- 6 minutes to read

Custom Metadata

Transform Your Repository Into a Living CMDB

The Problem: When integrations fail at 3 AM, you need instant answers—Who owns this? What's the SLA? Is this GDPR data? Instead, you're hunting through SharePoint, email, and tribal knowledge while production burns.

The Solution: Embed business context directly into your operational systems with Custom Metadata. Attach metadata to every Integration, System, Service, Endpoint, Message Type, and Resource—then watch it appear in logs, monitors, alerts, and the Interactive Landscape.

This transforms your repository from a technical catalog into a living, governed CMDB that:

✅ Enforces governance - Mandatory fields prevent integrations from going live without approval and ownership
✅ Automates compliance - Tag GDPR/HIPAA/PCI integrations and generate audit reports in seconds
✅ Routes alerts intelligently - Incidents include owner contact info, SLA, emergency procedures
✅ Embeds context everywhere - Metadata appears in logs, monitors, alerts, landscape, BPM diagrams
✅ Enables portfolio intelligence - Filter and query your integration landscape by any metadata criteria

Real-World Impact

See how Custom Metadata solves critical operational challenges:

Scenario Business Value Results
👤 Ownership Clarity at 3 AM Know instantly who owns each integration Alert shows Owner + Emergency Contact → 2 minutes to engagement (vs 45 minutes hunting)
⚖️ Governance Enforcement Mandatory fields prevent integrations from going live without approval 100% of Production integrations have documented Owner, SLA, and Approval
🔒 Compliance Automation Tag integrations by compliance requirement GDPR breach? Filter integrations → notify legal in 30 seconds (vs 2-day meeting)
👤 Ownership Clarity at 3 AM Know instantly who owns each integration Alert shows Owner + Emergency Contact → 2 minutes to engagement (vs 45 minutes hunting)

Explore detailed scenarios → • Browse FAQ answers →

What Makes Custom Metadata Revolutionary

Universal Application Across All Artifacts

Define metadata once ("Owner," "SLA," "Compliance Tags"), then apply to:

  • Repository Entities: Integrations, Systems, Services, Endpoints, Message Types, Articles
  • Monitoring Resources: Every monitored component (CPU, Memory, Database)
  • Process Management: BPM steps and Domains
  • Operational Views: Log Views, Monitor Views, Integration Landscape

Enforcement That Prevents Architectural Debt

Mandatory fields that stop problems at the source:

  • Can't publish an Integration without Owner and SLA Level
  • Can't promote a Service to Production without Approval Status
  • Can't mark a Resource as Critical without Emergency Contact

Before: 60% of integrations have no documented owner → Support chaos at 3 AM After: 100% compliance → Instant escalation, predictable incident response

Rich Data Types for Complete Context

Beyond simple text fields— Selects, Multi-Select, Links, Tables, Checkboxes, File Attachments, Mermaid Diagrams, Dynamic/Calculated fields.

Competing products offer dropdowns. Nodinite offers a complete metadata ecosystem.

Operational Integration: Where It Actually Matters

Metadata isn't trapped in a documentation database—it's embedded where you work:

  • Interactive Landscape - Hover tooltips show metadata; filter by any criteria
  • Log Events - Owner, SLA, Department displayed inline with messages
  • Monitoring Alerts - Include owner contact, SLA, emergency procedures automatically
  • BPM Diagrams - Metadata from linked Services visible to business users
  • HTTP Webhook Alerts - JSON payload includes full Custom Metadata for automation (Jira, ServiceNow, Slack)
  • Email Alerts - XSLT transforms metadata into professional, branded HTML emails

Competing products force context switching. Nodinite fuses operations and context into one.

Custom Metadata in Alerts: Looking Good When It Matters

When integrations fail at 3 AM, qualified information in your alerts is not a luxury—it's how you protect your reputation.

The Cost of Unqualified Alerts

Without Custom Metadata:

SUBJECT: Monitor View State Changed

A resource changed state to Error.

Resource: PaymentDB
Monitor View: Production Servers

What happens next:

  • 45 minutes hunting for "Who owns this?"
  • Emergency calls to wrong team
  • SLA violations while searching for runbooks
  • Customer-facing incidents where you look unprepared
  • Reputation damage: "They don't even know their own systems"

The Value of Metadata-Enriched Alerts

With Custom Metadata:

SUBJECT: [GOLD SLA] Finance Integration Failed: Order-to-Cash

Integration: Order-to-Cash Payment Processing
Owner: Henrik (henrik@company.com, +1-555-0123)
Emergency Contact: Michael (+1-555-0199)
Department: Finance
SLA: Gold (4-hour response, 99.9% uptime)
Runbook: [Emergency Recovery Procedure]
Architecture: [System Diagram]

ACTION: Call Henrik. If no response in 15 min, call Michael.

What happens next:

  • 2 minutes to engagement (Owner + Emergency Contact in alert)
  • Instant escalation to correct team
  • Runbook link → Immediate action
  • LOOKING GOOD: Professional, prepared, in control

Business impact:

  • Time to engagement: 45 minutes → 2 minutes (95% faster)
  • Reputation: Damaged → Enhanced
  • Customer perception: Unprofessional → Professional
  • Money saved: Avoided SLA breach penalties, retained customer trust

Learn more: Alert Enrichment - Complete guide to metadata in HTTP Webhook and Email alerts

Competing products force context switching. Nodinite fuses operations and context into one.

Common Questions

❓ Where can I apply Custom Metadata? – Every entity: Integrations, Systems, Services, Endpoints, Message Types, Resources, BPM, Domains, Log Views, Monitor Views, Articles.

❓ How does metadata appear in alerts? – In email (XSLT-transformed HTML) and HTTP Webhook (JSON payload) with Owner, SLA, Emergency Contact, Runbook links automatically included.

❓ Can metadata be required? – Yes. Define mandatory fields per entity type. Integrations can't publish without Owner, SLA, Approval.

❓ What data types are supported? – Select, Multi-Select, Links, Tables, Checkboxes, File Attachments, Mermaid Diagrams, Dynamic/Calculated values.

❓ How do I query my integration portfolio? – Use up to 4 simultaneous filters on overview pages. Export filtered results to Excel for reporting.

Get Started

Step Task Description
1 Define Custom Metadata Create metadata fields for your organization (Owner, SLA, Compliance Tags, etc.)
2 Assign to Artifacts Add metadata to Integrations, Systems, Services, and Endpoints
3 Enforce Mandatory Fields Mark critical fields as required to prevent incomplete documentation
4 Configure Alert Routing Use metadata in alert rules to route incidents to right teams
5 [Enable Landscape Filtering] Query your integration portfolio by metadata criteria

Next Step

Ready to embed governance in your operational systems?

Add or manage Custom Metadata – Create your first custom metadata fields

Add or manage Integration – Assign metadata to integrations

Learn more:

Compare with Custom Fields – When to use Custom Metadata vs Custom Fields

Entity Coverage – See all entities where Custom Metadata applies

Alert Enrichment – How metadata appears in HTTP Webhook and Email alerts

Core Features:

Foundation Concepts:

Operational Integration:

  • Log Views - Visualize events with metadata context
  • Monitoring - Alert routing based on metadata
  • BPM - Business Process Models with metadata overlay
  • Domains - Organizational swimlanes

Data & Intelligence: