Discovery

Discovery is the bottom-up way to build your Unified Namespace. Rather than model every node by hand, you let the platform reveal the MQTT traffic that already flows through your connected brokers as ungoverned topics. You then review each topic and either approve it into the namespace (which creates a governed node) or ignore it.

Discovery complements the top-down approach in Define Namespace, where you design the structure first and align your data to it. Discovery suits projects with existing infrastructure that already produces valuable data, where rapidly reflecting the current state of operations is a priority. You can combine both approaches: start with Discovery to accelerate onboarding, then refine the model top-down for governance and long-term manageability.

Discovery works with the following glossary terms:

  • Ungoverned Data: Data that is not yet captured or managed in the namespace.

  • Governed Data: Data that is modeled and managed in the namespace.

  • Ignored Topic: A topic that is explicitly skipped during namespace operations.

View Ungoverned MQTT Traffic

Open the Discovery tab in Contextualize to see the MQTT traffic detected on your connected brokers. Ensure the broker you want to inspect is connected, then use the broker selector chip (for example, HQ Broker) to choose the broker whose traffic you want to review.

Ungoverned MQTT traffic in the Discovery view

The Ungoverned MQTT Traffic panel organizes detected traffic into two sub-tabs:

  • Discovered Topics: Topics the platform has detected but that are not yet part of the namespace. These are candidates for approval.

  • Ignored Topics: Topics you have explicitly chosen to skip during namespace operations.

To narrow the list, use the topic filter input, which supports the MQTT wildcards + and #. The Wrap long Topic toggle controls how the panel displays full topic strings. A count (for example, Showing 1 - 4 of 4 Discovered Topics) shows how many topics match. Each topic has a checkbox so you can select one or more for review.

Use the refresh control on the panel to pull the latest traffic from the selected broker.

Review a Discovered Topic

Click a topic in the Discovered Topics list to open its detail view, titled Ungoverned Topic. The detail view shows the topic (for example, acme/berlin/assembly/line-1/conveyor-belt/temperature) and provides everything you need to decide whether to bring it into the namespace.

Reviewing the details of a discovered topic

The General tab presents the following information:

Field Description

Namespace

The breadcrumb showing where the topic sits in the namespace hierarchy, such as acme > berlin > assembly > line-1 > conveyor-belt > temperature. A copy button is provided.

MQTT Topic

The full MQTT topic the data flows on. A copy button is provided.

Suggested Data Type

The data type the platform infers from the observed payloads, such as Decimal. You can adjust this before you approve it.

Suggested Serialization Format

The serialization format the platform infers, such as UTF8. You can adjust this before you approve it.

Data Sample

A sample payload observed on the topic, such as 20.0, to support your decision.

Message Count

The number of messages observed on the topic, along with the approximate rate in messages per second (MPS), such as 35 at ~0.34 MPS.

First seen at / Last seen at

Timestamps for when the platform first and most recently observed the topic.

When a discovered topic carries a complex payload, such as a JSON object, a Fields tab appears alongside General. The Fields tab lists the individual elements in the payload that are stored in the namespace as fields, together with their auto-selected types.

You cannot edit field types during approval, but you can modify them individually after you add the topic to the namespace.

Approve a Topic into the Namespace

When you approve a discovered topic, the platform creates a governed node in your namespace with the suggested metadata: the data type, serialization format, and the topic’s position in the hierarchy.

  • If your knowledge of the data source differs from the platform’s inference, adjust the Suggested Data Type and Suggested Serialization Format before approval.

  • Click Approve into Namespace to create the node.

  • If the topic requires parent nodes that do not yet exist, the platform adds them to the namespace automatically. The platform highlights any new parent nodes, so you can see what it created.

All settings remain editable after approval. You can refine the node at any time once it is part of the namespace.

Approve or Ignore Topics in Bulk

When a broker exposes many topics, you can act on them together instead of reviewing each one. In the Discovered Topics list, use the checkboxes to select individual topics, or the header checkbox to select all. You can select up to 1000 topics at once.

Bulk selection of discovered topics for approval

When you select one or more topics, the toolbar shows the number of selected topics (for example, 12 Topics Selected) along with two actions:

  • Approve Selection into Namespace: Adds every selected topic to the namespace in one step. The platform automatically creates the governed nodes with their inferred data types, serialization formats, and topic structure, so you do not have to review each topic individually.

  • Ignore Selected Traffic: Moves every selected topic to the Ignored Topics sub-tab in one step.

Bulk approval is the fastest way to populate a namespace from a broker that already carries structured traffic. You can refine any individual node afterward.

Ignore a Topic

If a discovered topic does not belong in the namespace, click Ignore Topic. The topic moves to the Ignored Topics sub-tab, and namespace operations skip it.

The ignore action is reversible. You can revisit the Ignored Topics list at any time and bring a topic back into review if circumstances change.

Next Steps

After you bring discovered data into your namespace, you can refine and extend the structure: