diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index beeb8c04e0..065b806ca3 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ Collate:
     'modules_debugging.R'
     'reporter_previewer_module.R'
     'show_rcode_modal.R'
+    'tdata.R'
     'teal.R'
     'utils.R'
     'validations.R'
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index cd11e02fa6..79643f73d2 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
+S3method(get_code,tdata)
+S3method(get_join_keys,default)
+S3method(get_join_keys,tdata)
+S3method(get_metadata,default)
+S3method(get_metadata,tdata)
 S3method(is_arg_used,"function")
 S3method(is_arg_used,default)
 S3method(is_arg_used,teal_module)
@@ -20,6 +25,8 @@ export(.log)
 export(bookmarkableShinyApp)
 export(default_filter)
 export(example_module)
+export(get_join_keys)
+export(get_metadata)
 export(get_rcode)
 export(get_rcode_srv)
 export(get_rcode_ui)
@@ -27,10 +34,12 @@ export(init)
 export(log_app_usage)
 export(module)
 export(modules)
+export(new_tdata)
 export(reporter_previewer_module)
 export(root_modules)
 export(show_rcode_modal)
 export(srv_teal_with_splash)
+export(tdata2env)
 export(ui_teal_with_splash)
 export(validate_has_data)
 export(validate_has_elements)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 0e72a05e42..96103f9658 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 ### Enhancements
 
 * Added option to choose which variables can be filtered in the filter panel by using the `filterable` attributes for the per-dataset lists in the `filter` argument of `init`. 
-* `teal_module` having `data` argument in its arguments will receive a list of reactive filter data with `"code"` and `"join_keys"` attributes.
+* `teal_module` having `data` argument in its arguments of type `tdata`. Modules receive this object (a list of reactive filtered datasets with `"code"` and `"join_keys"` attributes).
 * Updated the internals of `module_teal` to reflect changes in `teal.slice`.
 * `teal_module` having `filter_panel_api` argument in its arguments will receive a `FilterPanelAPI` object.
 
diff --git a/R/example_module.R b/R/example_module.R
index 42537fe24d..7ed53c2fdd 100644
--- a/R/example_module.R
+++ b/R/example_module.R
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ example_module <- function(label = "example teal module") {
   module(
     label,
     server = function(id, data) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         output$text <- renderPrint(data[[input$dataname]]())
       })
diff --git a/R/module_nested_tabs.R b/R/module_nested_tabs.R
index 8b5f6c5bb0..6cec98fdaa 100644
--- a/R/module_nested_tabs.R
+++ b/R/module_nested_tabs.R
@@ -228,9 +228,9 @@ srv_nested_tabs.teal_module <- function(id, datasets, modules, reporter) {
   reactive(modules)
 }
 
-#' Convert `FilteredData` to reactive list of data
+#' Convert `FilteredData` to reactive list of datasets of the `tdata` type.
 #'
-#' Converts `FilteredData` object to list of data containing datasets needed for specific module.
+#' Converts `FilteredData` object to `tdata` object containing datasets needed for a specific module.
 #' Please note that if module needs dataset which has a parent, then parent will be also returned.
 #'
 #' @param module (`teal_module`) module where needed filters are taken from
@@ -255,10 +255,13 @@ srv_nested_tabs.teal_module <- function(id, datasets, modules, reporter) {
     }
   )
 
-  # code from previous stages
-  attr(data, "code") <- get_datasets_code(datanames, datasets)
+  metadata <- lapply(datanames, datasets$get_metadata)
+  names(metadata) <- datanames
 
