Setting Up Slateo for Your Data Team

Best practices for workspace structure, permissions, database configurations, and onboarding your team to Slateo. This guide helps data leaders set up Slateo for success.

Overview

Setting up Slateo correctly from the start ensures your team can work efficiently and securely. This guide covers:

• Organizing your workspace
• Configuring database connections
• Managing user permissions
• Onboarding team members
• Security best practices

Whether you're a data engineering lead, analytics manager, or IT administrator, these recommendations will help you deploy Slateo effectively.

Workspace structure

Your workspace is the top-level container for all Slateo resources. Plan your structure based on how your team works.

Single workspace vs. multiple workspaces

Most teams start with a single workspace and add more as they grow:

Single workspace - Best for:

• Small to medium teams (under 50 people)
• Shared data warehouse with common schemas
• Centralized analytics function

Multiple workspaces - Consider when:

• Different teams need isolated environments (e.g., Finance vs. Marketing)
• You have separate data warehouses for different business units
• Compliance requires data separation

Organizing queries and reports

Within your workspace, organize content by:

Folders - Group related queries:

• By team: "Marketing Analytics", "Finance Reports", "Product Metrics"
• By domain: "Customer Data", "Revenue Analysis", "Operational Dashboards"
• By frequency: "Daily Reports", "Weekly Reviews", "Ad-hoc Exploration"

Naming conventions - Establish clear patterns:

• Include the metric: "Daily Active Users - Mobile"
• Add time context: "Q1 2026 Revenue by Region"
• Tag ownership: "[Marketing] Campaign Performance"

Database configurations

Connect Slateo to your data warehouse with the right access level and security settings.

Creating database connections

Navigate to Admin → Database Configurations and add your warehouse:

1. Connection details - Host, port, database name
2. Authentication - Choose the appropriate method:
   • Username/password for development
   • IAM roles for production (recommended)
   • Service accounts with limited permissions
3. Test connection - Verify Slateo can reach your warehouse

Access levels

Configure read-only access for most users:

-- Example: Create a read-only role for Slateo
CREATE ROLE slateo_readonly;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA analytics TO slateo_readonly;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA analytics TO slateo_readonly;
ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES IN SCHEMA analytics 
  GRANT SELECT ON TABLES TO slateo_readonly;

For power users who need to create temporary tables:

-- Example: Create a role with temp table access
CREATE ROLE slateo_analyst;
GRANT slateo_readonly TO slateo_analyst;
GRANT CREATE ON SCHEMA temp TO slateo_analyst;

Multiple database configs

Set up separate configurations for different use cases:

• Production warehouse - Default for most queries
• Development warehouse - For testing and experimentation
• Specific schemas - Pre-configured connections to common schemas

Users can switch between configurations when running queries.

User roles and permissions

Slateo has three permission levels. Assign roles based on how team members will use the platform.

Viewer

Can:

• View saved queries and reports
• Run existing queries with updated parameters
• Export results to CSV

Cannot:

• Create new queries
• Modify existing queries
• Change workspace settings

Best for:

• Executives who need to see dashboards
• Stakeholders who consume reports
• Team members who only need read access

Member

Can:

• Everything Viewers can do
• Create and save new queries
• Share queries with the team
• Use the agent for ad-hoc exploration

Cannot:

• Manage database configurations
• Invite new users
• Change workspace settings

Best for:

• Analysts and data scientists
• Product managers who explore data
• Anyone doing regular data work

Admin

Can:

• Everything Members can do
• Manage database configurations
• Invite and remove users
• Configure integrations (Slack, Notion, etc.)
• Manage workspace settings and billing

Best for:

• Data engineering leads
• Analytics managers
• IT administrators

Permission best practices

• Start restrictive - Give Viewer access by default, upgrade as needed
• Limit Admins - Only 2-3 people need full admin access
• Review regularly - Audit permissions quarterly
• Use groups - If your team grows beyond 20 people, consider organizing by team or function

Onboarding your team

A smooth onboarding process helps team members adopt Slateo quickly.

Week 1: Getting started

Send new users this checklist:

1. Accept the invite - Check email for the Slateo invitation
2. Complete profile - Add name, photo, and team
3. Take the tour - Walk through the 5-minute product tour
4. Run a sample query - Try "Show me the top 10 customers by revenue"
5. Explore saved queries - Browse what the team has already created

Week 2: Building skills

Encourage new users to:

• Ask 5 questions - Practice using natural language queries
• Save 2 queries - Build their personal query library
• Share 1 result - Post findings to Slack or email
• Review documentation - Read the ad-hoc exploration guide

Ongoing support

Set up channels for questions and best practices:

• Slack channel - Create #slateo-help for questions
• Office hours - Weekly 30-minute drop-in sessions
• Tips and tricks - Share interesting queries in team meetings
• Query of the week - Highlight useful queries from team members

Security best practices

Protect your data with these security measures.

Database access

• Use read-only roles - Prevent accidental data modification
• Limit schema access - Only grant access to necessary schemas
• Rotate credentials - Change database passwords quarterly
• Use IAM roles - Prefer temporary credentials over static passwords

Network security

For sensitive data warehouses:

• AWS PrivateLink - Connect without exposing your warehouse to the internet
• GCP Private Service Connect - Connect GCP-hosted warehouses over private network paths
• IP allowlisting - Restrict access to known IP ranges
• VPN requirements - Require VPN for warehouse access

See the AWS PrivateLink guide or GCP Private Service Connect guide for setup instructions.

Data governance

• Audit query logs - Review what queries are being run
• Monitor exports - Track when data is exported to CSV
• Set data retention - Configure how long query results are cached
• PII handling - Ensure queries follow your data privacy policies

User management

• SSO integration - Use single sign-on for centralized access control
• Offboarding checklist - Remove access when team members leave
• Regular audits - Review user list monthly
• Strong passwords - Enforce password requirements if not using SSO

What's next?

Now that your workspace is set up, explore these guides:

• Ad-hoc data exploration - Learn the core workflow
• Building and sharing reports - Create dashboards for your team
• Using Slateo with Slack - Answer data questions in chat