Timeline
The Timeline datasource type generates a virtual time dimension table — a date calendar table used for time-based analysis. No external connection is needed; Lakehousecat generates the table internally based on the configuration you provide.
Configuration Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Start Date | Yes | The earliest date in the generated table |
| End Date | Yes | The latest date in the generated table |
| Granularity | No | The smallest time unit: Second, Minute, Hour, Day, Week, Month, Quarter, or Year (default: Day) |
| First Day of Week | No | Monday or Sunday |
| Weekend Days | No | Which days count as weekend days |
| Is Active | No | Enable or disable the timeline datasource |
| Enable Fiscal Year Attributes | No | When enabled, adds fiscal calendar fields to the table |
Fiscal Year Fields (visible when enabled)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| First Month of Fiscal Year | A number from 1 (January) to 12 (December) indicating when the fiscal year starts |
| Fiscal Variant | The fiscal week pattern, e.g., 4-4-5 |
What It Provides
The generated table contains date attributes at the configured granularity level, such as:
- Day, week, month, quarter, year values
- Day of week, week of year, day of year
- Is weekend, is weekday flags
- Fiscal period fields (when enabled)
When to Use
Add a Timeline datasource to any Custom Model that involves time-based analysis. A well-configured Timeline enables the AI to correctly interpret queries like "last quarter", "year over year", or "last 30 days", and to group results by any time period.
One Timeline per Custom Model is typically sufficient, even when multiple transactional data sources are linked.
Next Steps
After creating the Timeline datasource, link it to a Custom Model via the Datasources tab of the model editor. See Advanced Modeling — Step 2 for guidance on Timeline configuration in multi-source models.