Implementation:Datahub project Datahub Entity Metadata Mutations

Field	Value
Implementation Name	Entity Metadata Mutations
Type	API Doc
Status	Active
Last Updated	2026-02-10
Repository	Datahub_project_Datahub
Source Files	`HasTags.java` (Lines 46-335), `HasOwners.java` (Lines 36-169), `HasGlossaryTerms.java` (Lines 36-185), `HasDomains.java` (Lines 23-164), `Dataset.java` (Lines 368-430)

Overview

The entity metadata mutation interfaces and methods provide the API for adding, removing, and replacing metadata facets on DataHub entities. Operations are accumulated in patch builders and flushed during upsert().

Import Statements

The trait interfaces are part of the entity classes; no separate imports are needed when working with entity types:

import datahub.client.v2.entity.Dataset;
import com.linkedin.common.OwnershipType;

HasTags Interface

File: metadata-integration/java/datahub-client/src/main/java/datahub/client/v2/entity/HasTags.java (Lines 46-335)

public interface HasTags<T extends Entity & HasTags<T>> {

    default T addTag(@Nonnull String tagUrn) { ... }
    default T addTag(@Nonnull TagUrn tagUrn) { ... }
    default T removeTag(@Nonnull String tagUrn) { ... }
    default T removeTag(@Nonnull TagUrn tagUrn) { ... }
    default T setTags(@Nonnull List<String> tagUrns) { ... }
    default List<TagAssociation> getTags() { ... }
}

Method	Parameters	Returns	Description
`addTag(String)`	Tag name or URN	`T` (fluent)	Adds a tag; auto-prefixes `urn:li:tag:` if needed. Accumulates in `GlobalTagsPatchBuilder`
`addTag(TagUrn)`	TagUrn object	`T` (fluent)	Adds a tag using typed URN object
`removeTag(String)`	Tag name or URN	`T` (fluent)	Removes a tag via patch operation
`removeTag(TagUrn)`	TagUrn object	`T` (fluent)	Removes a tag using typed URN object
`setTags(List<String>)`	List of tag URNs	`T` (fluent)	Replaces all tags with full aspect UPSERT (not a patch)
`getTags()`	--	`List<TagAssociation>` or null	Returns current tags (lazy-loaded from server if bound)

HasOwners Interface

File: metadata-integration/java/datahub-client/src/main/java/datahub/client/v2/entity/HasOwners.java (Lines 36-169)

public interface HasOwners<T extends Entity & HasOwners<T>> {

    default T addOwner(@Nonnull String ownerUrn, @Nonnull OwnershipType type) { ... }
    default T addOwner(@Nonnull Urn ownerUrn, @Nonnull OwnershipType type) { ... }
    default T removeOwner(@Nonnull String ownerUrn) { ... }
    default T removeOwner(@Nonnull Urn ownerUrn) { ... }
    default T setOwners(@Nonnull List<Owner> owners) { ... }
    default List<Owner> getOwners() { ... }
}

Method	Parameters	Returns	Description
`addOwner(String, OwnershipType)`	Owner URN string, ownership type	`T` (fluent)	Adds an owner with typed role. Accumulates in `OwnershipPatchBuilder`
`addOwner(Urn, OwnershipType)`	Owner URN object, ownership type	`T` (fluent)	Adds an owner using typed URN object
`removeOwner(String)`	Owner URN string	`T` (fluent)	Removes an owner; also evicts cached Ownership aspect
`removeOwner(Urn)`	Owner URN object	`T` (fluent)	Removes an owner using typed URN object
`setOwners(List<Owner>)`	List of Owner objects	`T` (fluent)	Replaces all owners with full aspect UPSERT
`getOwners()`	--	`List<Owner>` or null	Returns current owners (lazy-loaded if bound)

HasGlossaryTerms Interface

File: metadata-integration/java/datahub-client/src/main/java/datahub/client/v2/entity/HasGlossaryTerms.java (Lines 36-185)

public interface HasGlossaryTerms<T extends Entity & HasGlossaryTerms<T>> {

    default T addTerm(@Nonnull String termUrn) { ... }
    default T addTerm(@Nonnull GlossaryTermUrn termUrn) { ... }
    default T removeTerm(@Nonnull String termUrn) { ... }
    default T removeTerm(@Nonnull GlossaryTermUrn termUrn) { ... }
    default T setTerms(@Nonnull List<String> termUrns) { ... }
    default List<GlossaryTermAssociation> getTerms() { ... }
}

