> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.soda.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.soda.io/onboard-data-sources-and-datasets.md).

# Onboard data sources & datasets

Before you can monitor, test, or enforce data contracts in Soda, you need to **connect your data source and onboard your datasets**.

**Onboarding** is the process of:

* **Connecting Soda to your data source** (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, PostgreSQL, etc.)
* **Discovering** available datasets (tables or views)
* **Selecting** which datasets to monitor and/or validate
* **Configuring** observability, testing, and scheduling behavior

How you onboard datasets depends on how you deploy Soda.

***

### Choose your onboarding path

Soda supports two main ways to onboard datasets:

{% columns %}
{% column %} <a href="/onboard-data-sources-and-datasets/onboard-datasets-on-soda-cloud.md" class="button primary">Via Soda Cloud</a>

This approach is ideal if you want:

* No-code dataset onboarding
* Automated dataset discovery
* Built-in metric monitoring
* Data contracts created in the UI
* Centralized scheduling and alerting
  {% endcolumn %}

{% column %} <a href="/onboard-data-sources-and-datasets/via-soda-core.md" class="button primary">Via Soda Core</a>

This approach is ideal if you want:

* Full control in code
* Git-based workflows
* CI/CD integration
* Contract verification inside pipelines
* Support for in-memory datasets
  {% endcolumn %}
  {% endcolumns %}

You can also combine both approaches: use Soda Cloud for **centralized observability and governance**, and Soda Core for **pipeline-level validation**.

***

{% hint style="info" %}
You are **not logged in to Soda** and are viewing the default public documentation. Learn more about [Licensing & documentation access](/reference/documentation-access-and-licensing.md).

If you do have a Soda license, make sure to **log in to Soda Cloud in this same browser**.
{% endhint %}


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