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Lineage

The Lineage APIs let you query and manage relationships between OpenMetadata assets. Native endpoints accept entity IDs or fully qualified names. OpenLineage endpoints accept events with input and output datasets. Use the native API when your application already identifies the catalog assets to connect. Use the OpenLineage API when your pipeline emits RunEvent payloads. For more information, see OpenLineage Compatibility.

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Authentication and Permissions

Send your OpenMetadata JWT in the Authorization: Bearer header. Native lineage writes require EditLineage permission on both endpoint entities. OpenLineage event submission requires EditLineage permission on the table resource. Endpoint paths in these pages are relative to the API base URL. For example, /v1/lineage is served at https://your-company.open-metadata.org/api/v1/lineage. For more information, see API Authentication.

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Available Endpoints

Get Lineage

Retrieve the lineage graph for an entity by ID or fully qualified name, with configurable upstream and downstream depth.

Add Lineage

Create a lineage edge between two entities with optional column-level mappings, pipeline references, and SQL queries.

Delete Lineage

Remove a lineage edge between two entities.

Export Lineage

Export the lineage graph for an entity as CSV.

OpenLineage Events

Send a single OpenLineage event or a batch of events to create dataset and column-level lineage.

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Supported Entity Types

Lineage connects data assets such as tables, dashboards, pipelines, topics, and ML models. Common combinations include:

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Key Concepts

  • Edge: A directional lineage relationship from one entity to another
  • Column-level lineage: Mapping specific columns from a source entity to columns in a target entity
  • Pipeline reference: Associating a pipeline entity that powers the transformation
  • Upstream/Downstream depth: Controls how many hops to traverse when querying the lineage graph