> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.mediarithmics.io/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/frame-your-cdp-project.md).

# Frame your CDP project

Agree on scope, data, and outcomes before you configure anything in the platform.

## Your goal

Decide what you are building before you configure it. Every setup task in this section asks you a question that only your project can answer: which sites are in scope, which registration systems feed your profiles, which data must be queryable, how long it is kept, and who is allowed to see it.

Framing the project up front is what stops those questions from being answered by default.

## Expected outcome

At the end of this work you should be able to fill in every row of the decision table below, and know which page you go to next for each one.

## When this is useful

* At the start of a new integration.
* When you extend an existing datamart to a new site, app, or country.
* When a new team joins the platform and needs to know what already exists.

## Who works on the project

The platform is used by different audiences, and a CDP project usually needs several of them:

| Audience                       | Typically responsible for                                                           |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Marketers and ad / digital ops | The use cases: which audiences, which channels, which campaigns, which measurement. |
| Data engineers                 | Getting the data in: tracking, imports, warehouse synchronisation, exports.         |
| Data analysts                  | Querying the datamart, dashboards, funnels, campaign analysis.                      |
| Data scientists                | Computed and predictive data, plugins, custom algorithms.                           |

mediarithmics can be used as a set of digital marketing applications used directly by marketers, or as a customisable data marketing cloud infrastructure that data engineers and data scientists tailor to their organisation. Most projects use it as both.

## What the platform gives you before you decide anything

Two properties of the platform shape every decision below, so it is worth stating them first.

* **One store, shared by everything.** All user data captured or computed by the platform ends up in a single [datamart](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/prerequisites-organisation-and-datamart.md#datamarts). Analytical queries over large volumes and real-time queries about a single user hit the same source of truth, so you do not have to plan for copies of the data per tool. That store can be the datamart itself or your own cloud data warehouse, which is the first decision in the table below.
* **One node per user.** Data is stored as a graph around a [UserPoint](/setup-and-monitor/understand-mediarithmics/how-mediarithmics-works.md#how-your-data-is-modelled-the-userpoint), which connects every identifier and every piece of content collected about one person. Your identity decisions therefore matter more than your storage decisions.

## The decisions to make

Each row is a decision you have to take, and the page where you act on it.

| Decision                                                   | Why it matters                                                                                                                | Where you act                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Where the data of record lives, and where computation runs | The deployment mode decides whether the datamart holds your data or reads from your warehouse, and which modules you can use. | [Choose your deployment mode](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/choose-your-deployment-mode.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| Which organisation and datamart the project lives in       | Objects, permissions, and settings are sandboxed per organisation.                                                            | [Prerequisites - Organisation and Datamart](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/prerequisites-organisation-and-datamart.md)                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Which sites and apps are in scope                          | Each one becomes a channel. Channels are what let you attach privacy rules to a property and query users by property.         | [Channels](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/set-up-channels.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| Which registration systems feed accounts and profiles      | Each one becomes a compartment, so profiles and accounts from different systems stay separate on the same user.               | [Compartments](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/set-up-compartments.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| Which device and network identifiers you will use          | Identifiers must have a registry before data arrives, or they are dropped.                                                    | [Device registries](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/set-up-device-registries.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| Which data you collect, and which of it must be queryable  | The schema declares what is stored and how it can be queried and segmented.                                                   | [Design your data model & schema](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/design-your-data-model-and-schema.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| How the data arrives                                       | Real time, batch, warehouse synchronisation - or a combination.                                                               | [Collect data in real time](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/collect-data-in-real-time.md), [Import data in batch](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/import-data-in-batch.md), [Sync with your data warehouse](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/sync-with-your-data-warehouse.md) |
| How long each kind of data is kept                         | Expiration is computed when an object enters the datamart and cannot be changed afterwards.                                   | [Data retention](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment/manage-data-retention.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Which processing activities justify your collection        | The platform can drop incoming data automatically when it is not compatible with the user's choices.                          | [Ensure privacy & compliance](/setup-and-monitor/ensure-privacy-and-compliance/define-your-privacy-and-compliance-framework.md)                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| Who needs access, and with which rights                    | A user needs at least one role on an organisation to access anything, including the API.                                      | [Manage users and roles](/setup-and-monitor/manage-the-platform/manage-users-and-roles.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| How you will know it works                                 | Ingestion monitoring, collection volumes, queries, dashboards.                                                                | [Operate & monitor](/setup-and-monitor/operate-and-monitor/monitor-data-ingestion.md)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |

{% hint style="warning" %}
Three of these decisions are hard to undo and deserve the most attention early: the **deployment mode**, because it determines where your data of record lives and which modules are available to you, **compartments and channels**, because they are attached to data as it is written, and **retention**, because cleaning rules are non-retroactive - changing them only affects future incoming events and profiles.
{% endhint %}

## The order of work

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Settle the deployment mode

Decide whether the datamart holds your data or reads from your cloud data warehouse. Everything below behaves differently depending on the answer.

[Choose your deployment mode](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/choose-your-deployment-mode.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Prepare the environment

Confirm the organisation and datamart, then declare the channels, compartments, and device registries your data will reference.

[Set up the environment](/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Design the data model

Decide what you store and what you need to query on, and declare it in the schema.

[Design your data model & schema](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/design-your-data-model-and-schema.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Connect the sources

Tag your sites and apps, wire up your batch imports, and connect your warehouse if you have one.

[Collect & manage your data](/setup-and-monitor/collect-and-manage-your-data/collect-data-in-real-time.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Make it compliant

Declare your processing activities and make consent flow into the platform before you enforce it.

[Ensure privacy & compliance](/setup-and-monitor/ensure-privacy-and-compliance/define-your-privacy-and-compliance-framework.md)
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Operate it

Watch ingestion, query the datamart, and build the dashboards your teams need.

[Operate & monitor](/setup-and-monitor/operate-and-monitor/monitor-data-ingestion.md)
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

## How you know the framing is done

* Every row of the decision table has an answer, and an owner, starting with the deployment mode.
* You know which sites, apps, and registration systems are in scope for the first delivery, and which are explicitly out of it.
* You know which use case you will demonstrate first, and which data it needs - not the full target model.
* You know how long each class of data has to be kept.

## Related pages

<table data-view="cards" data-search="false"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Choose your deployment mode</strong></td><td>The first decision, and what it changes downstream.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/choose-your-deployment-mode.md">Choose your deployment mode</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>How mediarithmics works</strong></td><td>The structure behind every decision on this page.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/understand-mediarithmics/how-mediarithmics-works.md">How mediarithmics works</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Set up the environment</strong></td><td>The first configuration work, in order.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-the-environment.md">Set up the environment</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Set up advanced features</strong></td><td>Optional capabilities to enable once the basics run.</td><td><a href="/setup-and-monitor/plan-and-integrate/set-up-advanced-features.md">Set up advanced features</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


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