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Connect Datawise to BigQuery to enable Schema Radar detection and warehouse-level lineage.

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Prerequisites

You need a Google Cloud service account with the appropriate roles granted. Datawise authenticates to BigQuery using a service account key file.
Create a dedicated service account for Datawise rather than reusing an existing one.

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Create a Service Account

  1. In the Google Cloud Console, go to IAM & Admin > Service Accounts.
  2. Click Create Service Account. Give it a name (e.g., datawise-ingestion) and click Create and Continue.
  3. Grant the following roles:
    • BigQuery Data Viewer
    • BigQuery Job User
    • BigQuery Metadata Viewer
  4. Click Done.
  5. Open the service account, go to Keys, click Add Key > Create New Key, and select JSON.
  6. Download the JSON key file. You’ll use values from this file in the connector form.

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Required Permissions

Datawise only reads schema metadata and does not access the data in your tables. Grant the service account access only to the datasets you want Datawise to monitor. You can use the allow and deny pattern filters in the connector form to further control what gets ingested.
Option 1: Project-level access (easiest, good for initial setup) Grant the service account the required roles at the project level in Google Cloud IAM. This gives Datawise access to all datasets in the project. Option 2: Dataset-level access (recommended for production) Instead of granting roles at the project level, grant them at the dataset level only for the datasets you want Datawise to monitor:
  1. In BigQuery, open the dataset you want to share.
  2. Click Sharing > Permissions > Add Principal.
  3. Enter the service account email (format: name@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com).
  4. Grant the BigQuery Data Viewer role.
  5. Repeat for each dataset you want Datawise to monitor.
For production environments, use dataset-level access. This limits Datawise’s footprint to exactly the datasets your team has decided to track. You can always add more datasets later by repeating the sharing step.

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Connection Setup

Go to Connectors, click Add Connector, and select BigQuery.

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Required Fields

These values come from the service account JSON key file you downloaded.

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Filters

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Settings

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Schedule

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Testing the Connection

If the test fails, check:
  • That the private key was copied in full, including the header and footer lines.
  • That the service account has the required roles at the correct level (project or dataset).
  • That the Project ID matches the project where the datasets live.

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After Connecting

Once connected:
  • BigQuery datasets, tables, and views appear in Data Assets.
  • Schema Radar begins detecting schema changes on your configured schedule.
  • Lineage from BigQuery populates when dbt Cloud is also connected.