Transition from Dataplex Universal Catalog to Knowledge Catalog

Knowledge Catalog (formerly Dataplex Universal Catalog) lets you unify enterprise data governance with generative AI capabilities using an active, AI-powered context graph. You can use this semantic context engine to ground AI agents and support autonomous actions across your databases, data warehouses, and AI tools. For more information, see Agentic Data Cloud.

Your existing Dataplex Universal Catalog configurations, APIs, and deployments remain operational without manual migration, data movement, or downtime. You can continue to use core features such as data discovery, data lineage, data quality scans, and business glossaries. Your existing metadata and aspects transition automatically to Knowledge Catalog.

API, CLI, and IAM compatibility

Although the product name changed to Knowledge Catalog, existing API endpoints, client libraries, Google Cloud CLI commands, and Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles and permissions still retain dataplex in their names and identifiers:

  • REST API: REST endpoints continue to use the dataplex.googleapis.com service endpoint (for example, https://dataplex.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/entryGroups). For more information, see Cloud Dataplex API.
  • RPC API: RPC services and protobuf packages continue to use the dataplex.googleapis.com service name and the google.cloud.dataplex.v1 package (for example, google.cloud.dataplex.v1.CatalogService). For more information, see Cloud Dataplex API.
  • Client libraries: Client library package names and namespaces still use dataplex (for example, google-cloud-dataplex for Python and cloud.google.com/go/dataplex for Go). For more information, see Knowledge Catalog and Data Lineage client libraries.
  • Google Cloud CLI commands: You continue to manage resources using gcloud dataplex commands (for example, gcloud dataplex entries search or gcloud dataplex glossaries list). For more information, see gcloud dataplex.
  • IAM roles and permissions: Predefined IAM roles and permissions continue to use the dataplex prefix, such as Dataplex Catalog Admin (roles/dataplex.catalogAdmin), Dataplex Catalog Editor (roles/dataplex.catalogEditor), Dataplex Catalog Viewer (roles/dataplex.catalogViewer), and permissions such as dataplex.entries.get and dataplex.entryGroups.create. For more information, see Knowledge Catalog IAM roles and Knowledge Catalog IAM permissions.

Key differences with conventional data catalogs

Because organizations accelerate generative AI adoption, AI agents require deep business context to prevent failures and errors. Knowledge Catalog bridges the gap between enterprise data governance and AI agent workflows. It provides the contextual framework that agents need to retrieve accurate, grounded responses.

Unlike conventional passive catalogs, Knowledge Catalog automatically curates metadata, business relationships, and operational rules into a unified context graph. It introduces active, AI-centric features, including verified example queries, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations.

What's next

Overview

Learn about the core capabilities and architecture of Knowledge Catalog.

Concept

Discover how active data context powers generative AI grounding and eliminates hallucinations.

Tutorial

Get hands-on by creating business glossaries and custom aspect types in your project.

Reference

Explore REST and RPC APIs, client libraries, and gcloud CLI commands for automation.