Three words come up constantly in Tamaat. Knowing which one you're holding tells you which pane to open.
A file is a file — a CSV, a workbook, a zipped Shapefile — sitting in Files exactly as you uploaded it. You can't query it row by row. Its job is to feed an ETL flow.
A dataset is a table in Data Store. Search it, filter it, sort it, edit a cell, add it to a project, share it, export it.
A layer is that same dataset seen on the map. Styling, visibility, and editing all happen here — see Maps & Layers.
Which do I want?
- Keeping a source file for repeated ETL runs → upload it to Files.
- Looking at rows, filtering, or fixing a value → bring it in as a dataset with "Add dataset".
- Styling, labelling, or drawing on the map → work with the layer in Maps.
Two things that catch people out
Uploading a file to Files doesn't create a dataset. There's no promote button, by design. To get a queryable table, either use "Add dataset" in Data Store, or run an ETL flow that reads the file.
Imagery is a file, not a dataset. A GeoTIFF goes to Files, where an ETL flow or Remote Sensing reads it; it is not added through "Add dataset" or "Add layer", and it never becomes a table of rows.