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

# Understand Assets, Channels, and Runs

Sift organizes machine data around the way people work.

You usually start with:

* an <Icon icon="cube" /> [Asset](../ingest/stream/organize-streamed-data-into-assets-and-runs): the system, vehicle, or test article you are examining
* one or more <Icon icon="wave-pulse" /> [Channels](/documentation/reference/channels-reference): the signals or measurements you care about
* a <Icon icon="stopwatch" /> [Run](/documentation/reference/runs-reference): the recording session, test, or mission where that data was captured

This process lets you move from “what happened” to “when it happened” in a simple workflow.

## Workflows that connect Assets, Channels, and Runs

### 1. Pick the asset you want to investigate

Think of an Asset as the thing you are working on:

* a rocket stage
* an aircraft
* a manufacturing line
* a robot or vehicle

In Sift, an Asset groups data from the same system or test article so you can find everything related to it.

### 2. Choose the Channels that matter

Channels are the individual measurements from that Asset:

* temperature
* pressure
* speed
* voltage
* vibration

When you [Explore](/documentation/analyze/analyze-a-run) data in Sift, you select Channels to see the exact signals you need for your workflow.

### 3. Open a Run to see the data in time

A Run is the captured session of data from one or more Channels:

* a single flight
* a test stand cycle
* a production batch
* a mission segment

Runs let you view the data in the time window where the event occurred.

## How the model helps your work

* To troubleshoot a failure, choose the Asset, open the Run, and plot the Channels that show the problem.
* To compare behavior, open two Runs for the same Asset and look at the same Channels side by side.
* To validate a test campaign, review the Channels in a Run and confirm the data supports the result.
* To share findings, send a link to the same Asset, Channels, and Run so everyone is looking at the same story.

## Simple relationship

In practice, the workflow is:

* find the **Asset** you care about,
* select the **Channels** you want to inspect,
* open the **Run** where that data was recorded.

That is the core relationship in Sift’s data model, expressed as the steps you take every time you analyze machine data.