Goals are absent from the query.
SQL retrieves rows. It has no opinion about whether those rows represent success. Every dashboard hand-codes that opinion in brittle UI logic.
Stop describing data.
Start declaring outcomes.
SmashGL is a declarative, goal-aware query language. You express the outcome you want — a target, a window, a condition — and the system evaluates progress, forecasts attainment, and renders the result.
A query language
that knows what
success looks like.
Three layers — intent, evaluation, visualization — collapsed into a single declarative form. Below: a SmashGL query in flight.
“Data isn't truth.
Goal achievement is.”
— The SmashGL premise
Read the syntax →
For thirty years analytics languages have answered what happened. SmashGL answers whether you're winning — by treating goals as first-class objects in the query itself.
Three truths the existing analytics stack cannot express on its own.
A — Intent
B — Time
Windows aren't typed.
"This quarter," "rolling 30 days," and "BFCM weekend" are first-class concepts in business — and second-class strings in every existing query language.
C — Render
Visualization is decoupled.
The query doesn't know how it should be drawn. So humans build dashboards by hand, repeating the same arc-gauge-pill grammar for every metric.
Same intent. One language asks what; the other asks whether.
Before — descriptive
"What were our net sales this month?"
SELECT SUM(net_sales)
FROM sales
WHERE created_at >= date_trunc('month', now());
-- ...then a human decides
-- whether the number is good.
After — declarative goal
"Are we on track to hit $50K this month?"
GOAL hit revenue >= $50,000 this month COMPARE previousYear SOURCE shopify.sales.net_sales AS revenue SMASH metric WITH alert TITLED "March Revenue"
The right column compiles to the left, then computes status, forecast, and gap automatically.
A small grammar with large implications.
SMASH
Visualization, flags & title
Declares how the result should be rendered — metric, sparkline, gauge, bar, table. Flags listed after WITH are the only ones active; omit WITH for all-active default. TITLED "…" sets the card title.
GOAL
Verb, target & window
Verb-based outcome: grow, reduce, hold, hit, or cap. Time phrase embedded inline — this month, last 30 days, etc. Supports SOFT/HARD commitment and compound AND/OR conditions. Drives every downstream evaluation.
SOURCE
Live data binding
Fully-qualified path — namespace.table.column AS alias. Refined with WHERE, GROUP BY, ORDER BY, LIMIT. The alias is the metric name GOAL refers to.
DATA
Inline static data
Embed values directly — DATA alias = {…} with optional PREVIOUS {…} for comparison. No engine call. Used for demos, dev cards, and marketing samples.
WINDOW
Standalone time phrase
Used only when no GOAL is present. Natural-language phrases: this month, last 90 days, from 2026-11-27 to 2026-11-30. Rolling, named, or fixed.
COMPARE
Comparison mode
previousPeriod, previousYear, sameDayLastWeek — the comparison is part of the question, not derived after the fact.
TYPE
Metric type
cumulative, ratio, or level. Controls whether FORECAST extrapolates linearly or uses the current value as-is.
DIRECTION
Higher or lower
Declares whether higher or lower values are better. Inverts attainment calculation, gap sign, and TREND pill colour. Inferred from the verb and column name when omitted.
FORMAT
Display unit
percent, currency, or number. Optional — inferred from column metadata. Use when inference is wrong, e.g. rate metrics that should display as a percentage.
SMOOTH
Sparkline shape
rolling7, rolling14, rolling30, ema7, ema14 — the smoothing belongs to the query, not the renderer. Affects trend line only; headline KPI is unchanged.
05Reach out
Building
Building
with goals?
SmashGL is a patent-pending language and reference implementation. We're talking with implementers, partners, and licensees.