# Data Access

- URL: https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/data-access
- Updated: 2026-11-12
- Author: Better Analyst

Choose which tables and columns Better Analyst can query in your SQL databases, filter which rows people get answers from, and show each team member only their own rows, tables, and columns.

Data Access controls what Better Analyst can query in a connected database, and on team data sources, what each person can get answers about.

To show each team member only their own data, follow [Set up per-member data access](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access).

Data Access is available for SQL data sources: BigQuery, Snowflake, Supabase, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MSSQL.

## How it works

Every answer about your database comes from SQL that the AI writes and runs. Data Access changes what that SQL is allowed to touch, before it runs. The AI can't get around it, because the rows and columns it isn't allowed to use never come back from the database.

There are three controls, from broadest to narrowest:

| Control | What it limits | Who it applies to |
| - | - | - |
| [Tables and columns](#tables-and-columns) | Which tables and columns can be queried at all | Everyone |
| [Who can see this](#limit-tables-and-columns-by-member) | Which tables and columns each person can query | Team members, by their [attributes](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/member-attributes) |
| [Row filters](#row-filters) | Which rows come back | Everyone, or each person by their attributes |

For example, on a sales database you might share six tables with the AI, keep `fx_rates` and `shipments.cost` for Finance, and show each sales rep only their own region's rows. Here's the same question asked by two reps on that database:

![Two chats side by side. The West rep asks for total sales by region and gets only West, $51,300. Jane, who covers West and East, asks the same question and gets West $51,300 and East $47,100.](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access/chat-compare.png)

Same question, same data source: each rep gets only their own regions.

## Open Data Access

Open the **Data access** page for a data source in any of these ways:

- In **Library**, open the **Connectors** tab, click the settings icon on the data source, and choose **Data Controls**.
- In a chat, open **Add / manage data**, click the settings icon on the data source, and choose **Data Controls**.
- Right after you connect a SQL data source, choose **Manage Data Access** on the success screen.

## Choose how much the AI can see

The first time you open Data Access for a source, choose one:

- **Everything**: the AI can query every table and column. Quickest to set up, for databases with nothing sensitive in them.
- **Only what I choose**: pick the tables and columns, and optionally filter rows. Recommended for production data. Answers also get faster and more accurate when the AI has fewer tables to choose from.

![The Data access page asking How much can the AI see?, with the choices Everything and Only what I choose](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/data-access/access-choice.png)

Once a source has restrictions, Data Access opens straight to them. Click **Access options** to go back to this choice.

## Tables and columns

Tick the tables the AI can use. Expand a table with the arrow on the right to choose its columns. A table with only some columns ticked shows a dash in its checkbox.

![The Tables and columns section with six tables ticked, a Limited badge on fx\_rates, and a column count for each table](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/data-access/data-access-tables.png)

- **Search** filters by table or column name.
- **Select all** and **Clear** tick or untick every table.
- **Refresh schema** picks up tables and columns added to the database since you last looked. Your existing choices are kept.

Use columns to leave out things like email addresses, salaries, or API keys. A table or column you don't tick is invisible to the AI and to everyone on the team.

Start with the fewest tables you need and add more later. It's easier to share more than to take back something that was shared.

## Row filters

Row filters limit which rows people can get answers from. Each filter is added to every query the AI runs on this data source, so rows that don't match never come back.

A filter compares a column with a value. Under **Compare with**, choose where that value comes from:

| Compare with | Example | Who it affects |
| - | - | - |
| **Fixed value** | `orders.status` is `active` | Everyone, including owners and admins. Use it to leave out test rows or old data. |
| **Member's attribute**, such as Member's Region | `sales_orders.region` is one of each person's own Region | Each team member gets their own rows. See [Per-member rules](#per-member-rules). |
| **Embed viewer's ID** | `orders.customer_id` is the ID in the signed embed token your app sends | Each visitor of an [embed](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/embeddings/dynamic-filtering) gets their own rows in chat |

![The Compare with menu on a row filter, offering Fixed value and three member attributes: Region, Client, and Department](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/data-access/compare-with.png)

Compare with decides whose value the filter uses.

There are two ways to add filters. You can use both; a row then has to pass both.

### Filter specific tables

Add conditions one table at a time.

