Who this is for. Analysts and finance leads who rely on a metric for a decision. Access. Included for everyone at an organization whose subscription covers SmartResearch, whatever their role. No permission needs to be assigned. See the Roles and Access Reference.
Every metric in Metrics Studio shows either Validated or Not validated. The status describes the metric definition, not the answer. Validated means someone ran the formula against an instance and saved it. It says nothing about whether your data is complete, and nothing about whether the number in front of you is correct.
Check the status before you rely on a metric for a decision that matters. Metric owners also use it to find definitions that nobody has reviewed. The badge appears on every metric card, in the Validated column in list view, and on the metric edit page.
Figure 1. Metric cards showing the Validated and Not validated badges
How the status is set
Table 1. Events that change validation status
Event |
Resulting status |
|---|---|
A system or default metric ships |
Not validated |
Someone edits the formula |
Resets to Not validated. The metric must be revalidated before it can be saved. |
Someone edits only the description |
Unchanged. The metric can be saved without revalidating. |
Someone validates the metric against an instance and saves it |
Validated |
Note: The guardrail is deliberate. You cannot save a metric whose formula has changed until you revalidate it; a description-only edit saves without revalidating. For more information, see Create or Edit a Metric.
How to read the status
Validated means the formula has been run against an instance and saved. Treat it as confirmation that someone has checked the definition, not as a guarantee of accuracy.
Not validated means the metric has either never been validated, or its formula changed since it last was. Check the definition before you rely on results built on it. Use the status filter in the catalog to find every metric currently in this state. For more information, see Browse and Filter the Metric Catalog.
Limits of validation
Validation status does not tell you whether the underlying data is complete or current, whether a specific answer to a specific question is correct, whether SmartResearch chose the right metric for your question, or whether the definition matches your organization’s intent. It confirms only that the formula runs and returns a result. For more information, see What SmartResearch Can and Cannot Do.
Governance
Editing a definition changes results for everyone who uses that metric. Validation status and version history exist to keep those changes visible. Before you mark a metric validated, confirm the formula reflects the definition your finance team agreed on, rather than simply returning a plausible number.
Related information
For more information, see Create or Edit a Metric.
For more information, see What SmartResearch Can and Cannot Do.
For more information, see Key Concepts in SmartResearch.