The **Reverse Metadata Application** enables seamless synchronization of metadata updates made in **Collate** back to the original data sources.
This ensures that Collate remains the single source of truth for metadata while maintaining consistency across platforms and reinforcing governance policies.
## Overview
With this application, you can automatically propagate metadata changes such as:
- **Descriptions**
- **Owners**
- **Tags** (e.g., PII-sensitive classifications)
These updates are pushed directly to supported data source systems, including **Snowflake**, enabling real-time enforcement of data governance controls such as masking policies.
## Key Features
- **Automated Metadata Propagation:**
Sync metadata updates (tags, owners, descriptions) from Collate to source systems without manual intervention.
- **Configurable Channels:**
Define multiple sync channels to target different services, asset types, or metadata types.
- **Custom SQL Templates:**
Use SQL templates to customize update behavior per connector.
- **On-Demand or Scheduled Execution:**
Run synchronization workflows manually or on a predefined schedule.
## Installation
1. Navigate to **Settings > Applications**.
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alt="Install Reverse Metadata Application"
caption="Install Reverse Metadata Application"
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2. Click **Add Apps** and install the **Reverse Metadata Application**.
3. After installation, configure the synchronization channels as described below.
Each sync process is managed through a **channel**.
You can define multiple channels for different services or metadata types.
| Field | Description |
|:--------------------|:------------|
| **Channel Name** | A name for identifying the sync channel. |
| **Filter** | Use the UI Query Filter Builder to define the scope of the metadata updates. You can filter by properties such as service, schema, database, owner, domain, or custom attributes. |
| **Update Descriptions** | Enable to sync updated entity descriptions from Collate to the source. |
| **Update Owners** | Enable to sync owner assignments from Collate. |
| **Update Tags** | Enable to sync tag assignments (e.g., PII) to the source system. |
| **SQL Template** | Optional. Specify a custom SQL template for updates. |
## Execution
Once the configuration is complete, the application can be executed in two ways:
- **Run Now:**
For manual execution.
- **Scheduled Run:**
For recurring, automated sync based on a defined schedule.