DatabaseSchema¶

Database schemas - logical namespaces for organizing tables

Overview¶

The DatabaseSchema entity represents a logical namespace within a database that groups related tables, views, and stored procedures. In PostgreSQL, these are schemas like public or analytics. In MySQL, the database itself acts as the schema. In Snowflake, these are schemas within a database.

Hierarchy:

graph LR
    A[DatabaseService] --> B[Database]
    B --> C[Schema]
    C --> D1[Table]
    C --> D2[StoredProcedure]
    D1 --> E[Column]

    style A fill:#667eea,color:#fff
    style B fill:#4facfe,color:#fff
    style C fill:#00f2fe,color:#333
    style D1 fill:#00f2fe,color:#333
    style D2 fill:#00f2fe,color:#333
    style E fill:#e0f2fe,color:#333

Relationships¶

Parent Entities¶

Database: The database containing this schema
DatabaseService: The service hosting the database

Child Entities¶

Table: Tables within this schema
StoredProcedure: Stored procedures in this schema

Associated Entities¶

Owner: User or team owning this schema
Domain: Business domain assignment
Tag: Classification tags

Relationship Diagram¶

graph TD
    %% Hierarchical relationships - Up and down the hierarchy
    SVC[DatabaseService<br/>postgres_prod] -->|contains| DB[Database<br/>ecommerce]
    DB -->|contains| SCH[Schema<br/>public]
    SCH -->|contains| TBL1[Table<br/>customers]
    SCH -->|contains| TBL2[Table<br/>orders]
    SCH -->|contains| TBL3[Table<br/>products]
    SCH -->|contains| SP[StoredProcedure<br/>calc_total]
    TBL1 -->|has| COL1[Column<br/>customer_id]
    TBL1 -->|has| COL2[Column<br/>email]
    TBL2 -->|has| COL3[Column<br/>order_id]

    %% Cross-entity relationships - Ownership
    USR[User<br/>jane.doe] -.->|owns| SCH
    TEAM[Team<br/>Ecommerce] -.->|owns| SCH

    %% Cross-entity relationships - Governance
    DOM[Domain<br/>Sales] -.->|groups| SCH
    TAG1[Tag<br/>Tier.Gold] -.->|classifies| SCH
    TAG2[Tag<br/>DataCategory.Transactional] -.->|classifies| SCH
    GT[GlossaryTerm<br/>CustomerData] -.->|describes| TBL1

    %% Cross-entity relationships - Quality
    TS[TestSuite<br/>schema_suite] -.->|validates| TBL1
    TC1[TestCase<br/>row_count] -.->|tests| TBL1
    TC2[TestCase<br/>email_format] -.->|tests| COL2

    %% Cross-entity relationships - Lineage
    PIPE[Pipeline<br/>customer_etl] -.->|writes to| TBL1
    DASH[Dashboard<br/>Sales Dashboard] -.->|reads from| TBL2
    ML[MLModel<br/>churn_predictor] -.->|trains on| TBL1

    %% Styling
    classDef service fill:#7C3AED,stroke:#5B21B6,color:#fff
    classDef database fill:#2563EB,stroke:#1E40AF,color:#fff
    classDef schema fill:#3B82F6,stroke:#2563EB,color:#fff,stroke-width:3px
    classDef object fill:#60A5FA,stroke:#3B82F6,color:#fff
    classDef column fill:#93C5FD,stroke:#60A5FA,color:#000
    classDef governance fill:#059669,stroke:#047857,color:#fff
    classDef quality fill:#DC2626,stroke:#B91C1C,color:#fff
    classDef process fill:#F59E0B,stroke:#D97706,color:#fff

    class SVC service
    class DB database
    class SCH schema
    class TBL1,TBL2,TBL3,SP object
    class COL1,COL2,COL3 column
    class USR,TEAM,DOM,TAG1,TAG2,GT governance
    class TS,TC1,TC2 quality
    class PIPE,DASH,ML process

Schema Specifications¶

View the complete DatabaseSchema schema in your preferred format:

JSON SchemaRDFJSON-LD

Complete JSON Schema Definition

{
  "$id": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/entity/data/databaseSchema.json",
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "DatabaseSchema",
  "description": "A `DatabaseSchema` entity is a logical namespace within a database that groups tables, views, and stored procedures.",
  "type": "object",
  "javaType": "org.openmetadata.schema.entity.data.DatabaseSchema",

  "definitions": {
    "schemaType": {
      "description": "Type or purpose of schema",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "Application", "Analytics", "Reporting",
        "Staging", "Audit", "Archive", "Public"
      ]
    }
  },