-  # join_keys
-  attr(data, "join_keys") <- datasets$get_join_keys()
-  data
+  new_tdata(
+    data,
+    reactive(get_datasets_code(datanames, datasets)),
+    datasets$get_join_keys(),
+    metadata
+  )
 }
diff --git a/R/modules_debugging.R b/R/modules_debugging.R
index 83a8f3232e..5b8a59a108 100644
--- a/R/modules_debugging.R
+++ b/R/modules_debugging.R
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 #' and avoids session restarts!
 #'
 #' @param label `character` label of module
-#' @param active_datanames `character vector` datanames shown in filter panel;
-#'   can be `"all"` to mean all available datasets
 #' @keywords internal
 #'
 #' @examples
@@ -34,19 +32,19 @@
 #'   ),
 #'   header = "Simple teal app"
 #' )
-#' \dontrun{
-#' shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
+#' if (interactive()) {
+#'   shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 #' }
-filter_calls_module <- function(label = "Filter Calls Module", active_datanames = "all") { # nolint
+filter_calls_module <- function(label = "Filter Calls Module") { # nolint
   checkmate::assert_string(label)
-  checkmate::check_character(active_datanames, min.len = 1, any.missing = FALSE)
 
   module(
     label = label,
-    server = function(input, output, session, datasets) {
+    server = function(input, output, session, data) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
+
       output$filter_calls <- renderText({
-        active_datanames <- datasets$handle_active_datanames(active_datanames)
-        teal.slice::get_filter_expr(datasets, datanames = active_datanames)
+        get_code(data)
       })
     },
     ui = function(id, ...) {
@@ -56,6 +54,6 @@ filter_calls_module <- function(label = "Filter Calls Module", active_datanames
         verbatimTextOutput(ns("filter_calls"))
       )
     },
-    filters = active_datanames
+    filters = "all"
   )
 }
diff --git a/R/tdata.R b/R/tdata.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d1bca33191
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/tdata.R
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+#' Create a new `tdata` object which contains
+#'
+#' - `data` a `reactive` list of data.frames (or `MultiAssayExperiment`) with attributes
+#' i) `code` (`reactive`) containing code used to generate the data
+#' and ii) join_keys (`JoinKeys`) containing the relationships between
+#' the data iii) metadata (`named list`) containing any metadata associated with
+#' the data frames
+#'
+#' @param data A `named list` of `data.frames` (or `MultiAssayExperiment`)
+#'  which optionally can be `reactive`.
+#'   Inside this object all of these items will be made `reactive`.
+#' @param code A `character` (or `reactive` which evaluates to a `character`) containing
+#'   the code used to generate the data. This should be `reactive` if the code is changing
+#'   during a reactive context (e.g. if filtering changes the code). Inside this
+#'   object `code` will be made reactive
+#' @param join_keys A `teal.data::JoinKeys` object containing relationships between the
+#'   datasets.
+#' @param metadata A `named list` each element contains a list of metadata about the named data.frame
+#' Each element of these list should be atomic and length one.
+#' @return A `tdata` object
+#' @examples
+#'
+#' data <- new_tdata(
+#'   data = list(iris = iris, mtcars = reactive(mtcars), dd = data.frame(x = 1:10)),
+#'   code = "iris <- iris
+#'     mtcars <- mtcars
+#'     dd <- data.frame(x = 1:10)",
+#'   metadata = list(dd = list(author = "NEST"), iris = list(version = 1))
+#' )
+#'
+#' # Extract a data.frame
+#' isolate(data[["iris"]]())
+#'
+#' @export
+new_tdata <- function(data, code = "", join_keys = NULL, metadata = NULL) {
+  checkmate::assert_list(
+    data,
+    any.missing = FALSE, names = "unique",
+    types = c("data.frame", "reactive", "MultiAssayExperiment")
