Enable end-to-end connectivity through Zeenea’s API capabilities

APIs, short for Application Programming Interfaces, act as intermediaries that allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. They establish rules and protocols for seamless data exchange and integration of functionalities across various systems.

When it comes to data management, having a comprehensive data catalog connected to different systems is essential. A data catalog acts as a centralized repository that organizes and documents an organization’s data assets, making it easier for users to discover, understand, and access the available data. By implementing and connecting a data catalog to an organization’s various systems, APIs can enhance data governance, improve data quality, and facilitate collaboration and data-driven decision-making across the enterprise.

Recognizing the importance of API integration, Zeenea has developed powerful API capabilities that enable organizations to seamlessly connect and leverage their data catalog within their existing ecosystem.

In this feature note, explore the APIs supported by Zeenea to facilitate end-to-end connectivity in your data landscape!

Zeenea APIs: powered by GraphQL technology

At Zeenea, we believe in offering flexible and intuitive user experiences in our data discovery platform in order to offer a 360° view of your data landscape. This is why our technology focuses on knowledge graph capabilities, where information is presented in the form of a user-friendly graph that links all enterprise assets such as datasets, glossary terms, etc. as well as the relationships between them.

Zeenea, therefore, utilizes GraphQL technology, an open-source query language for our API functionalities. With GraphQL, users have a more efficient and flexible solution compared to traditional RESTful APIs. For instance, if you want to fetch datasets with particular properties or specific fields, you can easily define these requirements in your GraphQL query. Moreover, you can quickly browse the graph and navigate through specific relationships between Items tailored to a particular use case. This flexibility allows for lighter queries, eliminating the retrieval of unnecessary data.

The types of APIs Zeenea supports

Catalog APIs

To facilitate the work of your data stewards, Zeenea supports Catalog APIs, which help them with their documentation tasks. Zeenea enables data users to retrieve their enterprise information by query operations as well as create, update, modify, and even delete data via mutation operations.

Query operations to retrieve specific catalog assets

Zeenea’s API query operations include the retrieval of a specific asset, using its unique reference or by its name & type, or retrieving a list of assets via connection or a given Item type. Indeed, Zeenea’s Catalog APIs enable flexibility when querying by being able to narrow your results to not be overwhelmed with a plethora of information. Via advanced operators, you can specify if the Item’s name should begin or end with a particular value, if the value is greater than, as well as if the value is empty. In addition, you may use advanced filters in your request such as the conditions of a property, connection, last update date, Item name, description, and much more. Retrieving your information from your various sources has never been easier!

Mutation operations to create and update catalog assets

To save even more time when documenting and updating company data, Zeenea’s Catalog APIs enable data producers to easily create, modify, and delete catalog assets. Create, update, and delete Custom Items and Data Processes as well as their associated metadata, and update Datasets and Data Visualizations. This is also possible for Contacts. This is particularly important when users leave the company or change roles – data producers can easily transfer the information that was linked to a particular person to another.

Catalog APIs use cases

One use case includes the creation and updating of Glossary Items – with our Catalog API capabilities, Zeenea can retrieve Glossary Item names and definitions to create an initial Business Glossary which Data Stewards can review and enhance in the catalog later on.

Some of our clients also use our Catalog APIs to create data processes for lineage reconstruction. When companies lack a specific connector for retrieving lineage information, data producers can create the necessary data processes and request the associated inputs and outputs. This ultimately enables the visualization of lineage graphs in a user-friendly manner within Zeenea.

Data Quality tools integration APIs

As part of the enhancement of our Catalog API, it is also possible to synchronize and update data quality information of your datasets from your data quality management tools within the catalog.

Via our APIs, users have access to real-time data quality information, ensuring they are well informed about the quality of the data they are working with. This synchronization provides consumers with greater visibility and confidence in the reliability and accuracy of the data.

View the Feature Note →

User Management API

With Zeenea’s User Management API, automatically synchronize your authentication system (such as LDAP, Azure AD, etc.) to your list of users in Zeenea. This synchronization not only enhances security but also ensures compliance with your internal policies. Our User Management API makes it possible to create and delete users as well as update their permission set.

To create a new user and assign them a permission set, you must have an existing permission set in place. Once you have the required permission set, assigning it to a new user is a simple process – Easily assign the permission set by including the permission’s ID in your request, and the user will be created with the specified permission.

Audit Trail APIs

It is possible to retrieve the audit trail for a particular dataset within a specified timeframe, review all modifications made to users and contacts over a specific timeframe, retrieve the audit history for permission sets within a specified timeframe, and more.

Zeenea’s Audit Trail APIs offer the capability to retrieve a comprehensive list of added, updated, and deleted metadata within the catalog, including information about users, contacts, and permission sets. By leveraging these APIs, you can easily track and monitor the history of changes made within your catalog.

Some key features of Zeenea’s Audit Trail APIs include:

• Catalog Audit Trail: Retrieve the audit trail for all Items in the catalog, or a specific asset within a defined timeframe.
• User and Contact Audit Trail: Review all modifications made to users and contacts over a specified timeframe. This helps you track any updates, additions, or deletions related to these entities.
• Permission Set Audit Trail: Retrieve the audit history for permission sets within a given timeframe.

What’s next?

Analytics APIs

Zeenea is actively developing APIs that aim to simplify catalog management for data stewards by providing access to comprehensive analytics about the catalog. These APIs will enable data stewards to retrieve valuable information regarding the catalog’s overall completion and progress.

The API will provide insights into the completion level of various aspects of the catalog, including Item Types, properties, and more. By leveraging the Analytics API, data stewards will have a clearer understanding of the catalog’s status and progress – they will be able to identify areas that require attention and prioritize their efforts to ensure comprehensive and accurate catalog management.