> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nekt.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tables

> The datasets that live in the Catalog, created by Sources, Queries, Notebooks, and History.

A table is a dataset in the Catalog. Tables are created by [Sources](/sources/overview), [Queries](/queries/overview), [Notebooks](/notebooks/overview), and [History](/histories/overview), and every table lives inside a [Layer](/catalog/layers), optionally organized into [Folders](/catalog/folders).

Under the hood, tables are stored as Delta Tables in your Lakehouse, so they are consistent, versioned, and ready for both analytics and processing.

## The table overview

Open a table to see its details:

* Its **columns** and their types.
* **Metadata** such as size, total number of rows, and creation and last-update dates.
* A link to the **source** or pipeline that generates it.

When a source is first configured, its tables appear in the Catalog before any run has filled them. Empty tables are expected at that point—trigger the source or wait for its schedule, and the data will land.

## Name tables for humans and agents

Table names are part of the context your team and AI agents rely on. A person should understand what a table contains without opening it.

* Use lowercase `snake_case` names.
* Name the business entity and, when relevant, its grain: `facebook_ads_campaign_daily` is clearer than `ads_data`.
* Keep source names when they help distinguish similar datasets: `hubspot_deals` and `erp_orders`.
* Avoid unexplained abbreviations, temporary labels, and names such as `table_1`, `new`, or `final`.
* Add descriptions to tables and important fields, especially when a business definition is not obvious.

## Related kinds of data

* **[External tables](/catalog/external-tables)** reference a BigQuery table in your own project and are read in place, without copying. They appear in the tables list with an **External** badge.
* **[Volumes](/catalog/volumes)** store non-tabular files such as PDFs, images, and videos alongside your tables.

## Related documentation

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Layers" icon="layer-group" href="/catalog/layers">
    The storage and permission boundary a table lives in.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Folders" icon="folder" href="/catalog/folders">
    Group tables inside a Layer.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lineage" icon="diagram-project" href="/catalog/lineage">
    See how tables and pipelines depend on each other.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Expectations" icon="circle-check" href="/catalog/expectations">
    Validate the data in your tables.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>