Ports

Ports define how data flows in and out of a data product. See Ports for the concepts. This group has three object types: Output port, Input port, and Management port.

Output port

An output port is where a data product publishes data for consumers to use. It is the product’s delivery surface — the point where consumers read the data. Each output port holds one or more data assets and binds to a single type.

The output port belongs to the Ports group of the Data Product Standard application. This port model comes from Data Mesh, where each product owns its own interfaces. An output port can also carry a data contract. The contract formalizes what the port delivers under the Open Data Contract Standard (ODCS).

A single product can expose several output ports, one for each type and audience. Separate ports keep each interface’s format, authentication, and contract clear for consumers.

Create an output port when your product is ready to expose data to consumers. For example, the “Sales” data product exposes a “Sales API” output port. That port uses the api type and delivers json to the “Marketing insights” product.

Output port attributes

Attribute	Description
Description	Rich-text summary of the port.
Output Port Type	Delivery mechanism: file, api, sql, ai, grpc, or sftp.
Format	Payload format, such as json, xml, csv, excel, graphql, or mcp.
Authentication Method	Access method: oauth, token, api_key, http_basic, or none.
API Specification	Specification standard: oas, raml, slate, or mcp.
Specification URL	Link to the port specification.
Access URL	Endpoint consumers use to reach the data.
Documentation URL	Link to port documentation.
Hash Type	Checksum algorithm: sha1, sha2, sha256, or md5.
Checksum	Checksum value for the delivered payload.
Port Version	Version of the port.

Input port

An input port is where a data product reads data from an upstream product. It marks a dependency on that producer.

An input port points at one upstream output port and consumes that whole port. It does not select individual data assets inside the port.

The input port belongs to the Ports group of the Data Product Standard application and follows the same Data Mesh port model. It is lighter than an output port, because its main job is to record lineage and dependencies.

Add an input port when your product depends on data from another product. For example, the “Marketing insights” product adds an input port that points at the “Sales API” output port. Dawiso then draws lineage from the “Sales” product to “Marketing insights”.

Input port attributes

Attribute	Description
Description	Rich-text summary of the port.
Authentication Method	Access method: oauth, token, api_key, http_basic, or none.
Access URL	Endpoint the product reads from.
Specification URL	Link to the source specification.
Documentation URL	Link to source documentation.
Port Version	Version of the port.

Management port

A management port is an operational endpoint for monitoring, health checks, logging, and metrics. It reports on the product rather than moving its data.

A management port supports the teams that run a product, not the consumers who read from it. It stays hidden by default, because consumers do not browse operational signals.

The management port belongs to the Ports group of the Data Product Standard application. Its port model comes from Data Mesh. The management port itself is a concept from the Open Data Contract Standard (ODCS). It never appears in data product lineage, because it does not move data between products.

Use a management port to give operations teams a place to monitor a product’s health. For example, the “Sales” data product exposes a management port that reports health_check status. Operations teams wire that endpoint into their observability tooling.

Management port attributes

Attribute	Description
Description	Rich-text summary of the port.
Content Type	Endpoint purpose: logging, monitoring, observability, health_check, metrics, or custom.
Channel	Channel the endpoint is exposed on.
Access URL	Endpoint used for operations.
Documentation URL	Link to operational documentation.

For the concepts behind these object types, see Data product ports. For how they connect to other object types, see Data product object types and attributes.