Meaning
A Data Product answers what the data represents, such as temperature, wind, aircraft, or earthquakes. It is independent of the organization or endpoint that supplies the data.
Owns
layer.
- The normalized, versioned data contract.
- Semantic catalog presentation such as name, description, and icon.
- Provider-neutral layer defaults that are safe to apply when creating a new
- The ordered set of compatible Providers and their defaults.
Does not own
- Acquisition adapters, endpoints, or provider credentials.
- Channel-specific delivery and refresh behavior.
- Presentation saved on an existing Layer.
- Map composition or access control.
Compatibility
A Provider can replace another Provider only within the same Data Product and contract version. Existing maps retain their resolved Provider and Channel identities when catalog defaults change.
Runtime authority
The Postgres catalog is authoritative for the current Data Product inventory, contracts, publication state, and defaults. This document defines the durable concept, not a snapshot of that inventory.