Payload schemas

A service can publish versioned JSON schemas describing the payload it sends. Subscribers see exactly what they’ll receive, can write their parsing logic against it, and are told when it changes. Public schemas also appear in the Zekt Registry.

Versions and compatibility

Schemas use semantic versions: major.minor.patch. Prerelease versions such as 1.2.0-beta.1 also exist, but only a stable version (one without a prerelease suffix) can be a service’s current version.

• A change that would break existing subscribers needs a new major version. Zekt refuses to publish a breaking change under the same major version.
• You can deprecate a version. A deprecation names a successor version and a sunset date at least 30 days in the future.
• When the version a subscriber uses changes, the subscriber gets a notice on their dashboard.

How subscribers pick a version

Each subscriber chooses how closely to follow your versions:

Pin	Follows
Latest	Every new version.
Major	New minor and patch versions within one major version.
Minor	New patch versions within one minor version.
Exact	One version only.

Who can see the schema

• Approved subscribers can always see the schema.
• With Show schema before access turned on, the service’s Directory audience can also see it before requesting access, but only while the service is listed (Organization or Public). See visibility.

Output schemas

A service that takes part in orchestration, whether a provider service or a consumer service, can also publish an output schema. It describes the values the service returns to the workflow that called it.

Tip

Publish a schema before you list a service publicly. A clear contract is the quickest way to reduce support questions from subscribers.