Schema Types

Understand the five schema types used in Guardian.

Schemas define the structure of data used in Guardian. They keep policy data consistent and machine-readable. Guardian organizes schemas by their owning context. Five schema types support policies, tools, modules, tags, and platform services.

The problem it solves

Without schema types, data ownership becomes unclear. Reusable components could require incompatible data structures.

How it works

Each schema type defines where its data is used. Guardian applies that structure across policies and reusable components.

• Policy schemas: Policy schemas define data used by a policy. They structure documents and credentials within its workflow. A policy can include multiple schemas. Each schema supports a specific workflow or data requirement.

• Tool schemas: Tool schemas are embedded in tools. They structure documents and credentials used by the tool. A policy can use tool schemas when it includes the tool. This keeps shared workflows consistent.

• Module schemas: Module schemas define data required by reusable modules. A module exposes schema requirements through variables with the schema type. The selected schema provides the module's base data structure. This keeps module inputs consistent across policies.

• Tag schemas: Tag schemas define documents attached to tags. A tag requires a schema before it can collect structured document data. Use tag schemas when metadata must accompany a tag. See Schema Tags for details.

• System schemas Guardian creates system schemas automatically when an account is created. They support core platform entities and workflows. System schemas are read-only by default. They cannot be edited or deleted.

Key distinctions

Policy schemas belong directly to a policy.

Tool and module schemas belong to reusable components.

Tag schemas support tag metadata.

System schemas support Guardian's core platform behavior.

Related

• Task: Creating a Schema

• Reference: Tools Reference

• Concept: Modules