catalog

> Understand the logical pools and tables available to Workspace SQL queries.

The data catalog is the inventory of logical tables available to a Workspace.
It brings four pools into one SQL connection while preserving the owner and
lifecycle of each table.

| Pool                                                    | Address                         | Produced by                   | Freshness means                            |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| [Provider](/protocols/sql/data-catalog/provider-pool)   | `providers.{connector}.{table}` | Provider Plugin syncs         | When Provider data last arrived.           |
| [Artifact](/protocols/sql/data-catalog/artifact-pool)   | `artifacts.{table}`             | Published files               | When the artifact was published.           |
| [Parable](/protocols/sql/data-catalog/parable-pool)     | `parables.{parable}.{plot}`     | Successful Plot runs          | When the Plot last completed successfully. |
| [Workspace](/protocols/sql/data-catalog/workspace-pool) | `workspace.{table}`             | Live control-plane projection | Current at query time.                     |

[Provider quality](/protocols/sql/data-catalog/provider-quality) lives beside
the pools at `providers_quality`. It measures Provider tables rather than
holding business records.

## What the catalog describes

For each logical table, the catalog can describe:

* Its catalog, schema, table name, and table type.
* Its Arrow schema and semantic scalar annotations.
* Primary and foreign-key relationships.
* The Provider stream, artifact, or Plot that produces it.
* Shape, freshness, quality, and lineage when those annotations are available.

An omitted annotation means that the value is not known or has not been
computed. A present value is authoritative.

<Note>
  A table can be registered before it contains rows. Discovering a table proves
  that it is addressable; it does not prove that a sync, publication, or Plot
  run has produced data.
</Note>

## Discover before querying

Use standard Flight SQL metadata commands for portable catalog, schema, table,
column, and key discovery. Use the Workspace API's
[`catalogV2.catalog`](/protocols/http/workspace) operation when you also need
Parable-specific ownership and annotations.

[Discover tables and columns](/protocols/sql/data-catalog/discover-tables-and-columns)
shows both paths.