# Data

Data is what MAIA's agents can read. There are three kinds: the core data MAIA holds, the data you bring, and public data MAIA finds during a run. Every column built from them names where it came from.

Updated: 2026-09-30. Source: https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/data

## The three kinds of data

| Kind | What it is | Read more |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ours | Parcels, buildings, businesses, flood zones, census data, and more, already loaded. Not every dataset is loaded in every county | [Core data](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/core-data) |
| Yours, kept in sync | Tables from your own database, copied daily. Enterprise plans only, set up by a workspace admin | [Database sync](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/database-sync) |
| Yours, uploaded | A spreadsheet or a map file you hand over | [File upload](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/file-upload) |
| The world's | Public GIS layers that MAIA finds and loads during a run | [Data discovery](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/data-discovery) |

All four routes end up in the same place: layers or tables in the project, joined on parcels wherever the rows have a location.

> **You ask:** Map our stores and every competitor. Find high-demand trade areas beyond their coverage.

That one objective draws on two kinds. The stores come from a file you uploaded. The competitors and the demand come from core data.

## How the agent chooses

MAIA's agent reaches for data in a fixed order and stops at the first source that answers: the project's own data, then core data, then a public GIS layer, then research row by row. Records are read in seconds. Research takes longer, each row spends credits, and a run above your row limit stops for your approval. See [Main agent](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/main-agent) and [Dispatch](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/using-maia/dispatch).

## How a column names its origin

Every column header in the table says where the column came from: Dataset, Joined from, Calculated by MAIA, Imported data, Enrichment, or Source unavailable. The full list is on [Review](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/using-maia/review#headers). "Dataset" and "Joined from" link to the dataset's page in the product's data catalog.

## Rules that hold for every kind

- **One county per project.** Every layer in a project sits inside the project's county.
- **Source data is read-only.** The agent writes only to the layers it builds.
- **Coverage varies by county.** The **Data catalog**, under your account menu, shows what each county holds.
- **A blank is unknown.** MAIA never reads a missing value as zero, as absent, or as vacant.

Every limit, with its number, is on the [Limits](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/reference/limits) page.

## In this section

- [Core data](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/core-data.md): MAIA's core data takes a question about a county and returns rows from the datasets MAIA already holds: parcels, buildings, businesses, environmental records, census data, and more, joined on one spatial model.
- [Database sync](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/database-sync.md): MAIA's database sync takes tables from your own database and returns them inside your workspace, matched to parcels and refreshed every day.
- [File upload](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/file-upload.md): MAIA's file upload takes a spreadsheet or a map file and returns a layer matched to parcels, a layer of your own shapes, or a table.
- [Data discovery](https://maia-analytics.com/docs/capabilities/data-discovery.md): MAIA's data discovery takes a question that core data cannot answer and returns a public GIS layer, found during the run, clipped to the project's county, and saved with its source and usage terms.