analytics-dictionary / term / transformation & metrics
Data contract
A data contract is an agreement between data producers and consumers about the structure and meaning of a dataset.
Written by Reflective Data experts · updated Oct 5, 2026
It specifies fields, types, semantics and expectations such as freshness, and is enforced with automated checks. If a producer wants to change the data, the contract makes the impact visible first.
Contracts shift quality checks from the end of the pipeline to the start.
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