Canonical Schema

Kind: artifact

Layer: Contracts Core

Record: architecture:canonical-schema

Severity: recommended

Scope: data, message, API

Canonical: Ontology

A formal definition of one concept's shape, published once and used by every API, message and store that carries the concept.

Listed in Architecture principles, after Canonical Data Model and before Canonicalization.

Requires

• Canonical Data Model

Reinforces

• Schema Contract

Enables

• Schema Validation

Conflicts with

• Schema Drift

In tension with

• Service-Specific Schemas

Tensions

• Canonical Schema / Service-Specific Schemas

Violated by

• Schema Drift

Refactored by

• Canonical Data Model
• Versioning

Severity

• recommended

Category

• Schema / Canonical Data / Semantics

Linked from

• Anti-patterns
• Contracts / Interfaces / Compatibility
• Schema / Canonical Data / Semantics
• Schema / Canonical Data / Semantics
• Severity levels
• The resolutions