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Import Semantic Layer & Agents

Actian AI Analyst supports importing your semantic layer and agent configurations from files. Use imports to migrate between environments, restore from backups, or bulk-update your semantic layer.

What Can Be Imported

  • Models — Dimensions, measures, filters, grain, and data source mappings
  • Relationships — Joins between models
  • Metrics — Definitions, anchors, time dimensions, joins, and filters
  • Glossary — Terms with synonyms, tags, and mappings
  • Agents — Configurations and semantic layer access

Import Formats

FormatFile TypesUse Case
Actian AI Analyst (YAML/JSON).yaml, .yml, .jsonFull imports, backups, migrations between Actian AI Analyst environments
Actian AI Analyst (Excel).xlsx, .xlsSimplified bulk updates via spreadsheet
OSI (Open Semantic Interchange).yamlImporting semantic models from other tools via Steward

How to Import

  1. Go to Studio > Settings > Import Data
  2. Click Import
  3. Drag and drop your file(s) or click to select — you can upload multiple files at once
  4. Click Upload & Analyze
  5. Review the analysis: Actian AI Analyst shows what will be created, updated, or skipped, with field-level diffs for updates
  6. Select or deselect individual entities using the checkboxes
  7. Click Apply Import

How Matching Works

Actian AI Analyst uses a two-step matching strategy to determine whether an entity should be created or updated:

  1. ID match — If the import file includes an id field and it matches an existing entity, Actian AI Analyst treats it as an update (this also enables rename detection)
  2. Name match — If no ID is provided or found, Actian AI Analyst falls back to matching by name

Data sources are automatically matched by the data_source_name field in your import file against your organization's connected data sources.

Import History

All past imports are visible at Studio > Settings > Import Data. Each entry shows:

  • Status — Queued, Processing, Completed, or Failed
  • Started by — Who initiated the import
  • Date — When the import was started
  • Summary — Counts of created, updated, and skipped entities

Notes

  • All import operations are applied in a single transaction — if any entity fails, the entire import is rolled back
  • Entities are processed in dependency order: Models → Relationships → Metrics → Glossary → Agents
  • All import operations are audit logged
  • For OSI files from other tools, use Steward instead of direct import