Using the web console
Edition: Core. Some surfaces are role-gated (admin / DPO) or edition-gated, as noted.
The Neksur web console is organized around the Data Contract. This is a tour of its screens and the main workflows.
Navigation
Section titled “Navigation”The left sidebar has four top-level destinations, plus a Recents list of the contracts and datasets you visited last:
| Nav | Purpose | Maps to |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog | Browse and discover Iceberg datasets; the entry point for creating Contracts. | Define |
| Contracts | View and manage every Data Contract. The canonical workflow surface. | Meaning / Access / State |
| Activity | Cross-Contract event log: reviews, deploys, enforcement. | Prove |
| Settings | Profile, tokens, fiscal calendars, compile config, classifier curation, cost. | — |
You can set your default landing screen in Settings → Profile.
Catalog
Section titled “Catalog”A three-pane discovery surface:
- Left — a namespace tree (multi-select) to drill into the catalog.
- Center — a searchable, multi-select dataset list with a List ⇄ Graph toggle (graph mode shows lineage as a diagram). Columns include name, owner, classification, and whether a Contract already exists.
- Right — a detail panel (when a dataset is selected) with the fully-qualified name, classification, schema, and lineage.
Primary action: select datasets → Promote to Contract (Independent: one dataset; Composite: several into one envelope). Filters and selection persist in the URL so views are shareable.
Contracts
Section titled “Contracts”List view — every Contract in the tenant, with owner, classification, a Defense-in-Depth indicator (catalog · write-path · continuous-scan · compute-isolation, each shown as active / available / outside-tier), and consumers. A lifecycle bar shows how many Contracts sit in each stage.
Detail view — a 60/40 layout: editing on the left, a read-only audit rail on the right.
- Identity strip — dataset URI (links to Catalog), owner, classification, the Defense-in-Depth badge, and downstream consumers.
- Lifecycle strip — the six stages (draft → review → compile → deploy → active → audit). The current stage is highlighted; legal transitions are clickable and open an action/approval panel.
- Dimension tabs (fixed order):
- Meaning — author metrics/dimensions (YAML + form, compile-on-save). See Author semantic metrics.
- Access — author row filters, column masks, and retention rules, with a live compiled-policy preview. See Author Access policies.
- State — snapshot pins, owned-table schema, partition spec, a lineage subgraph (2 hops up/down), and a nested Quality section (DQ + detection findings).
Deep links work for everything: /contracts/{slug}/access, /contracts/{slug}/lifecycle/review, /contracts/{slug}/audit/{event_id}.
The full walkthrough is in Author and ship a Data Contract.
Activity
Section titled “Activity”A time-ordered, filterable feed (All / Review / Deploy / Enforcement) of everything that happened to Contracts. Review cards show the sign-off matrix; deploy cards show rollout status; enforcement cards show actions taken (e.g. a blocked query). Click any Contract name to jump to it. This is the operational face of the Prove job.
Metrics
Section titled “Metrics”A standalone registry of semantic models. Add metric opens a YAML/form editor with a starter skeleton; saving compiles the model and routes to its detail page, which has Definition, Lineage, and History (version timeline) tabs. Metrics authored here are the Meaning building blocks Contracts pin. See Author semantic metrics.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”| Sub-page | What you do | Gating |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | Identity (edited via your IdP), default landing surface, theme, sign out. | all users |
| Tokens | Issue machine-to-machine API tokens; the secret is shown once, copy-to-clipboard, never re-shown. | admin |
| Fiscal calendars | Connect a standard / 4-4-5 / arbitrary calendar (kind + FY anchor month); delete calendars. | admin |
| Compile config | Tune the recursive-hierarchy max depth for metric resolution. | admin |
| Classifier curation | Scan a table to pre-label columns with the ML classifier; review/correct labels against the taxonomy; export curated labels. | admin / DPO (Intelligence) |
| Cost | FinOps dashboard: cost by engine / user / day, with a per-engine summary. Read-only. | all users (data per edition) |
A typical first session
Section titled “A typical first session”- Catalog → find your dataset → Promote to Contract.
- On the new draft, author Meaning (a metric), then Access (a row filter / mask).
- Use the lifecycle strip → Review, pick approvers.
- Approvers act from Activity; once signed off, the Contract compiles, deploys, and goes active.
- Watch enforcement and audit events stream into Activity and the Contract’s audit rail.