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

# Assert components

Assert components check that a condition holds true at a specific point in an orchestration pipeline, and stop the pipeline if it doesn't. They act as a validation checkpoint rather than moving or transforming data.

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## Use cases

Assert components are useful anywhere you want a pipeline to fail fast and clearly, rather than continuing on to produce incorrect or incomplete results. Use assert components to:

* Confirm that a table or external table exists and is accessible before later components rely on it.
* Check that a scalar variable holds an expected value before continuing.
* Build data quality gates that stop a pipeline early if an assumption about the data doesn't hold.
* Catch configuration or environment issues, such as a missing table, before they cause failures further downstream.