  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "description": "Unique identifier",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/uuid"
    },
    "name": {
      "description": "Schema name",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/entityName"
    },
    "fullyQualifiedName": {
      "description": "Fully qualified name: service.database.schema",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/fullyQualifiedEntityName"
    },
    "displayName": {
      "description": "Display name",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "description": {
      "description": "Markdown description",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/markdown"
    },
    "schemaType": {
      "$ref": "#/definitions/schemaType"
    },
    "database": {
      "description": "Parent database",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
    },
    "service": {
      "description": "Database service",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
    },
    "tables": {
      "description": "Tables in this schema",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
      }
    },
    "storedProcedures": {
      "description": "Stored procedures in this schema",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
      }
    },
    "owner": {
      "description": "Owner (user or team)",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
    },
    "domain": {
      "description": "Data domain",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
    },
    "tags": {
      "description": "Classification tags",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "$ref": "../../type/tagLabel.json"
      }
    },
    "retentionPeriod": {
      "description": "Data retention period in days",
      "type": "number"
    },
    "version": {
      "description": "Metadata version",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityHistory.json#/definitions/entityVersion"
    }
  },

  "required": ["id", "name", "database"]
}

View Full JSON Schema →

RDF/OWL Ontology Definition

@prefix om: <https://open-metadata.org/schema/> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

# DatabaseSchema Class Definition
om:DatabaseSchema a owl:Class ;
    rdfs:subClassOf om:DataAsset ;
    rdfs:label "DatabaseSchema" ;
    rdfs:comment "A logical namespace within a database that groups related tables and objects" ;
    om:hierarchyLevel 3 .

# Properties
om:schemaName a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range xsd:string ;
    rdfs:label "name" ;
    rdfs:comment "Name of the database schema" .

om:fullyQualifiedName a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range xsd:string ;
    rdfs:label "fullyQualifiedName" ;
    rdfs:comment "Complete hierarchical name: service.database.schema" .

om:schemaType a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range om:SchemaType ;
    rdfs:label "schemaType" ;
    rdfs:comment "Type of schema: Application, Analytics, Reporting, etc." .

om:retentionPeriod a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range xsd:integer ;
    rdfs:label "retentionPeriod" ;
    rdfs:comment "Data retention period in days" .

om:hasTable a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range om:Table ;
    rdfs:label "hasTable" ;
    rdfs:comment "Tables in this schema" .

om:hasStoredProcedure a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range om:StoredProcedure ;
    rdfs:label "hasStoredProcedure" ;
    rdfs:comment "Stored procedures in this schema" .

om:belongsToDatabase a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range om:Database ;
    rdfs:label "belongsToDatabase" ;
    rdfs:comment "Parent database" .

om:ownedBy a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range om:Owner ;
    rdfs:label "ownedBy" ;
    rdfs:comment "User or team that owns this schema" .

om:hasTag a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:DatabaseSchema ;
    rdfs:range om:Tag ;
    rdfs:label "hasTag" ;
    rdfs:comment "Classification tags applied to schema" .

# SchemaType Enumeration
om:SchemaType a owl:Class ;
    owl:oneOf (
        om:Application
        om:Analytics
        om:Reporting
        om:Staging
        om:Public
    ) .

# Example Instance
ex:publicSchema a om:DatabaseSchema ;
    om:schemaName "public" ;
    om:fullyQualifiedName "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public" ;
    om:schemaType om:Application ;
    om:belongsToDatabase ex:ecommerceDb ;
    om:ownedBy ex:ecommerceTeam ;
    om:hasTag ex:tierGold ;
    om:hasTable ex:customersTable ;
    om:hasTable ex:ordersTable ;
    om:retentionPeriod 2555 .

View Full RDF Ontology →

JSON-LD Context and Example

{
  "@context": {
    "@vocab": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/",
    "om": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/",
    "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
    "xsd": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#",

    "DatabaseSchema": "om:DatabaseSchema",
    "name": {
      "@id": "om:schemaName",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "fullyQualifiedName": {
      "@id": "om:fullyQualifiedName",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "displayName": {
      "@id": "om:displayName",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "description": {
      "@id": "om:description",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "schemaType": {
      "@id": "om:schemaType",
      "@type": "@vocab"
    },
    "retentionPeriod": {
      "@id": "om:retentionPeriod",
      "@type": "xsd:integer"
    },
    "database": {
      "@id": "om:belongsToDatabase",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "service": {
      "@id": "om:belongsToService",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "tables": {
      "@id": "om:hasTable",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    },
    "storedProcedures": {
      "@id": "om:hasStoredProcedure",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    },
    "owner": {
      "@id": "om:ownedBy",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "domain": {
      "@id": "om:inDomain",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "tags": {
      "@id": "om:hasTag",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    }
  }
}

Example JSON-LD Instance:

{
  "@context": "https://open-metadata.org/context/databaseSchema.jsonld",
  "@type": "DatabaseSchema",
  "@id": "https://example.com/data/schemas/public",

