Critical Data Manager (CDM / CDE)

Overview

The Critical Data Manager (CDM), served by the cde-service, uses a dedicated authentication flow that differs from every other Alation API. Instead of passing an Alation API token directly, you first exchange your Alation API token (refresh or access token) for a short-lived CDE token. That CDE token is then passed in the CDEToken request header for all subsequent CDE API calls.

Key points:

  • The token exchange endpoint is POST /cde-service/integration/auth/.
  • The Alation API token is passed in the token request header (not Token, not Authorization).
  • The endpoint returns the CDE token as a plain string.
  • The CDE token is valid for 24 hours. When it expires, exchange again for a new one.

See the Alation Developer Portal CDE API Overview for details.

Models

CDEToken

Represents a CDE token returned by exchanging an Alation API token. Returned by the function create_cde_token.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
token str The plain-string CDE token, passed in the CDEToken header for all CDE API calls. Valid for 24 hours from creation.

CriticalDataElement

Represents a Critical Data Element returned by the CDE API. Returned by get_critical_data_elements and get_critical_data_element.

Attributes:

Name Type Description
id int The Critical Data Element ID.
key str The Critical Data Element key (uuid).
name str The Critical Data Element name.
description str The Critical Data Element description.
status str Lifecycle status (e.g. CANDIDATE, DRAFT, CERTIFIED).
job_id int ID of the async job that created/updated the element.
ts_created datetime Creation timestamp.
ts_updated datetime Last-updated timestamp.

CriticalDataElementParams

Filter parameters for get_critical_data_elements.

Name Type Description
search str Free-text search filter.
status str Filter by lifecycle status.
key str Filter by Critical Data Element key (uuid).
job_id int Filter by the async job that produced the element.
order_by str Sort order (e.g. -ts_created).

Methods

The CDM authentication methods are available on the Alation object under alation.cdm_authentication.

create_cde_token 

create_cde_token(alation_token: str = None) -> CDEToken

Exchange an Alation API token for a CDE token. Calls POST /cde-service/integration/auth/, passing the Alation API token in the token request header, and returns the resulting CDE token (valid for 24 hours from creation).

Args:

  • alation_token (str, optional): Alation API token to exchange. Defaults to the access token the Alation object authenticated with. Use an Alation access token — while the CDE docs mention refresh or access tokens, some cde-service deployments reject refresh tokens with 403 Access denied: Invalid Alation API token.

Returns:

  • CDEToken

Raises:

  • ValueError: If no Alation API token is available to exchange.
  • requests.HTTPError: If the CDE auth endpoint returns a non-success status code.

Critical Data Element methods

The Critical Data Element methods are available on the Alation object under alation.cdm_critical_data_element. The CDE token is obtained transparently on the first call (minted from the Alation access token and re-exchanged automatically when it expires), so no explicit token handling is required.

get_critical_data_elements 

get_critical_data_elements(query_params: CriticalDataElementParams = None) -> list[CriticalDataElement]

Get (filter) Critical Data Elements. Calls GET /cde-service/integration/cde/, following the service’s skip/limit pagination to return all matching elements.

Args:

  • query_params (CriticalDataElementParams, optional): REST API GET filter values.

Returns:

  • list[CriticalDataElement]

Raises:

  • requests.HTTPError: If the CDE API returns a non-success status code.

get_critical_data_element 

get_critical_data_element(cde_id: int) -> CriticalDataElement

Get a single Critical Data Element by ID. Calls GET /cde-service/integration/cde/{id}/.

Args:

  • cde_id (int): The Critical Data Element ID.

Returns:

  • CriticalDataElement

Raises:

  • requests.HTTPError: If the CDE API returns a non-success status code.

Examples

See /examples/example_cdm_authentication.py and /examples/example_cdm_critical_data_element.py.