Semantic types

Download OpenAPI spec

A semantic type describes what the values in a dataset field represent. For example, a text field might contain email addresses, country codes, or other values that follow a known dictionary or pattern.

Qlik Cloud determines semantic types during data discovery. You can use the predefined semantic types provided by Qlik or create custom dictionary-based, pattern-based, and compound types. In the Semantic types API, pattern-based types are represented by the REGEX type.

Semantic types are used to validate field values and can contribute to dataset data quality. They can also provide information used for data classification and regulatory review.

Use the Semantic types API to manage these definitions programmatically, including exporting and importing them for reuse or migration.

For more information about semantic types and how they are used in Qlik Cloud, see Managing semantic types on Qlik Help. For an import and export workflow, see Import and export semantic types.

Endpoints

POST

/api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/export
POST

/api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/import

Exports semantic types from the current tenant as a downloadable JSON file. Supports optional filtering by type IDs, category, creator, or search term. Without filters, all types (user-created and Qlik defaults) are exported.

Facts

Rate limit

Tier 2 (100 requests per minute)

Request Body

application/jsonobject

Request body for exporting semantic types with optional filters.
Show application/json properties
- idsarray of strings
  
  List of semantic type IDs to export. When provided, only these types are included.
  
  uniqueItems = true
- typesarray of strings
  
  Filter by semantic type categories. Supports multiple values for OR logic. When provided, only types matching the specified categories are included.
  
  Values may be any of: "REGEX""DICTIONARY""COMPOUND"
  uniqueItems = true
- searchstring
  
  Case-insensitive substring search on label and description fields. Returns only semantic types where the label or description contains the search term. Special regex characters are automatically escaped for literal matching. Maximum length: 500 characters. Empty string returns no results.
  
  maxLength = 500
- createdBystring
  
  Filter by creator user ID. When provided, only types created by this user are included.

Responses

200

Export file containing the requested semantic types.

application/jsonobject

Self-describing export envelope for Qlik Cloud semantic types.
Show application/json properties
- versionstring
  Required
  
  Schema version for forward compatibility.
- exportFormatstring
  Required
  
  Format identifier for auto-detection on import.
  
  Can be one of: "QlikSemanticTypesExport"
- exportedCountinteger
  
  Total number of semantic types included in this export. Helps API consumers quickly determine export size without parsing the entire array.
  
  format = int32
- semanticTypesarray of objects
  Required
  
  A semantic type in the export file, stripped of internal fields.
  
  Show semanticTypes properties
  
  typestring
  Required
  
  Can be one of: "REGEX""DICTIONARY""COMPOUND"
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  maxLength = 200
  
  configobject
  Required
  
  One of:
  
  SemanticTypeRegexobject
  
  A semantic type for words matching a regex pattern
  
  Show SemanticTypeRegex properties
  
  validationContentstring
  
  one of ANY_CHARACTER / ALPHABETIC / NUMERIC, ANY_CHARACTER: validates all characters, ALPHABETIC: validates only alphabetic content, NUMERIC: validate only number
  
  Can be one of: "ANY_CHARACTER""ALPHABETIC""NUMERIC"
  default = "ANY_CHARACTER"
  
  validationPatternstring
  Required
  
  Regular expression
  
  SemanticTypeDictionaryobject
  
  A semantic type for words matching a value in the list of values
  
  Show SemanticTypeDictionary properties
  
  valuesarray of strings
  Required
  
  Values for dictionary
  
  validationCriteriastring
  
  one of EXACT_VALUE / IGNORE_CASE_AND_ACCENTS, EXACT_VALUE: matches only the exact values in dictionary, IGNORE_CASE_AND_ACCENTS: case and accents are ignored
  
  Can be one of: "EXACT_VALUE""IGNORE_CASE_AND_ACCENTS"
  default = "IGNORE_CASE_AND_ACCENTS"
  
  ExportSemanticTypeCompoundobject
  
  COMPOUND config in the export file. Children are represented as enriched references with label and parentId for cross-tenant resolution, instead of raw IDs which are tenant-specific.
  
  Show ExportSemanticTypeCompound properties
  
  childrenarray of objects
  Required
  
  Reference to a child type in a COMPOUND export. Contains resolution info (label + parentId) instead of a tenant-specific ID.
  
