Trace a value to its source

With detail=full, an entity reports how Census resolved each field and every source record behind it: the source object, the source path of each value, the value the source reported, and what normalization did with it. A consumer uses it to check where a value came from, or why a field is null.

curl -s 'localhost:8080/v1/inventories/devices/entities/fw-01?detail=full'

detail=full works on lookups and on lists. A list in full detail returns at most 100 entities per page.

Response

The full entity is the compact entity plus resolution and contributions:

{
  "hfid": "fw-01",
  "fields": { "ports": 48, "role": "firewall", "serial": null, "status": "active" },
  "location": "eu/par1/r01",
  "field_sources": { "location": "netbox", "ports": "netbox", "role": "infrahub",
                     "serial": null, "status": "netbox" },
  "freshness": { "state": "fresh", "oldest_confirmed_at": "2026-10-25T08:59:12.000000Z" },
  "resolution": {
    "serial": { "state": "unknown", "reason": "wrong_type", "contribution": "netbox" },
    "location": {
      "state": "value",
      "levels": { "region": "infrahub", "site": "infrahub", "rack": "netbox" }
    }
  },
  "contributions": [
    {
      "contribution": "netbox",
      "source_ref": "https://netbox.example.net/api/dcim/devices/17/",
      "native_id": "17",
      "object_type": "dcim/devices",
      "view": "default",
      "hfid_original": " FW-01 ",
      "observations": {
        "status": { "state": "value", "value": "active", "outcome": "mapped",
                    "original": "in-service", "path": "status.value",
                    "confirmed_at": "2026-10-25T08:59:12.000000Z", "freshness": "fresh" },
        "serial": { "state": "unknown", "outcome": "wrong_type", "original": 1234,
                    "path": "serial",
                    "confirmed_at": "2026-10-25T08:59:12.000000Z", "freshness": "fresh" }
      },
      "location": { "state": "value", "value": "eu/par1/r01", "outcome": "as_reported",
                    "original": { "site": "par1", "rack": "r01" },
                    "level_paths": { "site": "site.slug", "rack": "rack.name" },
                    "confirmed_at": "2026-10-25T08:59:12.000000Z", "freshness": "fresh" },
      "references": [
        { "type": "url", "label": "Open in NetBox",
          "value": "https://netbox.example.net/dcim/devices/17/",
          "metadata": { "content_type": "text/html" } },
        { "type": "url", "label": "NetBox API",
          "value": "https://netbox.example.net/api/dcim/devices/17/",
          "metadata": { "content_type": "application/json" } },
        { "type": "text", "label": "Object id", "value": "17", "metadata": {} }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

In a lookup, the body also has inventory, view, completeness and health.

Why a field is null: `resolution`

resolution lists every field whose state is not value, and always the location.

`state`	Meaning
`unknown`	The highest-priority contribution that supplied the field gave a value Census could not use. `reason` is `unmapped` or `wrong_type` (`unmapped` or `ambiguous` for the location), and `contribution` names the contribution. Census did not use a lower-priority source's value.
`missing`	No contribution supplied the field.

For the location, levels names the contribution that supplied each level. When a lower-priority contribution made the location more specific, the deeper levels name it.

Where each value came from: `contributions`

contributions lists the source records of the entity, one per contribution and source object:

Key	Meaning
`contribution`	The contribution's id.
`source_ref`	The source object's reference: the NetBox API URL of the object, or the Infrahub node id.
`native_id`	The source's own id: the NetBox numeric id or the Infrahub node id.
`object_type`	The NetBox API path or the Infrahub node kind.
`view`	`default`, or the branch name in a branch view.
`hfid_original`	The HFID as the source reported it, before cleaning.
`excluded`	Present only for a record that takes no part in resolution, with the value `duplicate_hfid`.
`observations`	One entry per field the contribution supplied.
`location`	The contribution's location observation, if it supplied one.
`references`	Links and identifiers of the source object, described below.

Each observation has:

Key	Meaning
`state`	`value`, `unknown` or `cleared`.
`value`	The normalized value, for `value` only.
`outcome`	`as_reported`, `mapped` or `defaulted` for a value; `unmapped`, `wrong_type` or, for the location, `ambiguous` for an unknown.
`original`	The value the source reported. For the location, the name of each level.
`path`	The source field path that supplied the value. For the location, `level_paths` gives the path of each level.
`confirmed_at`	When the source last confirmed the value.
`freshness`	`fresh` or `stale`, from `confirmed_at` and the field's budget.

A field the contribution did not supply has no entry in observations.

Links to the source object: `references`

Each record has a list of references to its object in the source system, in the order a person would use them. A reference has a type, a label, a value and a metadata object with string values, which can be empty.

`type`	`value`	`metadata`
`url`	An address.	`content_type`: `text/html` for a web page, `application/json` for an API address.
`text`	An identifier to copy, such as the object id.	Empty.
`graphql_query`	A GraphQL query that reads the object.	`endpoint`: the GraphQL address. `variables`: the query's variables as JSON.
`error`	A message that says why a reference could not be built.	`code`: `no_external_base_url` or `cannot_build`.

Other types can be added later. A client must accept a type it does not know, for example by showing the label and the value as text.

The references of each source system:

Source	References
NetBox	`url` "Open in NetBox": `{base}/{object type}/{id}/`. `url` "NetBox API": `{base}/api/{object type}/{id}/`. `text` "Object id".
Infrahub	`url` "Open in Infrahub": `{base}/objects/{kind}/{id}?branch={branch}`. `graphql_query` "GraphQL query", sent to `{base}/graphql/{branch}`. `text` "Node id".

{base} is the connection's external_base_url, or its endpoint when no external_base_url is set. {branch} is the branch the record was read from. When the connection has external_base_url_fallback = "error" and no external_base_url, the list starts with an error reference with the code no_external_base_url, and has no url or graphql_query reference. Connect source systems describes these settings.

source_ref keeps the value the source reported, even when the links use another address. No reference contains a credential.

Response​

Why a field is null: resolution​

Where each value came from: contributions​

Links to the source object: references​

Response

Why a field is null: `resolution`

Where each value came from: `contributions`

Links to the source object: `references`