/adding-warehouse-person-properties

name: adding-warehouse-person-properties
description: >
  Sync columns from a synced data warehouse table onto PostHog person or group properties, so warehouse data
  becomes usable anywhere person and group properties already work: feature flag targeting, cohorts, insight
  filters and breakdowns, surveys, session replay filters, workflows, and the person profile. Use when the
  user wants to "add a person property from my warehouse", "enrich people with Stripe/Postgres/Salesforce
  data", "put ARR or plan tier on my persons", "target a feature flag by a warehouse column", "sync warehouse
  columns onto groups or organizations", or wants to inspect, backfill, disable, or debug an existing
  warehouse-backed person or group property.

Adding warehouse person and group properties

A warehouse property mapping reads a synced warehouse table and writes chosen columns onto people or groups. Each row is matched to a person by a distinct ID column, or to a group by a group key column. The mapped columns are then written as ordinary person properties (`$set`) or group properties (`$groupidentify`).

The result is not a separate kind of property. After the first sync the values behave like any other person or group property, so they work in feature flags, cohorts, insights, surveys, and replay filters. See [references/where-they-can-be-used.md](references/where-they-can-be-used.md) for the full surface list and the caveats that matter per surface.

In the UI this lives at **Data > Warehouse properties**, with a Persons tab and a Groups tab.

When to use this skill

• "Add plan tier from my Stripe table to my people"
• "I want to run a feature flag only for customers with ARR over 50k"
• "Sync my Postgres `accounts` table onto organizations"
• "Why isn't my warehouse property showing up on people?"
• "Backfill the warehouse property I just added"

Use a different skill when:

• The warehouse source does not exist yet. Connect it first with `setting-up-a-data-warehouse-source`.
• The user wants a Customer analytics **account** property. That target reads a materialized view, not a

synced table, and uses `saved_query` + `source_column` instead of the column map below.

• The user only wants to query warehouse data. Join it in HogQL instead of writing properties onto people.

Prerequisites

Check these before you start. Each one produces a confusing failure later if it is missing.

| Requirement | Why | How it fails | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | The `warehouse-person-properties` feature is enabled for the project | Gates the whole feature | Definition create rejects a `person` or `group` target; sync and backfill return 400 | | A **synced** warehouse table | Only tables imported by a data warehouse source carry the schema a source binds to | Views, saved queries, and materialized views cannot be used for person or group targets | | A column holding a real person `distinct_id`, or a real group key | Rows are matched on this column | Runs complete with a high `skipped_missing_person` count and no properties change | | The caller has warehouse source editor access | Mapping a table drives its billable source | Create is rejected even when the caller holds `account:write` | | For group targets: the groups paid feature, an existing group type, and `group:read` / `group:write` | Group properties are keyed per group type | The Groups tab is hidden; group tools reject the call |

Tools

| Tool | Purpose | | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `external-data-schemas-list` | Find the table and its schema id. The schema id is what a source binds to | | `query` (HogQL) | Inspect columns and sample the key column before you map anything | | `custom-property-definitions-create` | Create the mapping's definition with `target_type` of `person` or `group` | | `custom-property-sources-create` | Bind the definition to the warehouse table and column map | | `custom-property-sources-list` / `-retrieve` | See sync status, schedule, and the latest run | | `custom-property-sources-runs-list` | Run history with the per-run funnel counts | | `custom-property-sources-backfill` | Re-read the whole table and refresh historical rows. Not billable | | `custom-property-sources-sync` | Trigger the underlying warehouse sync now. This is a real, billable sync | | `custom-property-sources-partial-update` | Change `key_column`, or turn the mapping off with `is_enabled` | | `custom-property-sources-destroy` | Stop syncing. Values already written stay on the people or groups | | `custom-property-definitions-destroy` | Remove the definition and its binding