  Show children properties
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the child type. Primary resolution key at import time. The importer resolves children using a three-step cascade: first against types created earlier in the same import batch (by label), then against existing types in the target tenant (by label), and finally by parentId fallback.
  
  parentIdstring
  
  Identifier of the child's parent default semantic type (Qlik-provisioned). Null for user-created children. Used as a fallback resolution key at import time: when the child's label does not match any type in the target tenant (e.g. because it was renamed after export), the importer looks up a type whose own parentId matches this value. If a child cannot be resolved by either label or parentId, the entire COMPOUND type is rejected with IMPORT_COMPOUND_CHILDREN_NOT_FOUND. Only that COMPOUND type is affected; the rest of the import proceeds normally (best-effort).
  
  activatedboolean
  Required
  
  defaultIdstring
  
  Identifier of the parent default semantic type (Qlik-provisioned). Null for user-created types. Used for identity preservation during cross-tenant import and as fallback for COMPOUND children resolution when labels differ across tenants.
  
  descriptionstring
  
  maxLength = 500
  
  useForValidationboolean
  Required

400

The request is in incorrect format.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

401

User does not have valid authentication credentials.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

403

User does not have access to the resource.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

500

Internal Server Error.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

503

Requested service is not available.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

POST /api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/export

// qlik-api has not implemented support for `POST /api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/export` yet.
// In the meantime, you can use fetch like this:

const response = await fetch(
  '/api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/export',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      ids: [
        '3b179e2b028c4306ab108b68116ae639',
        '4d237dd47e594f789617041b0d09c66f',
      ],
      types: ['REGEX', 'DICTIONARY'],
      search: 'email',
      createdBy:
        '712020:291adc5e-c210-408b-a43a-776448c35ef4',
    }),
  },
)

# qlik-cli has not implemented support for POST /api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/export yet.

curl "https://{tenant}.{region}.qlikcloud.com/api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/export" \
-X POST \
-H "Content-type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <access_token>" \
-d '{"ids":["3b179e2b028c4306ab108b68116ae639","4d237dd47e594f789617041b0d09c66f"],"types":["REGEX","DICTIONARY"],"search":"email","createdBy":"712020:291adc5e-c210-408b-a43a-776448c35ef4"}'

Example Response

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "exportFormat": "QlikSemanticTypesExport",
  "exportedCount": 42,
  "semanticTypes": [
    {
      "type": "REGEX",
      "label": "string",
      "config": {
        "validationContent": "ANY_CHARACTER",
        "validationPattern": "^(\\\\S+)\\\\s+(\\\\S+)$"
      },
      "activated": true,
      "defaultId": "string",
      "description": "string",
      "useForValidation": true
    }
  ]
}

Imports semantic types from a JSON file. Supports Qlik Cloud format (QlikSemanticTypesExport) and Talend legacy format (DQDictionaryImportExport). Format is auto-detected from the exportFormat field in the payload.

Conflict handling is controlled by the skipConfirmation flag and the optional conflictResolutions array:

Preview (skipConfirmation false/absent, no conflictResolutions): the file is analysed but nothing is imported. Returns 200 with a per-type conflict/summary body. Re-submit with skipConfirmation=true or conflictResolutions to actually apply the import.
One-shot (skipConfirmation=true, no conflictResolutions): if real conflicts or in-file duplicates exist, returns 200 with the conflict body and imports nothing; otherwise the import is applied and 201 is returned with the import report.
Resolved (conflictResolutions provided): the import is applied using the per-label strategies, falling back to defaultConflictStrategy (defaults to SKIP) for unlisted labels. Returns 201 in both cases (conflicts present or not), with the import report.

Import is best-effort: each type is processed independently. Failures are logged in the response report without blocking other types.

Facts

Rate limit

Tier 2 (100 requests per minute)

Request Body

Required

application/jsonobject

Import request wrapping the export file and optional conflict resolutions.
Show application/json properties
- fileobject
  Required
  
  The export file payload as-is. Format is detected from the exportFormat field. Accepts QlikSemanticTypesExport (Qlik native) or DQDictionaryImportExport (Talend legacy).
- skipConfirmationboolean
  
  Controls preview vs. one-shot import when no conflictResolutions are supplied. When false (default) the call is a preview: the file is analysed and a per-type conflict/summary body is returned (HTTP 200) without importing anything. When true the import is attempted one-shot: if real conflicts or in-file duplicates exist the conflict body is returned (HTTP 200) and nothing is imported; otherwise all types are imported (HTTP 201). Ignored when conflictResolutions are provided (those always apply the import).
  
  default = false
- conflictResolutionsarray of objects
  
  Per-type conflict resolution. Each entry maps a conflicting label to its strategy. Labels not listed fall back to defaultConflictStrategy. Omit entirely (or send null) on the first call to trigger conflict detection. Sending an array — even an empty one — applies the import, using defaultConflictStrategy for every conflict not listed.
  
  Show conflictResolutions properties
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the conflicting semantic type.
  
  strategystring
  Required
  
  OVERWRITE: replace the existing type with the version from the file. SKIP: keep the existing type unchanged, do not import. KEEP_BOTH: keep the existing type and create the version from the file with a deduplicated label.
  
