# Guides

Task-shaped pages: each answers one "how do I…" question. If you are new, start with
[Get started](../get-started/index.md) first.

<div class="grid cards" markdown>

-   :material-database:{ .lg .middle } **Connect and check data**

    ---

    Every datasource DataQ supports, how to connect each one, and every kind of check
    you can author against it.

    [:octicons-arrow-right-24: Datasources & checks](datasources-checks.md)

-   :material-clock-outline:{ .lg .middle } **Run automatically**

    ---

    Cron [schedules](scheduling.md), or trigger a suite when an ADF, Airflow or dbt
    pipeline finishes — [orchestration](orchestration.md).

-   :material-bell-ring:{ .lg .middle } **Alert the right people**

    ---

    Teams, Slack, email and webhooks, with severity routing, dedup and snooze.

    [:octicons-arrow-right-24: Notifications & alerting](notifications.md)

-   :material-robot:{ .lg .middle } **Use it from an AI assistant**

    ---

    Connect Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, Copilot or Cursor to DataQ over MCP.

    [:octicons-arrow-right-24: AI assistants (MCP)](mcp-setup.md)

-   :material-creation:{ .lg .middle } **Let a model do the tedious part**

    ---

    Write custom SQL from a sentence, get a starter set of checks for a table, and read
    a root-cause narrative for a failure — with a provider you choose.

    [:octicons-arrow-right-24: AI features (LLM)](ai-features.md)

-   :material-key:{ .lg .middle } **Script it**

    ---

    Personal access tokens for the REST API and MCP clients.

    [:octicons-arrow-right-24: API keys](api-keys.md)

-   :material-shield-account:{ .lg .middle } **Run the workspace**

    ---

    Members and roles, access grants, workspace settings, audit log and inbound
    integrations — the admin area, tab by tab.

    [:octicons-arrow-right-24: Admin control centre](admin.md)

-   :material-star-check:{ .lg .middle } **Do it well**

    ---

    [Recommended usage](recommended-usage.md) and [best practices](best-practices.md)
    from running DataQ in production.

</div>

Looking for the full capability list? See the [features overview](features.md).