+  )
+  checkmate::assert_class(join_keys, "JoinKeys", null.ok = TRUE)
+  checkmate::assert_multi_class(code, c("character", "reactive"))
+
+  checkmate::assert_list(metadata, names = "unique", null.ok = TRUE)
+  checkmate::assert_subset(names(metadata), names(data))
+  for (m in metadata) teal.data::validate_metadata(m)
+
+  if (is.reactive(code)) {
+    isolate(checkmate::assert_class(code(), "character"))
+  }
+
+  #create reactive data.frames
+  for (x in names(data)) {
+    if (!is.reactive(data[[x]])) {
+      data[[x]] <- do.call(reactive, list(as.name(x)), envir = list2env(data[x]))
+    } else {
+      isolate(checkmate::assert_multi_class(data[[x]](), c("data.frame", "MultiAssayExperiment")))
+    }
+  }
+
+  # set attributes
+  attr(data, "code") <- if (is.reactive(code)) code else reactive(code)
+  attr(data, "join_keys") <- join_keys
+  attr(data, "metadata") <- metadata
+
+  # set class
+  class(data) <- c("tdata", class(data))
+  data
+}
+
+#' Function to convert a `tdata` object to an `environment`
+#' Any `reactives` inside `tdata` are first evaluated
+#' @param `data` a `tdata` object
+#' @return an `environment`
+#' @examples
+#'
+#' data <- new_tdata(
+#'   data = list(iris = iris, mtcars = reactive(mtcars)),
+#'   code = "iris <- iris
+#'     mtcars = mtcars"
+#' )
+#'
+#' my_env <- isolate(tdata2env(data))
+#'
+#' @export
+tdata2env <- function(data) { # nolint
+  checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
+  list2env(lapply(data, function(x) if (is.reactive(x)) x() else x))
+}
+
+#' @export
+get_code.tdata <- function(data) {
+  # note teal.data which teal depends on defines the get_code method
+  attr(data, "code")()
+}
+
+#' @export
+get_join_keys <- function(data) {
+  UseMethod("get_join_keys", data)
+}
+
+
+#' @export
+get_join_keys.tdata <- function(data) {
+  attr(data, "join_keys")
+}
+
+#' @export
+get_join_keys.default <- function(data) {
+  stop("get_join_keys function not implemented for this object")
+}
+
+#' @export
+get_metadata <- function(data, dataname) {
+  checkmate::assert_string(dataname)
+  UseMethod("get_metadata", data)
+}
+
+#' @export
+get_metadata.tdata <- function(data, dataname) {
+  metadata <- attr(data, "metadata")
+  if (is.null(metadata)) {
+    return(NULL)
+  }
+  metadata[[dataname]]
+}
+
+#' @export
+get_metadata.default <- function(data, dataname) {
+  stop("get_metadata function not implemented for this object")
+}
diff --git a/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd b/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd
index 4821e3ffcd..71c31ea5ba 100644
--- a/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd
+++ b/man/dot-datasets_to_data.Rd
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 % Please edit documentation in R/module_nested_tabs.R
 \name{.datasets_to_data}
 \alias{.datasets_to_data}
-\title{Convert \code{FilteredData} to reactive list of data}
+\title{Convert \code{FilteredData} to reactive list of datasets of the \code{tdata} type.}
 \usage{
 .datasets_to_data(module, datasets)
 }
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ list of reactive datasets with following attributes:
 }
 }
 \description{
-Converts \code{FilteredData} object to list of data containing datasets needed for specific module.
+Converts \code{FilteredData} object to \code{tdata} object containing datasets needed for a specific module.
 Please note that if module needs dataset which has a parent, then parent will be also returned.
 }
 \keyword{(`JoinKeys`)}
diff --git a/man/filter_calls_module.Rd b/man/filter_calls_module.Rd
index 3ceb67c161..dc49091cb8 100644
--- a/man/filter_calls_module.Rd
+++ b/man/filter_calls_module.Rd
@@ -4,13 +4,10 @@
 \alias{filter_calls_module}
 \title{Dummy module to show the filter calls generated by the right encoding panel}
 \usage{
-filter_calls_module(label = "Filter Calls Module", active_datanames = "all")