  Can be one of: "OVERWRITE""SKIP""KEEP_BOTH"
- defaultConflictStrategystring
  
  Fallback strategy applied to conflicting types not listed in conflictResolutions. Defaults to SKIP.
  
  Can be one of: "OVERWRITE""SKIP""KEEP_BOTH"
  default = "SKIP"

Responses

200

Nothing was imported. The body is an ImportConflictResponse:

when skipConfirmation=true but real conflicts or in-file duplicates exist — nothing was imported;
when skipConfirmation is false/absent (preview) — nothing was imported. Re-submit with skipConfirmation=true or conflictResolutions to apply.

application/jsonobject

Returned when conflicts are detected and no resolutions were provided. Contains ALL types from the import file, each with a status indicating whether it is new or conflicts with an existing type.
Show application/json properties
- codestring
  Required
- typesarray of objects
  Required
  
  Every type from the import file with its status. CONFLICT types include a diff showing field-level differences. ERROR types include an error message describing the validation failure. DUPLICATE types are either repeated labels within the same file, or types whose definition is identical to one already in the tenant (auto-skipped, no conflict resolution needed).
  
  Show types properties
  
  diffobject
  
  Field-by-field comparison between the type from the import file and the existing type in the tenant. Only present when status is CONFLICT. Each field shows the value from the file and the existing value so the user can make an informed OVERWRITE / SKIP / KEEP_BOTH decision.
  
  Show diff properties
  
  configobject
  
  Type-specific config differences. Only the fields relevant to the type's category are present (REGEX → validationContent/validationPattern, DICTIONARY → validationCriteria/values, COMPOUND → children), and only when they differ.
  
  Show config properties
  
  valuesobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show values properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  childrenobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show children properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  validationContentobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show validationContent properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  validationPatternobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show validationPattern properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  validationCriteriaobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show validationCriteria properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  categoryobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show category properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  activatedobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show activated properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  descriptionobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show description properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  useForValidationobject
  
  A single field difference between the file value and the existing type.
  
  Show useForValidation properties
  
  existingany
  Required
  
  Value currently in the tenant.
  
  fromFileany
  Required
  
  Value from the import file.
  
  typestring
  Required
  
  Category of the semantic type.
  
  Can be one of: "REGEX""DICTIONARY""COMPOUND"
  
  errorstring
  
  Human-readable error message. Only present when status is ERROR.
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the semantic type.
  
  statusstring
  Required
  
  NEW: no type with this label exists in the tenant. CONFLICT: a type with this label already exists but differs from the imported version. ERROR: the type has a validation error (missing field, invalid regex, etc.). DUPLICATE: the type is a duplicate — either another type with the same label appears earlier in the import file, or the imported type is identical to an existing type in the tenant (all user-visible fields match; auto-skipped with no conflict resolution needed).
  
  Can be one of: "NEW""CONFLICT""ERROR""DUPLICATE"
  
  errorCodestring
  
  Machine-readable error code. Only present when status is ERROR.
  
  Can be one of: "IMPORT_REGEX_PATTERN_MISSING""IMPORT_REGEX_PATTERN_TOO_LONG""IMPORT_REGEX_PATTERN_INVALID""IMPORT_DICTIONARY_VALUES_MISSING""IMPORT_DICTIONARY_VALUE_BLANK""IMPORT_COMPOUND_CHILDREN_MISSING""IMPORT_COMPOUND_CHILDREN_NOT_FOUND"
- messagestring
  Required

201

Import applied. The report contains summary counts and a detailed error list for any types that could not be processed. Returned in both the no-conflict case and when conflictResolutions were provided (regardless of whether conflicts were present).

application/jsonobject

Result of a best-effort import operation.
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  Required
  
  Error detail for a single semantic type that could not be imported.
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  Required
  
  Application error code identifying the failure reason.
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the semantic type that failed.
  
  messagestring
  Required
  
  Human-readable error description in English.
- summaryobject
  Required
  
  Aggregate counts and per-status label details for the import result. Each status group includes a count and the list of affected type labels.
  
  Show summary properties
  
  erroredobject
  Required
  
  Count and affected types for one import outcome.
  
  Show errored properties
  
  countinteger
  Required
  
  Number of types in this category.
  
  itemsarray of objects
  Required
  
  Affected semantic types paired with their persisted resource id. Ids are present for created, updated, skipped and duplicate outcomes, and null for errored types that were never persisted.
  
  Show items properties
  
  idstring
  
  Persisted resource id of the semantic type, or null when no resource exists for this outcome (for example, an errored type that was never created).
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the affected semantic type.
  
  labelsarray of strings
  Required
  
  Labels of the affected semantic types.
  
  skippedobject
  Required
  
  Count and affected types for one import outcome.
  
