Merge pull request #12035 from brexhq/jrusso/10404/link-type

Add type to EntityLinks

.changeset/shaggy-melons-drive.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-model': minor
+---
+
+Adding an optional type field to entity links to group and categorize links

docs/features/software-catalog/descriptor-format.md

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ metadata:
     - url: https://admin.example-org.com
       title: Admin Dashboard
       icon: dashboard
+      type: admin-dashboard
 spec:
   type: website
   lifecycle: production
@@ -83,7 +84,8 @@ This is the same entity as returned in JSON from the software catalog API:
       {
         "url": "https://admin.example-org.com",
         "title": "Admin Dashboard",
-        "icon": "dashboard"
+        "icon": "dashboard",
+        "type": "admin-dashboard"
       }
     ],
     "tags": ["java"],
@@ -353,6 +355,7 @@ Fields of a link are:
 | `url`   | String | [Required] A `url` in a standard `uri` format (e.g. `https://example.com/some/page`) |
 | `title` | String | [Optional] A user friendly display name for the link.                                |
 | `icon`  | String | [Optional] A key representing a visual icon to be displayed in the UI.               |
+| `type`  | String | [Optional] An optional value to categorize links into specific groups.               |
 
 _NOTE_: The `icon` field value is meant to be a semantic key that will map to a
 specific icon that may be provided by an icon library (e.g. `material-ui`
@@ -362,6 +365,8 @@ Backstage integrator will ultimately be left to provide the appropriate icon
 component mappings. A generic fallback icon would be provided if a mapping
 cannot be resolved.
 
+The semantics of the `type` field are undefined. The adopter is free to define their own set of types and utilize them as they wish. Some potential use cases can be to utilize the type field to validate certain links exist on entities or to create customized UI components for specific link types.
+
 ## Common to All Kinds: Relations
 
 The `relations` root field is a read-only list of relations, between the current

packages/catalog-model/api-report.md

@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ export type EntityLink = {
   url: string;
   title?: string;
   icon?: string;
+  type?: string;
 };
 
 // @public

packages/catalog-model/src/entity/Entity.ts

@@ -210,4 +210,9 @@ export type EntityLink = {
    * An optional semantic key that represents a visual icon.
    */
   icon?: string;
+
+  /**
+   * An optional value to categorize links into specific groups
+   */
+  type?: string;
 };

packages/catalog-model/src/schema/EntityMeta.schema.json

@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@
             "description": "A key representing a visual icon to be displayed in the UI.",
             "examples": ["dashboard"],
             "minLength": 1
+          },
+          "type": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "description": "An optional value to categorize links into specific groups.",
+            "examples": ["runbook", "documentation", "logs", "dashboard"],
+            "minLength": 1
           }
         }
       }