+filter_calls_module(label = "Filter Calls Module")
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{label}{\code{character} label of module}
-
-\item{active_datanames}{\verb{character vector} datanames shown in filter panel;
-can be \code{"all"} to mean all available datasets}
 }
 \description{
 Please do not remove, this is useful for debugging teal without
@@ -37,8 +34,8 @@ app <- init(
   ),
   header = "Simple teal app"
 )
-\dontrun{
-shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
+if (interactive()) {
+  shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 }
 }
 \keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/new_tdata.Rd b/man/new_tdata.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b61a0d0da7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/new_tdata.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/tdata.R
+\name{new_tdata}
+\alias{new_tdata}
+\title{Create a new \code{tdata} object which contains}
+\usage{
+new_tdata(data, code = "", join_keys = NULL, metadata = NULL)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{data}{A \verb{named list} of \code{data.frames} (or \code{MultiAssayExperiment})
+which optionally can be \code{reactive}.
+Inside this object all of these items will be made \code{reactive}.}
+
+\item{code}{A \code{character} (or \code{reactive} which evaluates to a \code{character}) containing
+the code used to generate the data. This should be \code{reactive} if the code is changing
+during a reactive context (e.g. if filtering changes the code). Inside this
+object \code{code} will be made reactive}
+
+\item{join_keys}{A \code{teal.data::JoinKeys} object containing relationships between the
+datasets.}
+
+\item{metadata}{A \verb{named list} each element contains a list of metadata about the named data.frame
+Each element of these list should be atomic and length one.}
+}
+\value{
+A \code{tdata} object
+}
+\description{
+\itemize{
+\item \code{data} a \code{reactive} list of data.frames (or \code{MultiAssayExperiment}) with attributes
+i) \code{code} (\code{reactive}) containing code used to generate the data
+and ii) join_keys (\code{JoinKeys}) containing the relationships between
+the data iii) metadata (\verb{named list}) containing any metadata associated with
+the data frames
+}
+}
+\examples{
+
+data <- new_tdata(
+  data = list(iris = iris, mtcars = reactive(mtcars), dd = data.frame(x = 1:10)),
+  code = "iris <- iris
+    mtcars <- mtcars
+    dd <- data.frame(x = 1:10)",
+  metadata = list(dd = list(author = "NEST"), iris = list(version = 1))
+)
+
+# Extract a data.frame
+isolate(data[["iris"]]())
+
+}
diff --git a/man/tdata2env.Rd b/man/tdata2env.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..629e166294
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/tdata2env.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/tdata.R
+\name{tdata2env}
+\alias{tdata2env}
+\title{Function to convert a \code{tdata} object to an \code{environment}
+Any \code{reactives} inside \code{tdata} are first evaluated}
+\usage{
+tdata2env(data)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{`data`}{a \code{tdata} object}
+}
+\value{
+an \code{environment}
+}
+\description{
+Function to convert a \code{tdata} object to an \code{environment}
+Any \code{reactives} inside \code{tdata} are first evaluated
+}
+\examples{
+
+data <- new_tdata(
+  data = list(iris = iris, mtcars = reactive(mtcars)),
+  code = "iris <- iris
+    mtcars = mtcars"
+)
+
+my_env <- isolate(tdata2env(data))
+
+}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R b/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R
index 35ddcfd554..4b2aba55a9 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-module_nested_tabs.R
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ testthat::test_that(".datasets_to_data returns required attributes", {
 
