Skip to content

Commit d92b6e1

Browse files
authored
Merge pull request #37 from DataRecce/feature/pla-502-update-start-free-with-cloud-doc
update to align onboarding
2 parents 095ec1a + eac1158 commit d92b6e1

File tree

1 file changed

+151
-48
lines changed

1 file changed

+151
-48
lines changed

docs/2-getting-started/start-free-with-cloud.md

Lines changed: 151 additions & 48 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -4,73 +4,176 @@ title: Start free with Cloud
44

55
# Start Free with Recce Cloud
66

7-
**Launch Recce in under 2 minutes** to validate your data changes. We offer two paths to getting started.
7+
**Launch Recce in under 2 minutes**. Each following feature provides additional value. The progressive features help you get more value from Recce over time.
88

9-
👉 **[Start Free →](https://cloud.reccehq.com)**
9+
👉 **[Start Free →](https://cloud.reccehq.com){target="_blank"}**
1010

11-
## Step 1: Get Ready to Launch Recce
11+
## Model Changes and Impact Analysis
1212

13-
### Upload your artifacts
13+
Recce shows what changed between **base** and **current** environments and helps assess potential impact. The most common case is comparing your development branch against your production or main branch to see what your changes will impact.
1414

15-
- **Best if**: You want to try without GitHub permissions
16-
- **You get**: Launch Recce with your actual dbt project
17-
- **Setup**: Upload your development and production artifacts locally
18-
- **Immediate value**: See your real project lineage and metadata diffs
19-
-**You'll know it's working when**: Your models appear in the lineage graph
15+
You can:
2016

21-
<br>
22-
If you don't have a dbt project, you can just click "Launch" to see the Jaffle Shop sample project loaded.
17+
- Explore with the pre-loaded Jaffle Shop data
18+
- Upload your metadata (see below)
19+
- **Skip manual upload go directly to [CI/CD automation](#cicd-automation)**
2320

24-
### Connect to view all your PR
21+
<!-- insert a video -->
2522

26-
- **Best if**: You have a current PR and GitHub permissions
27-
- **You get**: List all your PRs and validate any of them
28-
- **Setup**: Connect GitHub (installs Recce app) and upload your PR snapshots
29-
- **Immediate value**: See all PRs and do validation
30-
-**You'll know it's working when**: Your PRs appear in a the project
23+
### Upload Metadata
24+
- Web interface: Click "Update" on the session you want to update in Recce Cloud.
25+
1. Click "Update" in base session to upload baseline metadata
26+
2. Click "Update" in current session to upload comparison metadata
27+
3. Click "Launch" to compare current against base
28+
- CLI command:
29+
```
30+
recce upload-session --session-id <your_session_id>
31+
```
32+
Find your session ID in Recce Cloud web interface when clicking "Update" on any session.
3133

32-
## Step 2: Launch Recce → See Metadata Diffing
34+
### Required Files
3335

34-
**What you just unlocked**:
36+
Recce needs `manifest.json` and `catalog.json` from both **base** and **current** environments for comparison.
3537

36-
-**Lineage visualization** of your models
37-
-**Metadata comparison** between changes and production
38-
-**Change detection** automatically highlighted
39-
-**Column-level impact analysis**
38+
#### Base Metadata
4039

41-
**You can now**: Explore which models changed and understand downstream impact
40+
Production environment is commonly used as the baseline, but any environment can serve as the base.
4241

43-
**You'll know it's working when**: You see colored nodes showing changed models in the lineage view
42+
Choose one method:
4443

45-
## Step 3: Unlock Data Diffing → Real Data Validation
44+
**Method 1: Generate locally**
4645

47-
- **What you'll unlock**: Compare actual data between development and production
48-
- **Setup needed**: Configure your data warehouse connection (1 action)
49-
- **New value**:
50-
-**Value diff** - see row count changes
51-
-**Profile diff** - compare data distributions
52-
-**Schema diff** - spot structure changes
53-
-**Custom query comparisons** - run any SQL side-by-side
46+
```
47+
dbt docs generate --target-path target-base --target <your_prod_target>
48+
```
5449

55-
**You can now**: Validate that your data changes work correctly
5650

57-
**You'll know it's working when**: You can run "Value Diff" and see actual row count comparisons
51+
**Method 2: dbt Cloud**<br>
52+
Deploy → Jobs → Production job → Recent run → Download artifacts
5853

59-
## Step 4: Automate Everything → CI/CD Integration
54+
**Method 3: dbt Docs server**<br>
55+
Download the artifacts directly from dbt docs server:
6056

