infrahub-managing-objects

Object Creator

Overview

Expert guidance for creating Infrahub object (data) files. Objects are YAML files that populate schema nodes with actual infrastructure data -- devices, locations, organizations, modules, and more.

Project Context

Existing schema files: !find . -name "*.yml" -path "*/schemas/*" -o -name "*schema*" -name "*.yml" 2>/dev/null | head -10

Existing object files: !find . -name "*.yml" -path "*/objects/*" 2>/dev/null | head -20

If invoked with arguments (e.g., /infrahub:managing-objects DcimDevice spine-01), use the first argument as the kind and remaining arguments as object details.

When to Use

• Creating new data files for infrastructure objects
• Populating devices, locations, organizations, or other schema nodes
• Setting up hierarchical data (location trees, tenant groups)
• Referencing related objects across files
• Managing component children (interfaces, modules)
• Organizing object files for correct load order
• Updating attribute values or relationship links in an existing data file
• Debugging why an object fails to load or resolves the wrong reference

Rule Categories

Priority	Category	Prefix	Description
CRITICAL	Branch-First Loading	workflow-	Load onto a branch, not the default branch
CRITICAL	File Format	format-	apiVersion, kind, spec structure
CRITICAL	Value Mapping	value-	Attributes, dropdowns, references
HIGH	Children	children-	Hierarchy/component nesting
MEDIUM	Range	range-	Sequential interface expansion
MEDIUM	Organization	organization-	Naming, load order, multi-doc
LOW	Patterns	patterns-	Flat lists, devices, git repos

Schema Features This Skill Depends On

Object files reference schema-defined shapes; missing schema setup turns into "object failed to load" or "reference not found" errors at sync time. Before populating data, verify the schema upstream:

If the object...	The schema must...	See
References another object across files	Define human_friendly_id on the target node (the shape determines scalar-vs-list reference)	../infrahub-managing-schemas/rules/display-human-friendly-id.md
Sits in a location/parent tree	Use a hierarchical generic with parent/children and full-kind peer references	../infrahub-managing-schemas/rules/hierarchy-setup.md
Sets a Dropdown attribute value	Declare the dropdown choices as objects with name (not bare strings); the object references the choice name	../infrahub-managing-schemas/rules/attribute-defaults-and-types.md
Owns Component children inline	The parent's Component relationship and child's Parent relationship must share an identifier and the child needs optional: false	../infrahub-managing-schemas/rules/relationship-component-parent.md
Will be the target of an artifact pipeline	The concrete node must inherit_from: CoreArtifactTarget (set on the node, not on a generic)	../infrahub-managing-schemas/rules/extension-artifact-target.md

If any of these is missing, the schema needs an update before the objects can load — that's a schema migration, not an object fix.

Object File Basics

---
apiVersion: infrahub.app/v1
kind: Object
spec:
  kind: <NodeKind>          # Schema node kind (e.g., DcimDellServer)
  data:
    - <attribute>: <value>  # List of object instances

apiVersion, kind: Object, spec.kind, and spec.data are always required. Each spec block targets a single node kind.

Workflow

Follow these steps when creating object data files:

1. Plan to load onto a branch, not the default branch — Decide the dedicated branch this data will load onto before writing the files, and surface it when you hand off the load commands. Loading into the default branch (the target when no --branch is given — main by convention, but it can be renamed) writes unreviewed data to the source of truth, and a bad bulk load there means deleting objects one by one instead of discarding a branch. Read rules/workflow-branch-first.md. The default branch is only reasonable on a local throwaway instance.
2. Read the schema — Identify the target node kind, its attributes, relationships, and whether it has component children or hierarchy parents.
3. Plan the file structure — Read rules/format-structure.md for the required YAML structure and rules/organization-load-order.md for file naming and load order conventions.
4. Map attribute values — Set each attribute using the correct value format. Read rules/value-attributes.md for attribute mapping and rules/value-relationships.md for relationship references. If the object should inherit shared defaults from a Profile or be created from an Object Template, read rules/value-profiles-templates.md. To stamp lineage or lock a value, write it as a value + metadata mapping — see ../infrahub-common/metadata-lineage.md (remember source is lineage only; locking needs owner + is_protected).
5. Handle children — If the node has component children or hierarchy nesting, read rules/children-components.md and rules/children-hierarchy.md.
6. Validate and load on the branch — Check YAML syntax, ensure referenced objects exist or are defined in earlier load-order files, then validate and load against your branch (--branch). See validation.md for the commands and pre-load checklist.

Supporting References

• reference.md -- Object file format specification
• validation.md -- infrahubctl object validate / object load commands, common load errors, pre-load checklist
• examples.md -- 15 complete object patterns from production repos
• ../infrahub-common/infrahub-yml-reference.md -- .infrahub.yml project configuration
• ../infrahub-common/marketplace-reference.md -- if the schema these objects populate came from the marketplace, reuse it rather than modelling a new one
• ../infrahub-common/metadata-lineage.md -- Value metadata (source, owner, is_protected): setting lineage/ownership and why source does not control edit access
• ../infrahub-common/rules/ -- Shared rules (git integration, caching) across all skills
• ../infrahub-common/rules/workflow-information-priority.md -- Skill content first; how to consult docs.infrahub.app on a genuine gap (e.g. deleting nodes)
• ../infrahub-managing-schemas/SKILL.md -- Schema definitions these objects conform to
• rules/ -- Individual rules by category prefix