Create and manage business rules in ontology (preview)

In ontology (preview), business rules let you define the rules and guardrails that your operations use day to day. Write rules in natural language and link them to entity types, properties, and relationship types so consumers can discover the same rules. Consumers of ontology, like AI agents, can use these rules to ground their responses.

Important

This feature is in preview.

This article shows how to create, browse, edit, and delete business rules in the new ontology experience.

Prerequisites

Before creating business rules, ensure you have:

  • Write permission on the ontology item.
  • Entity types, properties, or relationship types in the ontology if you want to link the rule to ontology concepts.

Access business rules

  1. Open an ontology item in Fabric.

  2. In the Explorer, expand Overview and select Rules.

    Screenshot of opening the rules page.

View created rules

After you create rules, the Business rules page lists the rules in the ontology and the entity types linked to each rule.

Screenshot of the Business rules page, showing saved rules and linked entity types.

To browse and find rules:

  • Enter text in Search rules by name to find a rule by name.
  • Select Entity type to filter the list. You can select more than one entity type.
  • Select Clear all in the entity type menu to remove entity type filters.
  • Select a rule name or row to open the rule details page.

If a rule links only to properties or relationships, open the rule details page to view all linked concepts.

Create a business rule

  1. On the Business rules page, the + Create rule button appears if there are no rules yet, and the New rule button appears if there are already rules created. Select the button that's visible in your scenario.

  2. On the rule details page, enter a Rule name and a Rule definition that describes what must, must not, or should be true.

    For example: Every refrigeration unit must receive a safety inspection at least once every 90 days.

  3. Optionally, add linked ontology concepts.

  4. Optionally, add a description and additional metadata.

  5. Select Save.

    Screenshot of a completed business rule with a rule definition, linked entity type, description, and metadata.

The Rule name and Rule definition fields are required. Linked ontology concepts, description, and additional metadata are optional.

Write a clear rule definition

A useful rule definition expresses how your business operates.

Pattern Example
Must be true Every refrigeration unit must receive a safety inspection at least once every 90 days.
Must not be true A shipment must not depart when its cold-chain temperature is above the approved threshold.
Should normally be true Orders over $50,000 should have finance approval before release.

Suggestions:

  • Use the same names and business language as your ontology.
  • Link each entity type, property, or relationship type that the rule explicitly depends on.
  • Put rationale and supporting context in the description instead of combining it with the rule definition.
  • Use additional metadata for consistent structured context such as category, policy name, or documents.

Linked concepts make rules easier for authorized agents and applications to discover and interpret.

  1. On the rule details page, under Linked ontology concepts, select Add concept.

  2. In the Add concepts dialog, use the following tabs to browse or search the ontology:

    • Entity types
    • Properties
    • Relationships

  3. Select one or more concepts.

  4. Select Save to add the selected concepts to the rule.

    Screenshot of the Add concepts dialog with the entity type list and concept picker tabs.

To remove a linked concept, deselect the concept and then save the rule.

Add rule metadata

The Rule metadata section provides optional context for reviewers, agents, and other consumers.

  1. On the rule details page, find Rule metadata and select Edit.

  2. Enter an optional Description.

  3. To add structured context, select Add under Additional metadata.

  4. Enter a key and value, and then select Add.

  5. Repeat the previous step for any additional key-value pairs.

  6. Select Save in the Rule metadata dialog.

  7. Select Save on the rule details page.

    Screenshot of the Rule metadata dialog with a description and an additional metadata key-value pair.

Examples of useful additional metadata include:

  • category: maintenance
  • region: EMEA
  • policyFamily: food-safety
  • owner: facilities-operations

Edit or delete a business rule

To edit a business rule:

  1. On the Business rules page, select the rule you want to edit.
  2. Update the rule name or rule definition.
  3. Add or remove linked ontology concepts as needed.
  4. Select Edit in the Rule metadata section to update the description or additional metadata.
  5. Select Save.

Removing the last linked concept displays the same non-blocking warning that appears when you create a rule without links.

To delete a business rule:

  1. On the Business rules page, find the rule you want to delete.

  2. Select More actions (...) and then select Delete rule.

  3. Review the confirmation dialog.

  4. Select Delete.

    Screenshot of the Delete rule confirmation dialog.

Deleting a rule removes it from every linked entity type.

Important

Deleting a business rule can't be undone.

Retrieve business rules with ontology MCP

Authorized agents and applications can use the ontology MCP list_ontology_rules tool to retrieve the defined business rules. The tool returns each rule's name, natural-language definition, linked entity types, properties and relationships, description, and additional metadata.

The tool is read-only, leaving it up to you to interpret and operationalize the rules because ontology doesn't execute on them.

Migrate Activator rules from ontology old experience

The ontology old experience supported alerting of rules with Fabric Activator. The new ontology experience doesn't currently provide direct integration with Activator.

If you're migrating an old experience ontology to the new experience, follow these steps to recreate your rules.

  1. Identify the old experience ontology item and its Activator integrations.
  2. Migrate the old experience item to the new experience.
  3. Recreate the relevant business logic as ontology business rules expressed in natural language in the new experience item.
  4. Configure Activator separately for the data sources and services that are related to your rules logic (outside of the ontology new experience). For detailed instructions, see Tutorial: Create and activate a Fabric Activator rule.

Note

The ontology new experience doesn't replace or migrate existing Activator workflows.

Share your feedback

We'd like to hear how you want to use Activator with the ontology new experience and rules in ontology. Your feedback can help us understand which integration scenarios are most important.

Submit feedback through Fabric feedback channels.

Limitations and considerations

  • A business rule is a natural-language definition. Ontology doesn't run the rule against data or execute actions.
  • Changes to the ontology can affect business rules.
    • Renaming a linked entity type, property, or relationship type updates the structured reference in the rule.
    • Deleting a linked concept removes it from the rule.
  • The ontology new experience doesn't provide Activator integration, and migrating to the new experience doesn't replace or migrate existing Activator workflows.

Troubleshooting

Issue Resolution
Create or Save isn't available Enter values in the required Rule name and Rule definition fields.
A rule name is rejected Choose a unique name.
A concept isn't available in the picker Confirm that the entity type, property, or relationship type exists in the ontology.
A metadata key is rejected Use a key that isn't already present in the rule.
A saved rule isn't visible Clear the rule-name search and any entity type filters.

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