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data-contract-framework skill

/plugins/business-intelligence/skills/data-contract-framework

This skill helps teams define, enforce, and audit BI data contracts to ensure SLAs, owners, and change workflows across analytics and RevOps.

npx playbooks add skill gtmagents/gtm-agents --skill data-contract-framework

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md
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---
name: data-contract-framework
description: Operating model for defining, enforcing, and auditing BI data contracts.
---

# Data Contract Framework Skill

## When to Use
- Establishing ownership and SLAs for mission-critical BI tables.
- Coordinating schema changes between engineering, analytics, and RevOps.
- Auditing data reliability before major launches or executive reporting cycles.

## Framework
1. **Contract Scope** – table/view name, business purpose, consumer list.
2. **Owner Matrix** – technical owner, business owner, escalation contacts.
3. **SLA Definition** – refresh cadence, acceptable latency, data quality thresholds.
4. **Change Workflow** – approval steps, testing requirements, communication plan.
5. **Compliance & Audit** – logging, version history, and retention requirements.

## Templates
- Data contract one-pager (scope, owners, SLAs, dependencies).
- Change request form with impact assessment.
- Audit checklist for quarterly reviews.

## Tips
- Keep contracts lightweight but enforceable—link to dbt/docs for deeper detail.
- Automate SLA checks via dashboards and alerting.
- Pair with `audit-data-contracts` to prioritize fixes and highlight risk.

---

Overview

This skill defines an operational framework for creating, enforcing, and auditing BI data contracts to improve trust and reliability in analytics. It provides a repeatable model for scoping contracts, assigning owners, setting SLAs, and managing schema changes. The goal is to reduce breakage, speed coordination across teams, and make data readiness auditable for business use.

How this skill works

The framework inspects table and view metadata, stakeholder assignments, refresh schedules, and data quality metrics to produce a formal contract. It enforces SLAs by integrating with monitoring and alerting so violations are detected and routed to the owner matrix. Change requests are governed through a defined workflow and recorded in an audit trail for periodic reviews.

When to use it

  • Defining ownership and SLAs for mission-critical BI tables and views.
  • Coordinating schema or pipeline changes between engineering, analytics, and RevOps.
  • Auditing data readiness ahead of product launches, board reports, or executive dashboards.
  • Prioritizing fixes and remediation for high-risk data assets.
  • Embedding SLA checks into incident and escalation processes.

Best practices

  • Keep contracts concise—one pager with scope, owners, SLAs, and high-level dependencies.
  • Assign both a technical owner and a business owner with clear escalation contacts.
  • Automate SLA monitoring and alerting so broken contracts trigger actionable tickets.
  • Require impact assessment and testing as part of any schema change request.
  • Run quarterly audits with a lightweight checklist and versioned contract history.

Example use cases

  • Create a data contract for the revenue reporting table to guarantee nightly refresh and <1% null rate.
  • Use the change workflow to coordinate a column rename that affects downstream dashboards.
  • Audit all contracts before a product launch to verify SLAs, owners, and dependency maps.
  • Prioritize remediation of tables with repeated SLA breaches for the next sprint.
  • Generate a one-pager contract to hand off a BI asset to a new business owner.

FAQ

How lightweight should a data contract be?

Aim for a one-page contract: scope, owners, refresh cadence, key quality thresholds, and a short dependency note.

What if owners change frequently?

Keep an owner matrix with escalation contacts and version history; require an update step in the change workflow to reassign responsibilities.