Workbooks

A workbook is a page of cells for exploring your data. You write SQL against a data source, ask questions in plain English, query the semantic model, chart the rows, and add notes. When a query is worth keeping, you save it as a dataset or put its chart on a dashboard.

Open Team spaces → Workbooks. The list shows the team space's workbooks, most recently changed first. Click New workbook and give it a name.

Cells

Add a cell with the buttons under the last cell. Move cells up or down, or delete them, from each cell's controls. A workbook holds up to 100 cells.

Workbooks query SQL data sources: warehouses and databases. If none is connected yet, the workbook says so; add one under Data sources.

Running a query

Press Cmd+Enter (Mac) or Ctrl+Enter to run a SQL or Ask cell. Every run goes through the same path as dataset queries: one read-only statement, the source's timeouts, and a row cap.

The cell shows the rows, the row count and how long the run took. CSV downloads the rows. A run keeps at most 1,000 rows and 2 MB with the cell. Stored results expire after seven days; the query stays, and the cell asks you to run it again.

History in the workbook header lists past runs: who ran which cell, against which source, whether it succeeded, how many rows it returned and how long it took. Every run is also in the audit log.

Large scans

Before a run, Agent Serve checks whether the query is likely to read a lot. On PostgreSQL it asks the database for its plan estimate. On other sources it reads the query for a missing WHERE or LIMIT, SELECT *, or tables joined with commas and no join condition. A large scan stops first and offers Make it safer, or Run anyway. Nothing is rewritten unless you accept the suggestion.

AI help with SQL

The SQL editor highlights SQL, completes table and column names from the source's schema, and shows AI suggestions as faint text after a pause in typing. Press Tab to accept one.

Each query cell also offers:

• Ask: turn a question into SQL.
• Explain: describe in plain words what the query does.
• Fix this error: after a failed run, explain the error and suggest a corrected query.
• Make it safer: suggest a version that reads less, for example by adding a filter or a limit.

The AI sees the source's schema as you can see it, and the semantic model's names, synonyms and measures. It never sees row data. Every suggestion is only a suggestion: nothing runs or saves until you accept it and run the cell. AI calls are billed to the workspace like other model use.

Saving and publishing

From a SQL or Ask cell, Save as dataset creates a new dataset from the query, or adds it to an existing one. The dataset then appears under Data sources, where dashboards, Chat and Relays can use it.

From a Chart cell, Publish to dashboard adds the chart as a panel on a new or existing dashboard. For a chart over a SQL or Ask cell, the panel reads a new dataset of that query. For a chart over a Semantic cell, the panel reads the semantic model directly, so each viewer sees only the rows their access allows.

How workbooks fit with dashboards and the semantic model

• A workbook is where you explore. A dashboard is where the team reads the result. Publish a chart when the question is settled.
• Semantic cells use the same measures and joins as dashboards and Chat, with the same table access and row security.
• If you have a model draft with draft mode on, your own Semantic cells and AI suggestions read your draft. Everyone else reads the published model.

Sharing and permissions

A workbook is shared with the team space by default. A person who can manage it can open Share to limit it to chosen people and teams, with view, edit or manage access. A restricted workbook is hidden from everyone it is not shared with. Workspace admins always see every workbook.

Data source access applies to every cell, separately:

• Running a cell, reading its schema or asking AI about it needs use access to the cell's source. A cell's stored result is shown only to people who can use its source.
• Save as dataset needs edit access to the source, and your permission group must allow data management.
• Publish to dashboard needs your permission group to allow building dashboards.

A permission group that withholds Workbooks blocks every workbook action, including running queries and AI help. See Access Control.

Limits