Overview

This skill provides a mechanism to check data completeness before sending reports. It compares a "sentinel" metric captured at two time points (late night vs. morning) to determine whether the data has been fully backfilled.

When to Use

• Before sending Power BI reports or dashboards
• When data sources have known T+1 delay (data available next day)
• To prevent sending incomplete or stale data to stakeholders

How It Works

1. Select a Sentinel Metric

Choose a key metric that:

• Is reliably updated when data refresh completes
• Has predictable values (e.g., Paid Subscriptions, Total Revenue)
• Serves as an indicator that the full data pipeline has finished

2. Capture Values at Two Time Points

3. Compare and Decide

IF morning_value >= threshold_percentage of baseline_value:
    THEN data is complete -> proceed to send report
    ELSE data may be incomplete -> wait and retry or alert

Reference Thresholds

Weekdays (Monday - Friday)

• Paid Subs: Expect 95-105% of previous day
• Revenue: Expect 90-110% of previous day (depends on time of month)
• Active Users: Expect 85-100% of previous day

Weekends/Holidays

• Paid Subs: Expect 100-110% (may include weekend signups)
• Revenue: Expect 80-120% (higher variance)
• Active Users: Expect 60-90% (lower weekend activity)

Retry Logic

If data appears incomplete:

• Wait 30 minutes
• Re-capture the sentinel metric
• Compare again against threshold
• If still incomplete after 3 attempts, alert or skip sending

Generalization to Other Data Sources

This approach can be adapted for any T+1 data source:

• Identify a suitable sentinel metric
• Establish baseline reference ranges based on historical data
• Define threshold percentages for "complete" vs "incomplete"
• Implement the two-timepoint comparison workflow

Example Prompt

Check if the Power BI data is ready for today's sales report. Capture the total subscription count at 23:30 yesterday and 09:00 today. If the morning value is at least 95% of the previous night value, consider the data complete and send the report. Otherwise, wait 30 minutes and retry up to 3 times.