Glossary

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Core Terms

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Destination

A connection to a BigQuery dataset where your synced data is stored. A destination includes a GCP project ID, dataset name, data location (region), and timezone. You can have multiple destinations for different use cases (e.g., production vs. staging).

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Table Group

A collection of related tables for a single platform. For example, a “Meta Ads - Performance” table group might contain tables for campaign-level metrics, ad-level metrics, and audience breakdowns. Table groups can be created from premade presets or built from scratch.

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Table

An individual data definition within a table group. Each table specifies:

• Which metrics and dimensions to fetch
• The time aggregation (daily, weekly, monthly, or total)
• Any filters to narrow the data
• The historical sync range (how far back to fetch on the first sync)

A table maps directly to one BigQuery table. The sync mode for each table is assigned when creating a transfer — see Transfer.

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Transfer

The scheduled pipeline that connects a table group to a destination. A transfer defines:

• Which data source (platform connection) to use
• Which accounts to sync (all or selected)
• The sync mode for each table (incremental, full refresh, or full append)
• The schedule (how often to sync)
• The destination (where to put the data)

One transfer syncs one platform’s data. To sync Meta Ads and Google Ads, you create two transfers.

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Transfer Run

A single execution of a transfer. Each run fetches data, processes it according to the sync mode assigned to each table, and loads it into BigQuery. Runs can be triggered by the schedule, manually, or as part of a resync.

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Sync Mode

How data is written to and maintained in a BigQuery table. Detrics supports three sync modes:

• Incremental — Append and deduplicate by date
• Full Refresh — Replace the entire table
• Full Append — Append without deduplication

See Sync Modes for full details.

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Refresh Window

For Incremental sync mode only. The number of days Detrics re-fetches and deduplicates on each sync. For example, a 3-day refresh window means each sync fetches the last 3 days and replaces those rows in BigQuery. This handles late-arriving data and attribution adjustments.

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Historical Sync Range

How far back Detrics fetches data on the first sync of a transfer. Options range from 1 month to all time. After the initial sync, only the refresh window (incremental) or full dataset (full refresh/append) is fetched on each run.

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BigQuery Terms

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Dataset

A BigQuery container that holds tables. When you create a destination, you specify a dataset name. If it doesn’t exist, Detrics creates it in your GCP project.

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Data Location

The geographic region where your BigQuery data is physically stored. Options include multi-region locations (US, EU) or specific regions (us-east1, europe-west1, etc.). Once set, a dataset’s location cannot be changed.

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Service Account

A Google Cloud identity that Detrics uses to access your BigQuery project. You grant this service account the BigQuery User role so Detrics can create datasets, tables, and load data.

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Data Terms

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Metrics

Quantitative values that can be summed or averaged. Examples: spend, impressions, clicks, conversions, revenue, sessions.

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Dimensions

Categorical or descriptive values used to group and filter data. Examples: campaign_name, date, ad_name, country, device, product_title.

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Time Aggregation

How data is grouped over time within a table:

• Daily — One row per day per dimension combination
• Weekly — One row per ISO week
• Monthly — One row per calendar month
• Hourly — One row per hour (where supported by the platform)
• Total — No time breakdown; aggregated across the entire date range

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Filters

Conditions applied to narrow the data fetched from a platform. For example, filtering campaigns where campaign_name CONTAINS "Brand" to sync only branded campaigns. Filters can be set at the table level or overridden per transfer.

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Filter Override

A transfer-level setting that replaces a table’s default filters with custom filters for that specific transfer. Useful when you want to reuse the same table definition across multiple transfers with different filtering criteria.

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Custom Fields

Platform-specific fields that aren’t part of the standard field catalog. Examples include GA4 custom dimensions, Meta Ads custom conversions, and Klaviyo custom metrics. These are discovered per account and synced alongside standard fields.

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System Terms

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System Columns

Columns automatically added by Detrics to every BigQuery table:

• _detrics_account_id — The platform account ID that owns each row
• _detrics_row_id — A content hash for deduplication
• _detrics_sync_id — The ID of the transfer run that created the row
• _detrics_synced_at — Timestamp of when the row was loaded

See System Columns for details.

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Sync Log

A metadata table (_detrics_sync_log) automatically created in your BigQuery dataset. Records one row per table per transfer run, including status, row count, duration, and error details. Useful for monitoring and auditing.

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Resync

A manual operation that re-fetches data for a transfer. Two options:

• Resync (retain data) — Re-fetch the configured date range without deleting existing data outside that range
• Resync (remove data) — Delete all existing data for the transfer’s accounts, then re-fetch from scratch

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Initial Sync

The first run of a new transfer. Fetches historical data based on each table’s configured historical sync range. Subsequent runs use the refresh window (incremental) or re-fetch the full dataset (full refresh/append).

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Chunk

For large syncs, Detrics splits the work into smaller pieces called chunks — by time range, by account batch, or both. Chunking prevents timeouts and allows progress tracking. If a sync is interrupted, completed chunks are preserved.

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Image Persistence

An optional feature that downloads images from temporary platform URLs (e.g., ad creative thumbnails) and stores them in a Google Cloud Storage bucket. This gives you permanent URLs that don’t expire, unlike the originals which typically expire within 24 hours.