Qlik Sense Connector

This section provides guides and references to use the Qlik Sense connector. Configure and schedule Qlik Sense metadata and profiler workflows from the Collate UI:

Requirements
Metadata Ingestion
Enable Security
Lineage
Troubleshooting

Requirements

Collate 1.1.1 or later

To deploy Collate, check the Deployment guides.

Metadata Ingestion

To ingest metadata from QlikSense, you need to create a service connection. The service connects QlikSense with Collate. Once you create a service, Collate automatically starts ingesting metadata.

Step 1: Add New Service

In the left navigation, click Connections.
On the Connections page, click Add New Service.

Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

From the service type dropdown, select Dashboard Services, then click the QlikSense connector tile.

Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. Collate identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other QlikSense services you are ingesting metadata from.
Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

Note: The service name cannot be changed after it is set.

Step 4: Configure Connection Options

Specify where ingestion runs, provide your source credentials, and verify the connection.

Select Ingestion Runner

Select an Ingestion Runner: the runner where the ingestion pipeline will execute.

Enter Connection Details

Enter the connection details for QlikSense. The right-hand panel in the UI displays inline help for each field.

Qlik Sense Base URL: This field refers to the base URL of your Qlik Sense portal. It’s used to generate redirect links for dashboards and charts. Example: https://server.domain.com or https://server.domain.com/<proxy-path>
Qlik Engine JSON API Websocket URL: Enter the WebSocket URL of the Qlik Sense Engine JSON API. For more information, see the Qlik Engine API connection guide. Example: wss://server.domain.com:4747 or wss://server.domain.com[/virtual proxy]. The Qlik Sense Engine APIs require authentication using certificates generated on the Qlik Management Console.
Qlik Certificate By Values: This approach provides the content of the certificates in the relevant field.
- Client Certificate Value: This field specifies the value of client.pem certificate required for authentication.
- Client Key Certificate Value: This field specifies the value of client_key.pem certificate required for authentication.
- Root Certificate Value: This field specifies the value of root.pem certificate required for authentication.
- Staging Directory Path: This field specifies the path to temporary staging directory, where the certificates will be stored temporarily during the ingestion process, which will be deleted once the ingestion job is over.
When using this approach, make sure you pass the key in the correct format. If your certificate looks like this:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MII..
MBQ...
CgU..
8Lt..
...
h+4=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

You will have to replace new lines with \n and the final private key that you need to pass should look like this:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMII..\nMBQ...\nCgU..\n8Lt..\n...\nh+4=\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n

Qlik Certificate By Path: This approach provides the path to the certificates stored in the container or environment running the ingestion workflow.
- Client Certificate Path: This field specifies the path of client.pem certificate required for authentication.
- Client Key Certificate Value: This field specifies the path of client_key.pem certificate required for authentication.
- Root Certificate Value: This field specifies the path of root.pem certificate required for authentication.
- User Directory: This field specifies the user directory of the user.
- User ID: This field specifies the user ID of the user.
- Validate Host Name: Enable or disable this field to validate the host name against the provided certificates.

Test Connection

Once the credentials have been added, click on Test Connection and Save the changes.

Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

In the What to Ingest step, use filter patterns to control which assets Collate ingests from your dashboard service. Filter patterns use regular expressions applied to asset names.

How Filter Patterns Work

Include: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. Collate ingests only assets whose names match at least one expression. Leave blank to include all assets.
Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. Collate skips any asset whose name matches an expression. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

Rules match asset names using one of five expressions:

contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

When both Include and Exclude are set, Exclude takes priority.

Tip: Leave all filter patterns empty to ingest all dashboards, charts, and data models available in the source.

Filter Options The Dashboard, Chart, and Data Model sections each include the following filter options:

Dashboard: Controls which dashboards Collate ingests from the source.
Chart: Controls which charts within the ingested dashboards are included.
Data Model: Controls which data models are included in metadata ingestion.

Each section provides the following controls:

Scan Mode: You can choose between the following scan modes:
- Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
- Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to automatically filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector—for example, Exclude system databases for the Databases section.
Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
Include rules (available only in Only specific mode): Click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips; an asset is included if it matches any rule.

Tip: If AutoPilot is enabled, usage tracking, data lineage, and other downstream workflows start automatically after the first metadata ingestion completes.