Method	Parameters	Returns	Description
`addTerm(String)`	Term URN string	`T` (fluent)	Adds a glossary term. Accumulates in `GlossaryTermsPatchBuilder`
`addTerm(GlossaryTermUrn)`	GlossaryTermUrn object	`T` (fluent)	Adds a glossary term using typed URN
`removeTerm(String)`	Term URN string	`T` (fluent)	Removes a glossary term; evicts cached aspect
`removeTerm(GlossaryTermUrn)`	GlossaryTermUrn object	`T` (fluent)	Removes a glossary term using typed URN
`setTerms(List<String>)`	List of term URN strings	`T` (fluent)	Replaces all terms with full aspect UPSERT
`getTerms()`	--	`List<GlossaryTermAssociation>` or null	Returns current terms (lazy-loaded if bound)

HasDomains Interface

File: metadata-integration/java/datahub-client/src/main/java/datahub/client/v2/entity/HasDomains.java (Lines 23-164)

public interface HasDomains<T extends Entity & HasDomains<T>> {

    default T setDomain(@Nonnull String domainUrn) { ... }
    default T setDomain(@Nonnull Urn domain) { ... }
    default T removeDomain(@Nonnull String domainUrn) { ... }
    default T removeDomain(@Nonnull Urn domain) { ... }
    default T clearDomains() { ... }
    default Urn getDomain() { ... }
    default List<Urn> getDomains() { ... }
}

Method	Parameters	Returns	Description
`setDomain(String)`	Domain URN string	`T` (fluent)	Sets a single domain (replaces existing). Uses direct aspect caching, not patches
`setDomain(Urn)`	Domain URN object	`T` (fluent)	Sets a single domain using typed URN
`removeDomain(String)`	Domain URN string	`T` (fluent)	Removes a specific domain. Requires mutable entity
`removeDomain(Urn)`	Domain URN object	`T` (fluent)	Removes a specific domain using typed URN
`clearDomains()`	--	`T` (fluent)	Removes all domains. Requires mutable entity
`getDomain()`	--	`Urn` or null	Returns the first domain (convenience method)
`getDomains()`	--	`List<Urn>` or null	Returns all domains (lazy-loaded if bound)

Dataset Custom Properties

File: metadata-integration/java/datahub-client/src/main/java/datahub/client/v2/entity/Dataset.java (Lines 368-430)

public Dataset addCustomProperty(@Nonnull String key, @Nonnull String value) { ... }
public Dataset removeCustomProperty(@Nonnull String key) { ... }
public Dataset setCustomProperties(@Nonnull Map<String, String> properties) { ... }

Method	Parameters	Returns	Description
`addCustomProperty(String, String)`	Key, value	`Dataset` (fluent)	Adds a single custom property. Accumulates in `DatasetPropertiesPatchBuilder`
`removeCustomProperty(String)`	Key	`Dataset` (fluent)	Removes a custom property by key. Accumulates in builder
`setCustomProperties(Map)`	Map of properties	`Dataset` (fluent)	Replaces all custom properties via patch MCP

I/O Contract

Input: An entity instance (mutable or newly built) and metadata values to attach.

Output: The same entity instance (fluent return) with mutations accumulated internally:

Patch operations stored in patchBuilders map (keyed by aspect name)
Full aspect replacements stored in pendingMCPs list
Entity marked as dirty (pending mutations flag set)

Exceptions:

InvalidUrnException -- if a provided URN string is malformed
ReadOnlyEntityException -- if attempting to mutate a read-only entity (from get() without .mutable())

Usage Examples

Dataset dataset = Dataset.builder()
    .platform("snowflake")
    .name("my_database.my_schema.my_table")
    .build();

// Add tags (accumulates patches)
dataset.addTag("pii");
dataset.addTag("urn:li:tag:sensitive");

// Add owners (accumulates patches)
dataset.addOwner("urn:li:corpuser:johndoe", OwnershipType.DATA_OWNER);
dataset.addOwner("urn:li:corpuser:janedoe", OwnershipType.TECHNICAL_OWNER);

// Add glossary terms (accumulates patches)
dataset.addTerm("urn:li:glossaryTerm:CustomerData");

// Set domain (direct aspect caching)
dataset.setDomain("urn:li:domain:Marketing");

// Add custom properties (accumulates patches)
dataset.addCustomProperty("team", "data-engineering");
dataset.addCustomProperty("pii_level", "high");

// All mutations are flushed during upsert
client.entities().upsert(dataset);

Knowledge Sources

Domains

Data_Integration, Metadata_Management, Java_SDK

Page Connections

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Principle

Implementation

Heuristic

Environment