> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.entegrata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Schema Changes

> Handling breaking and non-breaking schema changes

## Overview

Discovery detects schema changes and categorizes them as breaking or non-breaking, helping you respond appropriately.

## Schema Change Detection

Discovery detects two types of schema changes:

### Non-Breaking Changes

Changes that don't affect existing collection:

* **New fields added** - Automatically included in future collections
* **Field metadata updates** - Descriptions, annotations, etc.
* **New indexes or constraints** - Improve query performance

<Info>
  Non-breaking changes are applied automatically. No action required.
</Info>

### Breaking Changes

Changes that may disrupt collection or downstream analytics:

* **Fields removed** - Data previously collected is no longer available
* **Field data type changed** - May cause collection or transformation errors
* **Primary key changed** - Affects uniqueness and deduplication

<Warning>
  Breaking changes require review and may need manual intervention to resolve.
</Warning>

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/entegrata/d4pzv5m2aXdjP4mx/data/collector/discovery/images/schema-change-breaking.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=d4pzv5m2aXdjP4mx&q=85&s=89fe95023867473ef173c8e8f4ae44c1" alt="Breaking schema change alert" width="1920" height="909" data-path="data/collector/discovery/images/schema-change-breaking.png" />
</Frame>

### Responding to Breaking Changes

When discovery detects breaking changes:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Review Change Details">
    Click the notification to see exactly what changed:

    * Which fields were removed or modified
    * Old vs. new data types
    * Impact on existing collection configuration

    <Frame>
      <img src="https://mintcdn.com/entegrata/d4pzv5m2aXdjP4mx/data/collector/discovery/images/schema-change-details.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=d4pzv5m2aXdjP4mx&q=85&s=f6f102a95999a467104d1b1500438be9" alt="Schema change details modal" width="1920" height="909" data-path="data/collector/discovery/images/schema-change-details.png" />
    </Frame>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assess Impact">
    Determine how the change affects:

    * **Collection**: Will filters or incremental fields still work?
    * **Unique keys**: Are primary keys still valid?
    * **Downstream analytics**: Will reports or dashboards break?
  </Step>

  <Step title="Update Configuration">
    Adjust resource settings to accommodate the change:

    * Update filters if filtered fields changed
    * Change incremental load field if it was removed
    * Update unique keys if they changed
    * Notify downstream consumers of schema changes
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test Collection">
    Trigger a manual collection to verify the updated configuration works
  </Step>

  <Step title="Monitor Results">
    Watch the first few scheduled collections to ensure stability
  </Step>
</Steps>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Overview" icon="lightbulb" href="/data/collector/discovery/overview">
    Understand how discovery works
  </Card>

  <Card title="Manual Discovery" icon="globe" href="/data/collector/discovery/manual-discovery">
    Manually trigger discovery immediately when you need to
  </Card>
</CardGroup>