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Export Semantic Layer & Agents

You can export a Workspace's semantic layer and AI analysts to a file. Use an export as a backup, to move a semantic layer to another Workspace or organization, to keep definitions under version control, or to share models and metrics with other tools.

An export contains one Workspace: the one currently selected in the Workspace switcher. To export a different Workspace, switch to it first.

Availability

  • Who can do this: members with the Edit capability in the active Workspace. The Editor and Administrator presets grant Edit only in the organization's default Workspace; for other Workspaces, Edit must be granted in that Workspace.
  • Deployment: Actian SaaS and self-managed deployments.

If you don't have Edit in the active Workspace, Import / export does not appear in your Settings menu.

Note

The Import / export page refers to a Workspace's contents as an Environment, for example Download or upload an Environment as Lossless YAML or JSON. In these docs, that means the active Workspace.

Export formats

Format File What it contains Use it for Keeps all detail
Lossless .zip with four YAML or four JSON files Models (with relationships), metrics, glossary terms and AI analysts Backups, and moving a semantic layer between Workspaces or organizations Yes
Open Semantic Interchange .yaml Models and metrics only Sharing models and metrics with other BI and AI tools No

See Actian AI Analyst Lossless Format and Open Semantic Interchange Format for the file contents.

Export a Workspace

  1. Switch to the Workspace you want to export.
  2. Open Settings (from Studio or Explorer) and, under Environment, select Import / export.
  3. Click Export.
  4. Under Export format, choose one of the following:
    • Lossless (Models, metrics, glossary terms, and AI analysts as a zip.), then choose YAML or JSON in the encoding list.
    • Open Semantic Interchange (Models and metrics as YAML, for interoperability.). This format is always YAML.
  5. Click Download.

The file downloads straight away. There is no request step and no email. The file is named ai-analyst-export-<identifier>-<date>.zip (Lossless) or .yaml (Open Semantic Interchange). The identifier is an internal Workspace identifier, and the date is the export date in UTC.

Tip

Exports are not stored in AI Analyst. Keep your own copy of every file you may need later, for example in a Git repository.

Import and export history

The Import / export page lists past exports and imports for the active Workspace, newest first. If nothing has been exported or imported yet, it shows No imports or exports yet.

Column Shows
Type Export or Import
Format For exports: Lossless YAML, Lossless JSON or Open Semantic Interchange. For imports, a dash.
Status Completed or Failed. Only imports can fail; a failed export is not recorded.
Started by The member who ran it. For a Public API call, the member who created the API key.
Date When it ran
Summary For a completed import: the number of entities created, updated, deleted and unchanged, plus any Warnings. A dash for exports and failed imports.

Click Load more to see older entries.

The history is a log, not a file store. You can't download an earlier export from it.

Every export, from Settings or the Public API, is also recorded in the organization's audit log as environment.export, with the format and encoding used.

Export with the Public API

You can also export a Workspace with the Public API, for example from a scheduled job that commits the export to Git. The API returns the same files as the Export dialog.

  • An API key is bound to one Workspace, and the export always contains that Workspace. Creating API keys requires the Manage organization capability.
  • Send GET /api/public/v1/environment with the key as a Bearer token.
  • Use the format query parameter (lossless or osi, default lossless) and, for Lossless, encoding (yaml or json, default yaml).
  • The Public API is rate-limited. When you exceed the limit, it returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <API_TOKEN>" \
  "https://<your-ai-analyst-host>/api/public/v1/environment?format=lossless&encoding=yaml" \
  -o ai-analyst-export.zip

For the full reference, click Public API docs on the Import / export page.