The Lake screen is the home of the Lake: a dashboard of your datasources, a tab for each one you open, and the checks the screen runs while a source is busy. Use this page to find your way around the workspace; the tree panel and its search have their own pages.
| View | What it shows | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Your datasources as cards, grouped by type or by folder. | Alt+2 |
| Relationship Diagram | The diagram of Lake tables. See Relationship diagram. | Alt+3 |
| Workflows | The Lake workflows. See Workflows in the Lake. | Alt+4 |
| Add datasource | The list of source types, to connect a new datasource. See Add a data source. | Alt+N |
The Alt shortcuts work anywhere on the Lake screen. Point at a view button to read its tooltip, such as Lake dashboards - datasources and tables for Dashboard and Manage workflows and transfer tables for Workflows.
Above the tree sits its toolbar. Most buttons are icons. Point at one to read its name.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| New | Opens a menu of source types, grouped by category. |
| Refresh | Reloads the schema shown in the Lake without contacting the source. It spins while it runs. |
| Add Folder | Opens New folder. Type a name, pick a colour and click Create. |
| Deploy | Deploys the selected tables, after a Deploy Selected Items? confirmation. See Deploy tables. |
| View Source | Opens the source panel for the selected datasource, database or schema. See Import tables. |
| Delete | Deletes the selected items after you confirm. See Delete Lake items. |
| Batch select | Shows checkboxes, so you can tick several items at once. |
| Batch edit | Opens batch edit for the selected datasource. See Batch edit and organise. |
| Expand all | Opens every folder, datasource, database, schema and workflow group. Tables stay closed. |
| Collapse all | Closes every open row. |
Tooltips explain why a button is off. For example, Deploy needs a table that is not deployed and has a primary key, and Batch edit needs a ready datasource.
Empty and loading states:
A datasource that is ready shows no badge; what each badge on a tree row means is explained in The Lake tree. Only a connector install shows step-by-step progress; a sync or a load reports a single Processing state.
The Error Details panel shows the failure message: Copy copies it, Copied confirms, and Close closes the panel. If the copy fails, it shows Unable to copy.
While a source is Processing or Installing, the screen checks it every 10 seconds. After about three and a half minutes without progress it stops and shows Idle; Refresh in the right-click menu starts the checks again. An open datasource form checks again every 5 seconds while the source is processing or installing.
After you create a datasource, the screen watches it for up to 30 minutes. When it becomes ready, its source panel opens by itself; if it fails, a toast says the source failed and points you to the datasource for the details. The messages behind a failure are in Lake troubleshooting.
?openDataSourceId=<id> opens that datasource's tab when the Lake loads.?focusDataSourceId=<id> scrolls the tree to it and briefly highlights it. ?focus=<name> works too, but prefer the id, because names can repeat.?view=datasources, ?view=diagram or ?view=workflows opens the matching view.The add flow has its own links; see Add a data source.
The Alt shortcuts work anywhere on the Lake screen; the tree shortcuts work while a row in the tree has focus. On a Mac, use ⌘ in place of Ctrl.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Show panel / Hide panel | Alt+1 |
| Dashboard | Alt+2 |
| Relationship Diagram | Alt+3 |
| Workflows | Alt+4 |
| Add New | Alt+N |
| Edit (datasources and tables) | Enter |
| View Source | Ctrl+U |
| Show Workflows | Alt+W |
| Duplicate | Alt+C |
| Batch Edit | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Sync Schema | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Refresh | Ctrl+R (not in Safari) |
| Delete | Ctrl+Backspace |
| Control | Permission |
|---|---|
| The Lake item in the sidebar | View Lake Objects, or Add/Modify Lake Objects |
| The Workflows view | View Lake Workflow Objects |
| Deploy | Add/Modify Lake Objects |
| Delete | Remove Lake Objects |
| Sync Schema and Stop Sync | Execute/Abort Lake Objects |
For the full picture, see Who can do what in the Lake.
No. Idle means the screen stopped checking after a datasource stayed Processing for about three and a half minutes. Right-click the datasource and choose Refresh to see its real state; if it is still working, the checks start again.
Stopped records a sync you ended yourself, in grey because nothing is broken. A red Failed badge is an operation that went wrong. To see the message behind a failure, click the badge or see Run, stop and troubleshoot loads.
It counts the tables in the group that have no primary key. A table without one cannot be deployed, so the count shows what stands between you and a deploy. See Configure a table.
Up to 20, and they come back when you reopen the Lake.
The one you used last, for 24 hours: Dashboard, Relationship Diagram or Workflows. After that the Lake starts on Dashboard. The add view is never the one you return to.
Yes. ?openDataSourceId=<id> opens that datasource's tab, and ?focusDataSourceId=<id> scrolls the tree to it and briefly highlights it. ?focus=<name> works too, but prefer the id, because names can repeat. The Lake clears the parameter once it is used, so the link opens its target each time it is followed.
Yes. Hide panel / Show panel, or Alt+1, collapses and restores the left panel. It comes back the way you left it.
Yes, in this browser. Drag a card by its Drag to reorder handle; By type and By folder keep separate orders.
They refresh on their own about once a minute, so a card can be a moment behind.
In Safari, ⌘R reloads the page, so the key never reaches the app and Refresh has no shortcut there. The Refresh item stays in the right-click menu; use it instead.