  "name": "public",
  "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public",
  "displayName": "Public Schema",
  "description": "Main application schema containing customer, order, and product tables",
  "schemaType": "Application",
  "retentionPeriod": 2555,

  "database": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/data/databases/ecommerce",
    "@type": "Database",
    "name": "ecommerce"
  },

  "service": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/services/postgres_prod",
    "@type": "DatabaseService",
    "name": "postgres_prod"
  },

  "tables": [
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/data/tables/customers",
      "@type": "Table",
      "name": "customers"
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/data/tables/orders",
      "@type": "Table",
      "name": "orders"
    }
  ],

  "owner": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/teams/ecommerce",
    "@type": "Team",
    "name": "ecommerce",
    "displayName": "E-commerce Team"
  },

  "domain": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/domains/sales",
    "@type": "Domain",
    "name": "Sales"
  },

  "tags": [
    {
      "@id": "https://open-metadata.org/tags/Tier/Gold",
      "tagFQN": "Tier.Gold"
    }
  ]
}

View Full JSON-LD Context →

Use Cases¶

Organize tables by application, function, or purpose
Separate transactional tables from analytics views
Isolate staging data from production tables
Apply schema-level access controls and permissions
Track schema-level ownership
Document schema purpose and usage guidelines
Manage data retention policies by schema
Group related database objects together

JSON Schema Specification¶

Core Properties¶

`id` (uuid)¶

Type: string (UUID format) Required: Yes (system-generated) Description: Unique identifier for this database schema instance

{
  "id": "c3d4e5f6-a7b8-4c9d-0e1f-2a3b4c5d6e7f"
}

`name` (entityName)¶

Type: string Required: Yes Pattern: ^[^.]*$ (no dots allowed) Min Length: 1 Max Length: 256 Description: Name of the schema

{
  "name": "public"
}

`fullyQualifiedName` (fullyQualifiedEntityName)¶

Type: string Required: Yes (system-generated) Pattern: ^((?!::).)*$ Description: Fully qualified name in the format service.database.schema

{
  "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public"
}

`displayName`¶

Type: string Required: No Description: Human-readable display name

{
  "displayName": "Public Schema"
}

`description` (markdown)¶

Type: string (Markdown format) Required: No Description: Rich text description of the schema's purpose and usage

{
  "description": "# Public Schema\n\nMain application schema for e-commerce platform.\n\n## Tables\n- **customers**: Customer master data\n- **orders**: Order transactions\n- **products**: Product catalog\n\n## Usage\nAll application tables should be created in this schema."
}

Classification Properties¶

`schemaType` (SchemaType enum)¶

Type: string enum Required: No Allowed Values:

Application - Application/transactional tables
Analytics - Analytics and reporting objects
Reporting - Reporting views and aggregates
Staging - Staging/ETL tables
Audit - Audit logs and history
Archive - Archive/historical data
Public - Default/public schema

{
  "schemaType": "Application"
}

`retentionPeriod` (number)¶

Type: number Required: No Description: Data retention period in days for tables in this schema

{
  "retentionPeriod": 2555
}

Location Properties¶

`database` (EntityReference)¶

Type: object Required: Yes Description: Reference to parent database

{
  "database": {
    "id": "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-4b8c-9d0e-1f2a3b4c5d6e",
    "type": "database",
    "name": "ecommerce",
    "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce"
  }
}

`service` (EntityReference)¶

Type: object Required: Yes Description: Reference to database service

{
  "service": {
    "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-4a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d",
    "type": "databaseService",
    "name": "postgres_prod",
    "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod"
  }
}

`tables[]` (EntityReference[])¶

Type: array Required: No (system-populated) Description: List of tables in this schema

{
  "tables": [
    {
      "id": "d4e5f6a7-b8c9-4d0e-1f2a-3b4c5d6e7f8a",
      "type": "table",
      "name": "customers",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public.customers"
    },
    {
      "id": "e5f6a7b8-c9d0-4e1f-2a3b-4c5d6e7f8a9b",
      "type": "table",
      "name": "orders",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public.orders"
    }
  ]
}

`storedProcedures[]` (EntityReference[])¶

Type: array Required: No (system-populated) Description: List of stored procedures in this schema

{
  "storedProcedures": [
    {
      "id": "f6a7b8c9-d0e1-4f2a-3b4c-5d6e7f8a9b0c",
      "type": "storedProcedure",
      "name": "calculate_order_total",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public.calculate_order_total"
    }
  ]
}

Governance Properties¶

`owner` (EntityReference)¶

Type: object Required: No Description: User or team that owns this schema

{
  "owner": {
    "id": "e5f6a7b8-c9d0-4e1f-2a3b-4c5d6e7f8a9b",
    "type": "team",
    "name": "ecommerce",
    "displayName": "E-commerce Team"
  }
}