   # code
   testthat::expect_equal(
-    attr(data, "code")[1],
+    isolate(attr(data, "code")()[1]),
     "d1 <- data.frame(id = 1:5, pk = c(2, 3, 2, 1, 4), val = 1:5)\nd2 <- data.frame(id = 1:5, value = 1:5)\n\n"
   )
 })
diff --git a/vignettes/adding-support-for-reporting.Rmd b/vignettes/adding-support-for-reporting.Rmd
index 8a06cd28ef..dd52c3c1c6 100644
--- a/vignettes/adding-support-for-reporting.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/adding-support-for-reporting.Rmd
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ teal_example_module <- function(label = "example teal module") {
   module(
     label,
     server = function(id, data) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         output$text <- renderPrint(data[[input$dataname]]())
       })
@@ -65,14 +66,14 @@ if (interactive()) shinyApp(app$ui, app$server)
 
 ## Add support for Reporting
 ### Change the declaration of the server function
-The first step is to add another argument to the server function declaration - `reporter`. This needs to be the third
-argument to the server function inside the `teal.module` call. See below:
+The first step is to add another argument to the server function declaration - `reporter`. See below:
 ```{r}
 example_module_with_reporting <- function(label = "example teal module") {
   checkmate::assert_string(label)
   module(
     label,
     server = function(id, data, reporter) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         output$text <- renderPrint(data[[input$dataname]]())
       })
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ example_module_with_reporting <- function(label = "example teal module") {
   module(
     label,
     server = function(id, data, reporter) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         teal.reporter::simple_reporter_srv(
           id = "reporter",
@@ -177,6 +179,7 @@ example_module_with_reporting <- function(label = "example teal module") {
   module(
     label,
     server = function(id, data, reporter) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         teal.reporter::simple_reporter_srv(id = "simpleReporter", reporter = reporter, card_fun = custom_function)
         output$text <- renderPrint(data[[input$dataname]]())
@@ -244,6 +247,7 @@ example_reporter_module <- function(label = "Example") {
     label,
     server = function(id, data, reporter, filter_panel_api) {
       with_filter <- !missing(filter_panel_api) && inherits(filter_panel_api, "FilterPanelApi")
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         dat <- reactive(data[[input$dataname]]())
         output$nrow_ui <- renderUI({
@@ -253,7 +257,7 @@ example_reporter_module <- function(label = "Example") {
         table_q <- reactive({
           req(input$nrow)
 
-          teal.code::new_quosure(env = data) %>%
+          teal.code::new_qenv(tdata2env(data), code = get_code(data)) %>%
             teal.code::eval_code(
               substitute(
                 result <- head(data, nrows),
diff --git a/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd b/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd
index 112b333455..9f4e2db81c 100644
--- a/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/creating-custom-modules.Rmd
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ example_module <- function(label = "example teal module") {
   module(
     label,
     server = function(id, data) {
+      checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
       moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
         output$text <- renderPrint(data[[input$dataname]]())
       })
@@ -70,7 +71,8 @@ function(id,
 ```
 
 When used inside a teal application called with `teal::init` the `data` argument is a named list of reactive data.frames
-containing the data after having been filtered through the filter panel.
+containing the data after having been filtered through the filter panel. It is of the `tdata` type and can be created using
+the `new_tdata` function.
 
 ## A More Complicated Example
 
@@ -114,6 +116,7 @@ ui_histogram_example <- function(id, histogram_var) {
 # histogram_var is a teal.transform::data_extract_spec object
 # specifying which columns of which datasets users can choose
 srv_histogram_example <- function(id, data, histogram_var) {
+  checkmate::assert_class(data, "tdata")
   moduleServer(id, function(input, output, session) {
 
     # get the selected dataset and column from the UI
@@ -121,18 +124,18 @@ srv_histogram_example <- function(id, data, histogram_var) {
       id = "histogram_var",
       datasets = data,
       data_extract_spec = histogram_var,
-      join_keys = attr(data, "join_keys")
+      join_keys = get_join_keys(data)
     )
 
     dataname <- reactive(extracted()$dataname)
     selected <- reactive(extracted()$select)
 
-    # the reactive which adds the code to plot the histogram into the quosure
+    # the reactive which adds the code to plot the histogram into the qenv
     plot_code_q <- reactive({
       validate(need(length(selected) == 1, "Please select a variable"))
 
-      # take the filtered data from the data object and add it into the quosure environment
-      teal.code::new_quosure(env = data) %>%
+      # take the filtered data from the data object and add it into the qenv environment
+      teal.code::new_qenv(tdata2env(data), code = get_code(data)) %>%
         teal.code::eval_code(
           substitute(
             expr = p <- hist(dataname[, selected]),