Reserved Keywords in DB Schemas

Understand why overview is a reserved identifier and should not be used when creating DB Schemas in Harness.

When defining a DB Schema in Harness Database DevOps, each schema must have a unique identifier. This identifier serves as the reference handle across pipeline configurations, API calls, and backend services.

As part of platform-level constraints, the identifier overview is reserved and must not be used when creating or referencing a DB Schema.

Why this matters

Harness exposes internal REST endpoints to retrieve metadata and usage information for Database DevOps entities. One such endpoint is:

/v1/orgs/{org}/projects/{project}/dbschema/overview

If a DB Schema is created using the identifier overview, it will result in a direct conflict with this reserved API route. This would break routing logic and lead to ambiguous or failed API behavior.

To safeguard against this, the platform enforces validation to prevent the use of overview as a DB Schema identifier.

What is considered a DB Schema identifier?

A DB Schema identifier is a logical and system-resolvable key used internally to reference a specific database changelog configuration. It is not the same as a Liquibase changeset ID.

For example:

dbSchema:
  identifier: user-service-schema   # This is the DB Schema ID (not a changeset)
  name: User Service Schema

What happens if you use "overview"?

Attempting to use overview as the identifier for a DB Schema will result in a validation error at the API or UI level. This is an intentional safeguard to avoid platform-level routing conflicts.

Invalid DB Schema identifier

dbSchema:
  identifier: overview     # Invalid: Conflicts with internal API endpoint
  name: Main Schema

Valid DB Schema identifier

dbSchema:
  identifier: orders-schema
  name: Orders Service Schema

Best practices

When creating DB Schemas, consider the following best practices:

• Use descriptive and unique identifiers for all DB Schemas.

• Avoid reserved or commonly used route terms such as overview, default, admin, etc.

• Stick to lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens (-) to ensure compatibility and clarity.

NOTE

This restriction only applies to the identifier of the schema. You are still allowed to use the word "overview" in the name, description, or comments of the schema configuration.

Next steps

• Go to Database DevOps onboarding guide to understand how to define and manage your database changelog configurations.

• Explore our Database DevOps guide for a comprehensive overview of Harness Database DevOps features.