Explore schema resources in the UI

In Adobe Experience Platform, all Experience Data Model (XDM) schema resources are stored in the Schema Library, including standard resources provided by Adobe and custom resources defined by your organization. In the Experience Platform UI, you can view the structure and fields of any existing schema, class, field group, or data type in the Schema Library. This is especially useful when planning and preparing for data ingestion, as the UI provides information on the expected data types and use cases of each field provided by these XDM resources.

This guide explains how to explore existing schemas, classes, field groups, data types, and relationships in the Experience Platform UI.

Look up a schema resource lookup

In the Experience Platform UI, select Schemas in the left rail. The Schemas workspace provides a Browse tab where you can view all schemas in your organization. You can also use the Classes, Field groups, Data types, and Relationships tabs to view those resources.

Filter and search schemas filter-search

Use the filtering and search tools in the Schemas workspace to narrow the list of schemas and locate specific resources more quickly. The filter icon ( ) opens the filter panel, where you can filter schemas using metadata, identity, relationship, date, and ownership criteria. Resource filters are available on the Browse and Relationships tabs.

Schema metadata filters

Filter schemas by their fundamental characteristics and organizational attributes.

Schema attribute filters

Narrow results based on schema structure and identity configuration.

Temporal and creator filters

Filter schemas based on creation patterns and ownership.

Relationship tab filters

When viewing schema relationships on the Relationships tab, use additional filters to explore schema connections:

Combine multiple filters

Combine filters to narrow the list of schemas and find specific resources more quickly. For example, you can find Profile-enabled standard schemas with custom tags that were created within the last month, or locate ad hoc schemas that use an email primary identity and contain relationship fields.

Applied filters appear as removable chips in the inventory header row. To remove a filter, select the × on its chip. To remove all active filters at once, select Clear all.

Use the search bar to narrow down results further.

Search results are ranked based on matches in resource titles and descriptions. Title matches are prioritized over description matches, and resources with more matching terms appear higher in the results list.

When you have found the resource you want to explore, select its name from the list to view its structure in the canvas.

Browse, organize, and manage schemas browse-organize-manage-schemas

Use the Schemas workspace to find, organize, and manage schemas. You can filter the schema inventory, sort metadata columns, and perform common schema actions directly from the inventory view.

Browse and filter metadata

The schema inventory displays key schema metadata in a single table view. You can view tags, schema type, Profile enablement status, created date, last modified date, class, identities, relationships, behavior, and other metadata without opening individual schemas.

To sort the inventory, select a column header. Select the same column header again to reverse the sort order.

If the inventory contains more results than fit on a single page, use the page controls at the bottom of the list to navigate between pages.

Take inline actions on schemas

Use the ellipsis menu for a schema row to perform common schema actions directly from the inventory view.

Actions are available from both the inventory view and resource detail views. Some actions are available only for custom (tenant-defined) resources. Standard Adobe-provided resources may have limited action options.

Depending on the resource type and permissions, you can edit schema properties, apply data governance labels, delete schemas, and manage tags without opening the schema. Additional actions include moving schemas to folders, adding schemas to deployment packages, copying schema JSON, and downloading sample files for testing.

For detailed instructions on each action, see the schema actions guide.

Navigate schemas using tags and folders

Use tags and folders to organize and locate schemas in the inventory. Tags help you group schemas by project, team, data domain, or other categories defined by your organization. Folders provide a hierarchical structure for organizing related schemas.

To filter schemas by tag, select the filter icon ( ) to open the filter panel. Then select one or more tags from the Has any tag dropdown.

To browse schemas by folder, select the show folders icon ( ). The folder hierarchy appears in the left rail. Select a folder to view its associated schemas.

Tags and folders work with the inventory filtering system, allowing you to narrow the list of schemas based on their assigned tags and folder locations.

For information on creating and managing tags across Experience Platform, see the managing unified tags guide.

Explore an XDM resource in the canvas explore

Once you select a resource, its structure opens in the canvas.

All object-type fields containing sub-properties are collapsed by default when they first appear in the canvas. To show the sub-properties of any field, select the icon next to its name.

Standard class and field group indicator standard-class-and-field-group-indicator

In the Schema Editor, standard classes and field groups display a padlock icon ( ). The icon identifies Adobe-generated resources that have editing restrictions. It appears in the left rail next to class and field group names, and next to fields that belong to Adobe-generated resources in the schema diagram.

You cannot edit a standard class. To extend a standard field group, see the Add custom fields to standard field groups documentation.

System-generated fields system-fields

Some field names are prepended with an underscore, such as _repo and _id. These represent placeholders for fields that the system will automatically generate and assign as data is ingested.

As such, most of these fields should be excluded from the structure of your data when ingesting into Experience Platform. The main exception to this rule is the _{TENANT_ID} field, which all XDM fields created under your organization must be namespaced under.

Data types data-types

For each field shown in the canvas, its corresponding data type is shown next to its name, indicating at a glance the type of data that field expects for ingestion.

Any data type that is appended with square brackets ([]) represents an array of that particular data type. For example, a data type of String[] indicates that the field expects an array of string values. A data type of Payment Item[] indicates an array of objects that conform to the Payment Item data type.

If an array field is based on an object type, you can select its icon in the canvas to show the expected attributes for each array item.

Field properties field-properties

When you select the name of any field in the canvas, the right rail updates to show details about that field under Field properties. This can include a description of the field’s intended use case, Default value (informational schema metadata that is not applied during ingestion), patterns, formats, whether the field is required, and more. See type-specific field properties for how Default value differs from ingestion validation settings. When you are exploring a field group, label-related details for the selected field can also appear here; see Labels in the structure view.

If the field you are inspecting is an enum field, the right rail will also display the acceptable values the field expects to receive.

Identity fields identity

When inspecting schemas that contain identity fields, these fields are listed in the left rail under the class or field group that provides them to the schema. Select the identity field name in the left rail to reveal the field in the canvas, regardless of how deeply it is nested.

Identity fields are highlighted in the canvas with a fingerprint icon ( ). If you select the identity field’s name, you can view additional information such as the identity namespace and whether or not the field is the primary identity for the schema.

Relationship fields relationship

If you are inspecting a schema that contains a relationship field, the field will be listed in the left rail under Relationships. Select the relationship field name in the left rail to reveal the field in the canvas, regardless of how deeply it is nested. Relationship fields are also uniquely highlighted in the canvas, showing the name of the reference schema that the field links to. For organizations with B2B capabilities, custom relationship names can be written and will be displayed on the canvas in these cases.

To view the identity namespace of the reference schema’s primary identity, select the relationship field, then Edit relationship in the Field properties sidebar. The parameters for the relationship are displayed in the Edit relationship dialog that appears.

See the tutorial on creating a relationship in the UI for more information on the use of relationships in XDM schemas.

Explore field groups: usage and metadata explore-field-groups

Navigate to Schemas > Field groups to explore field groups. In the Field groups tab, additional capabilities help you understand where a field group is used across schemas and what it includes, such as compatibility, required fields (which enforce ingestion requirements), and governance signals.

These features help you evaluate impact before making changes and identify relevant field groups more efficiently during schema design.

View schema usage for field groups view-schema-usage-for-field-groups

From the Field groups table, select a field group to open its detail view. The canvas updates to display the field group structure, and the properties rail shows additional information about the selected resource.

Schemas using this field group

In the right-hand properties rail, the Schemas using this field group section lists schemas that currently include the field group.

Select a schema name to open its detail view in a new tab and inspect how the field group is implemented within that schema.

View more and full schema list

If more schemas exist than can be shown inline, select View more to open the full dialog.

The Schemas using this field group dialog appears, showing the full list of schemas that use the field group.

In the Schemas using this field group dialog, you can:

You can view schema details such as schema name, class, and other attributes.

This workflow is intended for impact analysis and exploration only. It does not modify schemas or field groups. To change schema structure, see Create and edit schemas in the UI.

Field group metadata and filtering field-group-metadata-and-filtering

The Field groups tab provides metadata and filtering tools to help you locate and evaluate field groups before selecting them.

Browse table and filters

The field group inventory table includes additional columns that expose metadata directly in the list view, such as Compatible classes, which indicates which classes a field group can be applied to. Field groups can only be added to schemas that use one of the listed compatible classes, based on the behavior of the data they represent (for example, record-based or time-series data). The table may display All when the field group is compatible with all classes. Industry tags help categorize field groups for discovery.

To refine the list, select the filter icon ( ) to open the filter panel in the left rail. The following image shows the filter panel open in the left rail.

In the filter panel, you can:

While browsing, select a row in the table to trigger the info rail. The info rail displays metadata such as compatible classes and industry tags so you can review key details without opening the field group.

Field group detail metadata

When you open a field group, the properties rail displays additional metadata associated with the resource.

The properties rail can display the following metadata:

This information helps you understand constraints and requirements before using or modifying the field group.

Labels in the structure view

When a field group is open in the canvas, you can view label information directly in the structure. Select the settings icon ( ) in the canvas toolbar and enable Show labels on tree to display label indicators on fields in the canvas.

Select a field in the canvas to view label details in the Field properties rail, including labels applied to that field.

Labels are grouped by category (for example, identity and sensitive labels) and provide visibility into governance or access-related constraints applied to the data.

These indicators are for visibility only and do not change schema structure. For more information, see Manage data usage labels for a schema.

Next steps

Use the following resources to continue working with XDM schemas and related Experience Platform features: