Semantic Layer¶

The Seeknal Semantic Layer provides a unified, business-friendly view of your data for analytics and business intelligence.

What is the Semantic Layer?¶

The semantic layer sits between your raw data and your analytics tools, providing:

Consistent Metrics: Define business logic once, reuse everywhere
Self-Service Analytics: Enable stakeholders to query data without SQL
Governance: Control access and ensure data quality
Documentation: Self-documenting data models

Key Concepts¶

Semantic Models¶

Semantic models define the structure of your data in business terms:

Entities: Core objects (customers, products, orders)
Dimensions: Attributes for filtering and grouping
Measures: Quantitative values that can be aggregated

Metrics¶

Metrics are calculations based on semantic models:

Simple Metrics: Basic aggregations (SUM, COUNT, AVG)
Ratio Metrics: Calculations between metrics (conversion rate)
Cumulative Metrics: Running totals and YTD calculations
Derived Metrics: Complex business logic

Semantic Layer Architecture¶

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Analytics Tools                       │
│  Tableau | Power BI | Metabase | Custom Applications   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Semantic Layer                        │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  │
│  │   Semantic   │  │    Metrics   │  │  Governed    │  │
│  │    Models    │→ │     API      │→ │    Access    │  │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              │
                              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Data Warehouse                        │
│        StarRocks | PostgreSQL | DuckDB                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Getting Started¶

Semantic Models - Define your data model
Metrics - Create business metrics
Deployment - Deploy to production
Querying - Query the semantic layer

Use Cases¶

Executive Dashboards¶

Provide consistent KPIs across all dashboards and reports.

Self-Service Analytics¶

Enable business users to explore data without writing SQL.

Data Products¶

Build reliable data products with governed metrics.

Semantic Layer Guide - Comprehensive guide with CLI examples
YAML Schema Reference - Semantic model and metric YAML definitions
Testing & Audits - Data quality validation

Next: Learn about Semantic Models