Step 6: Create & Deploy

Click Create & Deploy to deploy the agent and start the first metadata ingestion run. Collate saves the service configuration and immediately begins pulling metadata from the source. To monitor ingestion progress or view the service you just added, go to Connections in the left navigation and select your service.

Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

The Metadata Agent extracts dashboards, charts, data models, and other structural metadata from your source and keeps your Collate catalog in sync. It powers discovery, lineage, and governance across your data assets. When you click Create & Deploy, Collate automatically deploys a Metadata Agent for this service and triggers the first ingestion run. View its status and run history from the Agents tab on the service detail page. To configure the additional Metadata Agent and schedule ingestion, follow these steps:

In the left navigation, click Connections and select your service.
Click the Agents tab.
Click Add Agent and select Metadata from the dropdown. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.

On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.

Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.

Agent Setup: Configure ingestion parameters. The following fields are available:

Field	Default	Description
Db Service Prefixes	—	List of database service name prefixes used to resolve lineage between dashboards and database assets. Accepted formats: `DBService`, `DBService.Database`, `DBService.Database.Schema`, `DBService.Database.Schema.Table`.
Query Parser Type	Auto	Select the SQL parser used for lineage extraction from dashboard queries. Auto selects the best available parser automatically. SqlGlot is a high-performance parser with excellent dialect support; falls back to SqlParse on failure. SqlFluff is a comprehensive parser with strong dialect support; falls back to SqlParse on failure.
Mark Deleted Dashboards	On	Soft-delete dashboards in Collate when they are removed from the source. Associated lineage is also deleted.
Mark Deleted Data Models	On	Soft-delete data models in Collate when they are removed from the source. Associated lineage is also deleted.
Mark Deleted Charts	On	Soft-delete charts in Collate when they are removed from the source.
Include Data Models	On	Ingest data model metadata.
Include Draft Dashboards	On	Ingest dashboards that are in draft state.
Include Usage	On	Collect and ingest usage statistics for dashboards.

Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which dashboards, charts, data models, and projects this agent ingests. These follow the same filter options described in Step 5.

Scope & Behaviour: Control what metadata to include and how to handle deletions. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

Toggle	Default	Description
Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.
Include Current Owners	Off	When enabled, replaces the current owner with a new owner from the source if the current owner is null. Recommended to keep enabled during the first metadata ingestion to capture owner information.
Include Tags	On	Ingest tags from the source.
Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in Collate. When off, Collate only updates fields that have no existing value.
Override Lineage	Off	When on, existing lineage is replaced with newly extracted lineage on each run.

On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
- Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
- On-Demand: No automatic schedule; trigger the agent manually when needed.
Click Add to deploy the agent.

Lineage

Lineage in Collate shows you which database tables power each dashboard. When lineage is set up, you can trace any dashboard back to the exact source tables in your database. There is no separate lineage agent or lineage pipeline — lineage is collected as part of the same metadata ingestion workflow. To enable lineage, open the Configure Metadata Agent section above, scroll to the Lineage Information section in the agent setup, and enter one or more database service names in the Db Service Prefixes field.

Configuring Db Service Prefixes is optional but recommended — it restricts table matching to specific database services. If left blank, Collate attempts to match source tables across all ingested database services.

What you enter	What it matches
`SnowflakeProd`	All tables in the Snowflake service named `SnowflakeProd`
`SnowflakeProd.sales_db`	Tables in the `sales_db` database within `SnowflakeProd`
`SnowflakeProd.sales_db.public`	Tables in the `public` schema within `sales_db`

Tip: If your dashboards pull data from multiple database services, add each service as a separate entry in the Db Service Prefixes field.

Securing Qlik Sense Connection with SSL in Collate

Collate supports two ways to establish secure connections with Qlik Sense: defining the certificate file path or providing the certificate values directly. Navigate to the Advanced Config section. When using the local certificate file path, ensure that the certificates are accessible from the Airflow Server. Specify the path for the client certificate, client key certificate, and root certificate. Alternatively, when using the certificate values, provide the CA certificate used for SSL validation in the CA Certificate field. If both client and server require mutual authentication, upload all three: CA Certificate, SSL Certificate, and SSL Key. For more information about generating authentication certificates so that Collate can communicate with Qlik Sense, see the certificate generation guide.

Troubleshooting

Qlik Sense Troubleshooting

Learn more about how to troubleshoot common Qlik Sense connector issues and resolve configuration or ingestion errors.

Connectors

Connectors

Requirements

Collate 1.1.1 or later