Writing Manifests

Every data product in Akili is defined by 6 YAML manifest files plus a logic/ directory. Together they declare what the product is, what it consumes, what it produces, where outputs are served, what quality means, and how it runs. The platform reads all 6 files at deploy time and translates them into assets, sensors, store writers, and quality checks. You never write orchestration code.

The 6 Files at a Glance

my-product/
  product.yaml    -- Identity, domain, ownership, classification
  inputs.yaml     -- What this product consumes
  output.yaml     -- Schema of what this product produces
  serving.yaml    -- Intent-based store routing
  quality.yaml    -- Quality check definitions
  compute.yaml    -- Runtime, engine, schedule, resources
  logic/
    transform.sql -- Business logic (or .py)

File	Purpose	Changes How Often
product.yaml	Who owns it, what domain, classification level	Rarely
inputs.yaml	Upstream dependencies and external sources	When dependencies change
output.yaml	Output schema contract with consumers	When schema evolves
serving.yaml	Where consumers access the data	When access patterns change
quality.yaml	Quality gates that block bad data	As quality requirements evolve
compute.yaml	How and when the product runs	When tuning performance

Scaffold a New Product

akili init my-product --archetype source

This creates all 6 files with sensible defaults in my-product/. The --archetype flag pre-fills the structure for source-aligned, aggregate, or consumer-aligned products.

Product Archetypes

Before writing manifests, understand the three archetypes. They determine the shape of your inputs.yaml.

Archetype	Input Source	Purpose	Example
Source-aligned	External systems via connectors	Capture raw data from operational systems	Raw POS data from Salesforce
Aggregate	Other data products	Combine and enrich data, where business logic lives	Joins cleaned orders with cleaned outlets
Consumer-aligned	Aggregate products, shaped for a consumer	Optimize for a specific use case	Executive KPI dashboard feed

Tip

Organize aggregate products around business capabilities, not reports. “Store performance measurement” is a capability. “Monthly revenue by store” is a report. One product serves the capability; multiple serving intents project it into different shapes.

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Continue Reading

• Product & Inputs — product.yaml and inputs.yaml walkthrough
• Output & Serving — output.yaml and serving.yaml walkthrough
• Quality & Compute — quality.yaml and compute.yaml walkthrough
• Patterns & Examples — Common patterns, validation, and complete examples