infrahub-managing-objects

Object Creator

Overview

Expert guidance for creating Infrahub object (data) files. Objects are YAML files that populate schema nodes with actual infrastructure data -- devices, locations, organizations, modules, and more.

Project Context

Existing schema files: !find . -name "*.yml" -path "*/schemas/*" -o -name "*schema*" -name "*.yml" 2>/dev/null | head -10

Existing object files: !find . -name "*.yml" -path "*/objects/*" 2>/dev/null | head -20

If invoked with arguments (e.g., /infrahub:managing-objects DcimDevice spine-01), use the first argument as the kind and remaining arguments as object details.

When to Use

• Creating new data files for infrastructure objects
• Populating devices, locations, organizations, or other schema nodes
• Setting up hierarchical data (location trees, tenant groups)
• Referencing related objects across files
• Managing component children (interfaces, modules)
• Organizing object files for correct load order

Rule Categories

Priority	Category	Prefix	Description
CRITICAL	File Format	format-	apiVersion, kind, spec structure
CRITICAL	Value Mapping	value-	Attributes, dropdowns, references
HIGH	Children	children-	Hierarchy/component nesting
MEDIUM	Range	range-	Sequential interface expansion
MEDIUM	Organization	organization-	Naming, load order, multi-doc
LOW	Patterns	patterns-	Flat lists, devices, git repos

Object File Basics

---
apiVersion: infrahub.app/v1
kind: Object
spec:
  kind: <NodeKind>          # Schema node kind (e.g., DcimDellServer)
  data:
    - <attribute>: <value>  # List of object instances

apiVersion, kind: Object, spec.kind, and spec.data are always required. Each spec block targets a single node kind.

Workflow

Follow these steps when creating object data files:

1. Read the schema — Identify the target node kind, its attributes, relationships, and whether it has component children or hierarchy parents.
2. Plan the file structure — Read rules/format-structure.md for the required YAML structure and rules/organization-load-order.md for file naming and load order conventions.
3. Map attribute values — Set each attribute using the correct value format. Read rules/value-attributes.md for attribute mapping and rules/value-relationships.md for relationship references.
4. Handle children — If the node has component children or hierarchy nesting, read rules/children-components.md and rules/children-hierarchy.md.
5. Validate — Check YAML syntax and ensure referenced objects exist or are defined in earlier load-order files.

Supporting References

• reference.md -- Object file format specification
• examples.md -- 15 complete object patterns from production repos
• ../infrahub-common/infrahub-yml-reference.md -- .infrahub.yml project configuration
• ../infrahub-common/rules/ -- Shared rules (git integration, caching) across all skills
• ../infrahub-managing-schemas/SKILL.md -- Schema definitions these objects conform to
• rules/ -- Individual rules by category prefix