> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.molesignal.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Streams

> Manage signal-specific schemas, retention, queryability, and runtime state.

A stream is the organization-scoped contract used by intake, query, pipelines, and retention.
Open **Streams** to inspect or configure that contract.

## Stream types

| Type       | Typical content                                                  |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `logs`     | Structured events and application logs.                          |
| `metrics`  | Metric samples and labels.                                       |
| `traces`   | OpenTelemetry spans.                                             |
| `profiles` | Profile metadata linked to pprof blobs.                          |
| `extend`   | Lookup data managed as extend tables and used during processing. |

The same stream name may exist for different stream types. Always include `stream_type` in API
requests and automation.

## Lifecycle

MoleSignal can create a stream on first intake, or an administrator can predeclare a stream. As data arrives, schema
evolution adds compatible fields.

Stream detail provides:

* schema and indexed fields;
* retention and compaction behavior;
* runtime and intake status;
* queryability;
* links to the correct signal explorer;
* pipeline and datasource relationships.

Set `queryable` to false when a catch-all source should continue receiving but must not appear in
query selectors. A routing pipeline can still read the stream. Manage `extend` data through **Extend
tables** rather than the generic telemetry query path.

## Retention and deletion

Retention controls when the compactor removes data. Changing retention affects future cleanup and
does not recreate deleted files.

Deleting a stream is destructive and can break dashboards, saved views, alerts, reports, and
pipelines. Review dependencies before removal.

## Permissions

| Permission          | Capability                                   |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `streams.read`      | List streams and inspect metadata.           |
| `streams.query`     | Query stream data.                           |
| `streams.write`     | Intake into an existing stream.              |
| `streams.create`    | Create a stream.                             |
| `streams.configure` | Change schema-facing settings and retention. |
| `streams.delete`    | Delete a stream.                             |

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Data intake" icon="inbox" href="/en-US/intake">
    Connect OTLP, Prometheus, Loki, Elasticsearch, and cloud senders.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pipelines" icon="code-branch" href="/en-US/pipelines">
    Transform, enrich, and route stream data.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>