> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcollate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Data Contracts | Collate Data Contracts

> Step-by-step guidance for data contracts using Collate. Learn key actions, features, and best practices.

# Overview of Data Contracts

Collate is a centralized metadata repository where all your data resides. In any organization, it is important to get the consumers utilizing data assets aligned with asset producers. As data platform adoption increases in an organization, a data mesh architecture with Collate Data Contracts can produce automated schema, semantic, and data quality validations that enforce data quality and SLAs across departments and domains.

Data contracts in Collate support a broad set of metadata assets:

* Schema validation, currently available for tables, topics, API endpoints, and dashboard data models.
* Data quality expectations, currently available for tables only.
* Semantic requirements across all supported entities, such as descriptions or an [owner assigned](/how-to-guides/guide-for-data-users/data-ownership).
* A data contract's execution history over time.

Watch the video to learn more about Collate Data Contracts.

<iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/thLYeMx2sxs?si=iVlnb8zqaa0T-HmV" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen />

Watch a demo of Data Contracts from our [Collate Community Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/openmetadata-meetup-group/).

<iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sz2XUEQHp08?start=0&end=1750" frameBorder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowFullScreen />

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Collate Data Contract Specification" href="/how-to-guides/data-contracts/spec">
    Overview of JSON Schema for DataContract entity.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Creating a Data Contract" href="/how-to-guides/data-contracts/create">
    Create data contracts directly from the Collate UI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="ODCS Import and Export" href="/how-to-guides/data-contracts/odcs">
    Import and export contracts in the Open Data Contract Standard format, and see which fields and quality rules carry over.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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