  Show skipped properties
  
  countinteger
  Required
  
  Number of types in this category.
  
  itemsarray of objects
  Required
  
  Affected semantic types paired with their persisted resource id. Ids are present for created, updated, skipped and duplicate outcomes, and null for errored types that were never persisted.
  
  Show items properties
  
  idstring
  
  Persisted resource id of the semantic type, or null when no resource exists for this outcome (for example, an errored type that was never created).
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the affected semantic type.
  
  labelsarray of strings
  Required
  
  Labels of the affected semantic types.
  
  updatedobject
  Required
  
  Count and affected types for one import outcome.
  
  Show updated properties
  
  countinteger
  Required
  
  Number of types in this category.
  
  itemsarray of objects
  Required
  
  Affected semantic types paired with their persisted resource id. Ids are present for created, updated, skipped and duplicate outcomes, and null for errored types that were never persisted.
  
  Show items properties
  
  idstring
  
  Persisted resource id of the semantic type, or null when no resource exists for this outcome (for example, an errored type that was never created).
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the affected semantic type.
  
  labelsarray of strings
  Required
  
  Labels of the affected semantic types.
  
  duplicatesobject
  Required
  
  Count and affected types for one import outcome.
  
  Show duplicates properties
  
  countinteger
  Required
  
  Number of types in this category.
  
  itemsarray of objects
  Required
  
  Affected semantic types paired with their persisted resource id. Ids are present for created, updated, skipped and duplicate outcomes, and null for errored types that were never persisted.
  
  Show items properties
  
  idstring
  
  Persisted resource id of the semantic type, or null when no resource exists for this outcome (for example, an errored type that was never created).
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the affected semantic type.
  
  labelsarray of strings
  Required
  
  Labels of the affected semantic types.
  
  totalCreatedobject
  Required
  
  Count and affected types for one import outcome.
  
  Show totalCreated properties
  
  countinteger
  Required
  
  Number of types in this category.
  
  itemsarray of objects
  Required
  
  Affected semantic types paired with their persisted resource id. Ids are present for created, updated, skipped and duplicate outcomes, and null for errored types that were never persisted.
  
  Show items properties
  
  idstring
  
  Persisted resource id of the semantic type, or null when no resource exists for this outcome (for example, an errored type that was never created).
  
  labelstring
  Required
  
  Label of the affected semantic type.
  
  labelsarray of strings
  Required
  
  Labels of the affected semantic types.

400

Invalid payload — malformed JSON, unknown format, or structural error.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

401

User does not have valid authentication credentials.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

403

User does not have access to the resource.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

500

Internal Server Error.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

503

Requested service is not available.

application/jsonobject
Show application/json properties
- errorsarray of objects
  
  Show errors properties
  
  codestring
  
  titlestring
  
  detailstring
  
  statusstring
- traceIdstring

POST /api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/import

// qlik-api has not implemented support for `POST /api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/import` yet.
// In the meantime, you can use fetch like this:

const response = await fetch(
  '/api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/import',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      file: {
        exportedAt: '2024-01-01T00:00:00Z',
        exportFormat: 'QlikSemanticTypesExport',
        semanticTypes: [],
      },
      skipConfirmation: false,
      conflictResolutions: [
        {
          label: 'Email Address',
          strategy: 'SKIP',
        },
      ],
      defaultConflictStrategy: 'SKIP',
    }),
  },
)

# qlik-cli has not implemented support for POST /api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/import yet.

curl "https://{tenant}.{region}.qlikcloud.com/api/data-governance/semantic-types/actions/import" \
-X POST \
-H "Content-type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <access_token>" \
-d '{"file":{"exportedAt":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z","exportFormat":"QlikSemanticTypesExport","semanticTypes":[]},"skipConfirmation":false,"conflictResolutions":[{"label":"Email Address","strategy":"SKIP"}],"defaultConflictStrategy":"SKIP"}'

Example Response

{
  "code": "IMPORT_CONFLICT",
  "types": [
    {
      "diff": {
        "config": {
          "values": {},
          "children": {},
          "validationContent": {},
          "validationPattern": {},
          "validationCriteria": {}
        },
        "category": {},
        "activated": {},
        "description": {},
        "useForValidation": {}
      },
      "type": "REGEX",
      "error": "string",
      "label": "string",
      "status": "NEW",
      "errorCode": "IMPORT_REGEX_PATTERN_MISSING"
    }
  ],
  "message": "Conflicts: 2 of 10, Unchanged: 3."
}

Semantic types

Endpoints

Export semantic types

Facts

Request Body

Responses

200

400

401

403

500

503

Example Response

Import semantic types

Facts

Request Body

Responses

200

201

400

401

403

500

503

Example Response