1. Tick at least one table under **Tables and columns**.
2. Turn on **Filter specific tables**. The first rule appears.
3. Choose the **Table**, then the **Column**. The list shows every table, but you can only pick ones you've ticked.
4. Choose **Compare with**, then the **Condition**: is, is not, is greater than, is less than, contains, or is one of.
5. For a fixed value, type the **Value**. For **is one of**, separate values with commas, like `West, East`.
6. Click **Add rule** for another condition. A row has to match every rule on its table.

![Row filters with two rules: sales\_orders.region and shipments.region, each compared with Member's Region using is one of](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/data-access/row-filters.png)

Two rules that show each person only their own region in sales\_orders and shipments.

**Examples**

| Table | Column | Condition | Value | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| `orders` | `status` | is | `active` | Only active orders, for everyone |
| `products` | `price` | is greater than | `0` | Only products with a price |
| `regions` | `country` | is one of | `US, CA, MX` | Only North American rows |
| `sales_orders` | `region` | is one of | Member's Region | Each person's own regions |

### Filter every table by the same ID

This is a shortcut for databases where every table carries the same kind of ID, such as a customer, client, or organization ID. Instead of writing one rule per table, you pick that column in each table once and set one condition for all of them.

The column can have a different name in each table. For example, `orders.org_id`, `invoices.organization_id`, and `users.orgId` all hold the organization, so you'd pick all three and set the condition once.

1. Turn on **Filter every table by the same ID**.
2. Click the ID column in each table. Selected columns turn blue.
3. Under **Show rows where the ID…**, choose **Compare with**, the condition, and for a fixed value, the value.

![Filter every table by the same ID, with the region column selected in reps, sales\_orders, and shipments, and the condition set to Member's Region](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/data-access/same-id.png)

One condition, applied to the region column in three tables.

Tables where you didn't pick a column aren't filtered by it.

## Per-member rules

On a team data source, a row filter or shared ID can compare with the person asking instead of a fixed value. Each person then gets only their own rows: someone whose Region is West sees West rows, and someone who covers West and East sees both. Per-member rules are included with the **Team** and **Enterprise** plans.

Only team owners and admins, and the data source's [access managers](#access-managers), can change who sees which tables and rows.

The values come from **Team settings → Members**, where owners and admins add [member attributes](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/member-attributes) and set each person's values. The filter here only names which attribute to use. The **Set up per-member access** checklist at the top of the page tracks both halves, including how many members have values.

![The Set up per-member access checklist, with member attributes, tables, and rules done](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/member-attributes/checklist.png)

### Set it up

1. In **Team settings → Members**, add a [member attribute](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/member-attributes) such as `Region`, and set each member's values.

2. In Data Access, add a row filter on the column that holds that value.

3. Under **Compare with**, choose **Member's Region**. There's nothing to type, and the condition is **is** or **is one of**. The note next to the filter links back to Team settings → Members.

4. In **Per-member access**, choose **Who sees everything**:

   - **No one (owners and admins are limited too)**: owners and admins get only their own rows as well.
   - **Owners see everything**
   - **Owners and admins see everything**

   The same setting covers [tables and columns limited by member](#limit-tables-and-columns-by-member). Fixed-value filters still apply to everyone. Changes to this setting are recorded in the [team audit log](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/audit-log).

5. Click **Save**. The first time a data source gets per-member rules, a confirmation lists what uses the source and [what changes](#what-changes-for-a-per-member-data-source) before anything is saved.

A data source can't mix per-member rules with embed viewer rules.

### Views and copies of a protected table

A per-member filter applies to the table it's set on. If the data source also allows a view that reads that table, a query on the view is refused rather than returning everyone's rows. Add a filter for the view's own column, or leave the view out and use the table.

A separate table holding a copy of the same rows isn't linked to the original, so its filter doesn't carry over. Give the copy its own per-member filter, or leave it out of the tables you tick.

### Preview as member

In **Per-member access**, pick a team member under **Preview as member**. You'll see the filters they get from the saved settings, such as `sales_orders: region is West`, and any tables or columns hidden from them. If they'd see nothing, it says which attribute is missing.

![The Per-member access section with Who sees everything, and a preview of the West rep: sales\_orders and shipments filtered to region West, with fx\_rates and shipments.cost hidden, and a button to ask a test question as them](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access/preview-as-member.png)

The preview runs no query, and shows saved settings, so save first to preview a change. Each preview is recorded in the audit log with the member's name, never their values.

### View as a member

Owners and Admins who already see everything on the source can go further than the preview: view a per-viewer dashboard as a member, or ask a test question as them in chat. See [View as a member](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access#view-as-a-member).

### What changes for a per-member data source

When you turn on per-member rules, each person gets only their own rows from this data source. Because the rows depend on who's asking, anything that shows results to more than one person, or runs without a person, changes:

- **Dashboards**: newer dashboards show each viewer their own numbers, and their public links and schedules turn off. Older dashboards stop showing data until they're rebuilt.
- **Scheduled tasks and Data Flows** that use the data source pause.
- **Chats**: a team chat that used the source becomes a private chat for the person who started it. Anyone else starts a new chat.
- **Slack** can't query it.

Turning the rules off later doesn't bring public links or schedules back; turn them on again yourself.

If someone's attribute is empty, they get no rows. Nothing is ever shown unfiltered.

## Limit tables and columns by member

On a team data source, you can hide a table or column from everyone except the members who need it. For example, keep `salaries` for members whose Department is HR, or `shipments.cost` for Finance. Everyone else still sees the rest of the tables and columns you ticked. Limits are included with the **Team** and **Enterprise** plans.

1. In **Team settings → Members**, add a [member attribute](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/member-attributes) such as `Department`, and set each member's values.
2. Next to a ticked table, or a column (expand the table), click **Who can see this**.
3. Choose **Only members whose**, pick the attribute, and type each value that may see it. Press **Enter** after each one.
4. Click **Done**. The table or column shows a **Limited** badge, and a table shows how many of its columns are limited.
5. Choose **Who sees everything** in **Per-member access**, then click **Save**.

![The Who can see this panel on fx\_rates, set to Only members whose Department is one of Finance](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access/who-can-see.png)

Limit the columns that can be worked out from a hidden one, too. If `profit` is limited, `margin` (or `sales` minus `cost`) can reveal it, so give those the same limit.

A limit only ever hides; it never shows a table or column you didn't tick. For people outside a limit, it's hidden everywhere: in chat, in the schema the AI sees, and on dashboards. They can't query it, and the AI isn't told it exists.

![A sales rep asks for total shipping cost by region. The AI answers that the shipments table has no cost amount, and the data source card shows 5 tables instead of 6.](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access/chat-hidden-column.png)

For a rep outside Finance, shipments.cost and fx\_rates don't exist.

Someone with any table or column hidden from them also doesn't get this source's published Data Context, Knowledge Base documents, or SQL feedback, since those can name what's hidden.

Unticking a table or column removes its limit. Choosing **Everything** removes all limits, since a limit needs chosen tables. A data source can't mix these limits with embed viewer rules.

On dashboards, a chart built on a table or column hidden from the viewer shows a no-access card instead of its data; the rest of the dashboard still loads.

## Access managers

Owners and admins can name team members who manage one data source's access without being team admins, such as a data lead who knows which tables each group needs.

1. On the Data Access page, find **Who can manage access**.
2. Choose a team member and click **Add**.

Access managers can choose tables and columns, add row filters, limit tables and columns, and use **Preview as member**. They can't change **Who sees everything**, choose access managers, or edit member attributes. Changes to access managers, and the managers' own changes, are recorded in the [team audit log](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/audit-log). See [Roles & permissions](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/roles-permissions#data-access) for who can do what.

## Saving

The save bar at the bottom of the page sums up what you've chosen, like `6 of 6 tables shared · 2 table rules`, and stays in reach while you scroll. Click **Save**. Settings apply to new queries straight away.

You need at least one table ticked to save. To let the AI use everything, go back to **Access options** and choose **Everything**.

## Troubleshooting

### Tables aren't appearing

- Check the connection's database user can `SELECT` from them.
- Click **Refresh schema**.

### A rule's table can't be picked

The table isn't ticked under **Tables and columns**. Tick it first. A rule on a table you later untick shows a warning and has no effect.

### A table or column is missing for someone

- Look for a **Limited** badge on it.
- Use **Preview as member** to see what's hidden from that person.
- Check their attributes in **Team settings → Members**.

### Someone gets no data

- Check fixed-value filters aren't too narrow, and that values match the data exactly, including capitals.
- For per-member rules, use **Preview as member**. It names any missing attribute.

## Next steps

- [Set up per-member data access](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/per-member-data-access) step by step
- [Member attributes](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/teams/member-attributes)
- [Set up a Knowledge Base](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/my-data/knowledge-base) to give the AI more context
- [Connect a database](https://betteranalyst.com/docs/connectors/overview)