61-
- **What you'll unlock**: Automatic validation on every PR
62-
- **Setup needed**: [Set up automated workflows](../7-cicd/scenario-ci.md)
63-
- **Ultimate value**:
64-
-**Automatic PR checks** - validation runs on every push
65-
-**Team workflows** - standardized validation across team
66-
-**PR blocking** - prevent bad changes from merging
57+
- `<dbt_docs_url>/manifest.json`
58+
- `<dbt_docs_url>/catalog.json`
59+
60+
#### Current Metadata
61+
62+
Use development environment or PR branch as current to compare against the base.
63+
64+
Choose one method:
65+
66+
**Method 1: Generate locally**
67+
68+
```
69+
dbt docs generate --target <your_dev_target>
70+
```
71+
72+
**Method 2: dbt Cloud**<br>
73+
Deploy → Jobs → CI job → Recent run → Download artifacts
74+
75+
76+
## Data Warehouse Diffing {#data-diffing}
77+
78+
Go beyond metadata to see how changes affect your actual data. Configure your data warehouse connection to compare query results and catch issues before they impact production.
79+
80+
### Setup Requirements
81+
82+
- Data warehouse credentials with read access
83+
- Network connectivity to your warehouse
84+
- Base and current environments configured in previous step
85+
86+
### Supported Warehouses
87+
88+
- Snowflake
89+
- others are on upcoming future
90+
91+
### Warehouse Connection
92+
93+
Configure connection to your data warehouse to enable query result comparisons.
94+
95+
**Connection setup:**
96+
97+
1. Navigate to [settings](https://cloud.reccehq.com/settings#organization){target="_blank"}
98+
2. Add Connection
99+
100+
Your connection credentials are secure. See our [security practices](https://reccehq.com/security/){target="_blank"} for details.
101+
102+
<!-- insert a video -->
103+
104+
### How to Use Data Diffing
105+
106+
Recce supports several data diffing methods. See Data Diffing sections for details:
107+
108+
- [Row Count Diff](/5-data-diffing/row-count-diff)
109+
- [Profile Diff](/5-data-diffing/profile-diff/)
110+
- [Value Diff](/5-data-diffing/value-diff/)
111+
- [Top-K Diff](/5-data-diffing/topK-diff/)
112+
- [Histogram Diff](/5-data-diffing/histogram-diff/)
113+
- [Query](/5-data-diffing/query/)
114+
115+
## GitHub Integration {#github-integration}
116+
117+
Connect your GitHub repo to see all PRs in one place and validate changes before they hit production.
118+
119+
### Setup Requirements
120+
121+
- GitHub repository with dbt project
122+
- Repository admin access for initial setup
123+
- Active PRs with model changes
124+
125+
!!!Note
126+
You'll need administrative access to the GitHub organization you want to connect. Please ensure you have the necessary permissions for **GitHub App installations**.
127+
128+
### GitHub Connection
129+
130+
Connect your repository to track pull requests and validate changes.
131+
132+
**Connection setup:**
133+
134+
1. Navigate to settings
135+
2. Connect GitHub repository
136+
3. Authorize Recce access
137+
4. Select repository
138+
139+
<!-- insert a video -->
140+
141+
### How to Use PR Tracking
142+
143+
Once connected, Recce displays all open and draft PRs in your dashboard.
144+
145+
### PR Validation Workflow
146+
147+
- View open/draft PRs in dashboard
148+
- Select PR to validate
149+
- Upload PR metadata (until CI/CD is configured)
150+
- Launch Recce to analyze changes
151+
152+
153+
## CI/CD Automation {#cicd-automation}
154+
155+
Set up CI/CD to automatically upload metadata and run validation checks on every PR.
156+
157+
!!!Note
158+
Available with Team plan (free trial included).
159+
160+
### Setup Requirements
161+
See the CI/CD sections for complete setup guides:
162+
163+
- [Setup CD](/7-cicd/setup-cd/)
164+
- [Setup CI](/7-cicd/setup-ci/)
165+
166+
- GitHub integration configured
167+
- Team plan subscription or free trial
168+
169+
### Automation Benefits
170+
171+
- Automatic metadata upload on every PR
172+
- Consistent validation across all PRs
173+
- Reduced manual setup steps
174+
- Integrated PR status checks
175+
- Validation results directly in PR
67176

68-
## What's Next?
69177

70-
After launching Recce, explore:
71178

72-
- [View modified](../3-visualized-change/lineage.md)
73-
- [View downstream impacts](../4-downstream-impacts/impact-radius.md)
74-
- [Data diffing](../5-data-diffing/query.md)
75179

76-
**Questions?** [Join our Discord](../1-whats-recce/community-support.md) - we're here to help!

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)