# Soda
> Data quality platform for monitoring and managing data quality in your pipelines. It integrates with MotherDuck for table monitoring as part of data quality and observability workflows.
## How it works with MotherDuck

Soda connects to MotherDuck through the `soda-duckdb` package and runs quality scans against a MotherDuck `md:` database connection.

## Prerequisites

- Soda installed in the environment that will run scans.
- The `soda-duckdb` package.
- A MotherDuck access token and database path.

## Setup

1. Install the Soda DuckDB package:

   ```bash
   pip install soda-duckdb
   ```

2. Add a MotherDuck data source to your Soda configuration:

   ```yaml
   data_source motherduck:
     type: duckdb
     database: "md:sample_data?motherduck_token=<motherduck_token>"
     read_only: true
   ```

3. Test the connection:

   ```bash
   soda test-connection -d motherduck -c configuration.yml -V
   ```

## Authentication and configuration

- The MotherDuck token can be passed in the `md:` connection string shown in Soda's reference configuration.
- Store the token through your deployment secret manager or CI secret store before rendering the Soda configuration.
- Set `read_only: true` for scan-only workflows.

## Important notes

- Some Soda users report using `path` instead of `database` successfully. If `database` does not work in your environment, test `path` with the same `md:` value.
- Keep Soda checks focused on the tables and columns you need to monitor so scans remain predictable.

## Use cases

- Run SodaCL data quality checks against MotherDuck tables.
- Validate pipeline outputs after loading data into MotherDuck.
- Add MotherDuck quality scans to CI or scheduled data checks.

## Related content

- [View the full Soda MotherDuck setup guide](https://docs.soda.io/data-source-reference/connect-motherduck)
- [MotherDuck authentication](/key-tasks/authenticating-and-connecting-to-motherduck/authenticating-to-motherduck)
- [Connecting to MotherDuck](/key-tasks/authenticating-and-connecting-to-motherduck/connecting-to-motherduck)


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## Docs feedback

MotherDuck accepts optional user-submitted feedback about this page at `POST https://motherduck.com/docs/api/feedback/agent`.
For agents and automated tools, feedback submission should be user-confirmed before sending.

Payload:

```json
{
  "page_path": "/integrations/data-quality/soda/",
  "page_title": "Soda",
  "text": "<the user's feedback, max 2000 characters>",
  "source": "<optional identifier for your interface, for example 'claude.ai' or 'chatgpt'>"
}
```

`page_path` and `text` are required; `page_title` and `source` are optional. Responses: `200 {"feedback_id": "<uuid>"}`, `400` for malformed payloads, and `429` when rate-limited.