`domain` (EntityReference)¶

Type: object Required: No Description: Data domain this schema belongs to

{
  "domain": {
    "id": "f6a7b8c9-d0e1-4f2a-3b4c-5d6e7f8a9b0c",
    "type": "domain",
    "name": "Sales",
    "fullyQualifiedName": "Sales"
  }
}

`tags[]` (TagLabel[])¶

Type: array Required: No Description: Classification tags applied to the schema

{
  "tags": [
    {
      "tagFQN": "Tier.Gold",
      "description": "Critical production schema",
      "source": "Classification",
      "labelType": "Manual",
      "state": "Confirmed"
    },
    {
      "tagFQN": "DataCategory.Transactional",
      "source": "Classification",
      "labelType": "Automated",
      "state": "Confirmed"
    }
  ]
}

Versioning Properties¶

`version` (entityVersion)¶

Type: number Required: Yes (system-managed) Description: Metadata version number

{
  "version": 1.3
}

`updatedAt` (timestamp)¶

Type: integer (Unix epoch milliseconds) Required: Yes (system-managed) Description: Last update timestamp

{
  "updatedAt": 1704240000000
}

`updatedBy` (string)¶

Type: string Required: Yes (system-managed) Description: User who made the update

{
  "updatedBy": "jane.doe"
}

Complete Example¶

{
  "id": "c3d4e5f6-a7b8-4c9d-0e1f-2a3b4c5d6e7f",
  "name": "public",
  "fullyQualifiedName": "postgres_prod.ecommerce.public",
  "displayName": "Public Schema",
  "description": "# Public Schema\n\nMain application schema containing customer, order, and product tables.",
  "schemaType": "Application",
  "retentionPeriod": 2555,
  "database": {
    "id": "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-4b8c-9d0e-1f2a3b4c5d6e",
    "type": "database",
    "name": "ecommerce"
  },
  "service": {
    "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-4a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d",
    "type": "databaseService",
    "name": "postgres_prod"
  },
  "tables": [
    {
      "id": "d4e5f6a7-b8c9-4d0e-1f2a-3b4c5d6e7f8a",
      "type": "table",
      "name": "customers"
    },
    {
      "id": "e5f6a7b8-c9d0-4e1f-2a3b-4c5d6e7f8a9b",
      "type": "table",
      "name": "orders"
    }
  ],
  "storedProcedures": [
    {
      "id": "f6a7b8c9-d0e1-4f2a-3b4c-5d6e7f8a9b0c",
      "type": "storedProcedure",
      "name": "calculate_order_total"
    }
  ],
  "owner": {
    "id": "e5f6a7b8-c9d0-4e1f-2a3b-4c5d6e7f8a9b",
    "type": "team",
    "name": "ecommerce"
  },
  "domain": {
    "id": "f6a7b8c9-d0e1-4f2a-3b4c-5d6e7f8a9b0c",
    "type": "domain",
    "name": "Sales"
  },
  "tags": [
    {"tagFQN": "Tier.Gold"},
    {"tagFQN": "DataCategory.Transactional"}
  ],
  "version": 1.3,
  "updatedAt": 1704240000000,
  "updatedBy": "jane.doe"
}

Custom Properties¶

This entity supports custom properties through the extension field. Common custom properties include:

Data Classification: Sensitivity level
Cost Center: Billing allocation
Retention Period: Data retention requirements
Application Owner: Owning application/team

See Custom Properties for details on defining and using custom properties.

API Operations¶

Create Database Schema¶

POST /api/v1/databaseSchemas
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "public",
  "database": "postgres_prod.ecommerce",
  "description": "Main application schema"
}

Get Database Schema¶

GET /api/v1/databaseSchemas/name/postgres_prod.ecommerce.public?fields=tables,storedProcedures,owner,tags

Update Database Schema¶

PATCH /api/v1/databaseSchemas/{id}
Content-Type: application/json-patch+json

[
  {
    "op": "add",
    "path": "/tags/-",
    "value": {"tagFQN": "DataCategory.Transactional"}
  }
]

List Schemas in Database¶

GET /api/v1/databaseSchemas?database=postgres_prod.ecommerce

Database Service - Parent service entity
Database - Parent database entity
Table - Child table entity
Stored Procedure - Child stored procedure entity
Access Control - Schema-level permissions

DatabaseSchema¶

Overview¶

Relationships¶

Parent Entities¶

Child Entities¶

Associated Entities¶

Relationship Diagram¶

Schema Specifications¶

Use Cases¶

JSON Schema Specification¶

Core Properties¶

id (uuid)¶

name (entityName)¶

fullyQualifiedName (fullyQualifiedEntityName)¶

displayName¶

description (markdown)¶

Classification Properties¶

schemaType (SchemaType enum)¶

retentionPeriod (number)¶