Identify CDE - Data Column mapping from Purview API (Actual Data is in Azure Databricks)

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Identify CDE - Data Column mapping from Purview API (Actual Data is in Azure Databricks)

M, Akhil 60

Hi Team,

We are working with the Microsoft Purview Data Governance REST API (api-version: 2025-09-15-preview) and trying to map Critical Data Elements (CDEs) to their underlying data columns.
We are using the below endpoint for CDE:

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/criticalDataElements/{criticalDataElementId}/relationships?api-version=2025-09-15-preview&entityType=CriticalDataColumn

We are able to get an entity_id but not able to trace which data column it maps to. Is there a way to get to the actual Data Column mapping from CDE endpoint? A help here would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Answer 1

SAI JAGADEESH KUDIPUDI 3,215 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi M, Akhil,
Yes, this behavior is expected.The Critical Data Element relationships API only returns the entityId of the CriticalDataColumn. This ID represents the catalog asset for the column. To identify the actual column (for example in Azure Databricks), you need to resolve that ID using the Data Column API.

Steps to map CDE → actual data column

Get the Data Column details

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataColumns/{entity_id}?api-version=2025-09-15-preview

This returns metadata such as qualifiedName, displayName, and description. The qualifiedName contains the full path of the asset (catalog / schema / table / column), which helps identify the actual column in Databricks.

(Optional) Get the parent table metadata

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataColumns/{entity_id}/relationships?api-version=2025-09-15-preview&entityType=CollectionEntity

Then retrieve the table information:

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataCollections/{table_entity_id}?api-version=2025-09-15-preview

Flow

CriticalDataElement
 → relationships API
 → CriticalDataColumn entityId
 → DataColumns GET API
 → qualifiedName (catalog/schema/table/column)

This is the standard way to trace a CDE to its underlying data column in Microsoft Purview.

Reference documentation

Microsoft Purview Data Governance REST API overview https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/purview/data-governance-api-overview
Critical Data Elements API https://learn.microsoft.com/rest/api/purview/datagovernance/critical-data-elements
Data Columns API https://learn.microsoft.com/rest/api/purview/datagovernance/data-columns
Data Column relationships https://learn.microsoft.com/rest/api/purview/datagovernance/data-columns/relationships
Hope this helps. If you have any follow-up questions, please let me know. I would be happy to help. Please do not forget to "up-vote" wherever the information provided helps you, as this can be beneficial to other community members.

M, Akhil 60 Reputation points

2026-03-16T07:02:05.12+00:00

Thanks for the input.

we tried the below API endpoints,

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataColumns/{entity_id}?api-version=2025-09-15-preview

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataColumns/{entity_id}/relationships?api-version=2025-09-15-preview&entityType=CollectionEntity

but unfortunately we are getting 400 - API not available error.

Also we are unable to navigate to the below Microsoft pages as well.

Data Columns API https://learn.microsoft.com/rest/api/purview/datagovernance/data-columns

Data Column relationships https://learn.microsoft.com/rest/api/purview/datagovernance/data-columns/relationships

Could you please help us navigate through this?

Thanks in advance.
SAI JAGADEESH KUDIPUDI 3,215 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-14T17:14:33.1066667+00:00
Hi M, Akhil,

Thank you for your detailed follow‑up and for sharing the exact API behavior observed from your end.

We reviewed your findings where the below endpoints are returning 400 – API not available:

GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataColumns/{entity_id}?api-version=2025-09-15-preview GET {endpoint}/datagovernance/catalog/dataColumns/{entity_id}/relationships?api-version=2025-09-15-preview&entityType=CollectionEntity

Based on the current Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog API (Public Preview) documentation, it is important to clarify that:

The Unified Catalog API preview currently supports only those features that are already available in General Availability (GA).

As per Microsoft documentation, Data asset and Critical Data Column APIs are still on the roadmap and are not yet exposed through the Unified Catalog REST API.

Because of this limitation:

The CriticalDataElement relationships API correctly returns the internal entityId for the CriticalDataColumn

However, there is no publicly supported Unified Catalog REST API (today) that can directly resolve this entityId to the underlying physical column (for example, Azure Databricks column)

This is why you are encountering the 400 – API not available response even though the API request format is valid.
Supported Working Approach

To map the Critical Data Element (CDE) to the actual underlying column, the supported approach today is to resolve the returned entityId using the Microsoft Purview Data Map (Atlas) APIs.

Microsoft Purview Data Map supports Atlas 2.2 APIs for interacting with metadata entities programmatically.

Once the entityId obtained from:

/criticalDataElements/{id}/relationships?entityType=CriticalDataColumn

is resolved through the Data Map (Atlas) entity metadata APIs, the response includes asset‑level metadata such as:

Column Name

Qualified Name

Parent Table / Schema Relationships

For scanned assets such as Azure Databricks, the returned qualifiedName contains the full metadata path of the column (for example: workspace / catalog / schema / table / column), which allows you to trace the CDE back to the actual physical data column.

To successfully call these Data Map APIs, ensure that:

A Service Principal is created

Appropriate Data Plane roles (such as Data Curator) are assigned at the Collection level

This is the supported authentication and authorization model for Purview Data Plane APIs as documented by Microsoft.

Conclusion
Your implementation using the Unified Catalog CDE relationships API is correct. However, the /dataColumns resolution APIs are not currently publicly available in the 2025‑09‑15‑preview Unified Catalog API, as these capabilities are still on Microsoft’s roadmap.

At present, the supported and reliable method to map:

Critical Data Element → CriticalDataColumn entityId → Actual Databricks Column

is by resolving the returned entityId using the Purview Data Map (Atlas) APIs, which provide the required column metadata (such as qualifiedName) to identify the underlying physical column.

This approach will help you achieve the required CDE‑to‑column mapping until the Unified Catalog APIs expose this capability in a future release.

Microsoft Reference Links

Unified Catalog API (Public Preview) [github.com]

Use APIs available with Atlas 2.2 with Data Map [stackoverflow.com]

API authentication for Microsoft Purview data planes [learn.microsoft.com]

Apache Atlas REST API [learn.microsoft.com]

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/data-governance-overview

Hope this helps. If you have any follow-up questions, please let me know. I would be happy to help.

Please do not forget to "Accept Answer" and "up-vote" wherever the information provided helps you, as this can be beneficial to other community members.
SAI JAGADEESH KUDIPUDI 3,215 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-16T15:06:51.2066667+00:00

Hi **M, Akhil,
**I hope you had a chance to review the information shared earlier, and I hope this information has been helpful! If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered.

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Identify CDE - Data Column mapping from Purview API (Actual Data is in Azure Databricks)

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