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Cross-Domain Relationships

The Cross-Domain page at /mdm/cross-domain configures and explores relationships between different entity types — Customer-to-Product, Customer-to-Account, Product-to-Vendor. Where Relationships is the runtime browser, this is where the relationship types and matching rules between domains are defined.

Domain pairings​

The page lists every defined pairing with:

  • Source domain (e.g. Customer)
  • Target domain (e.g. Product)
  • Relationship type (e.g. purchased, owns, interested-in)
  • Cardinality (1:1, 1:M, M:N)
  • Source columns / FKs that derive the relationship
  • Active-record count

Configuring a pairing​

Adding a new pairing:

FieldNotes
Source domainSource entity type
Target domainTarget entity type
Relationship typeFree-text or reusable
Cardinality1:1 / 1:M / M:N
DerivationSQL (source FK), event-based, or manual-only
ValidityOptional valid_from / valid_to

Derivation modes:

  • SQL FK — point at a column in a source table that contains the target entity ID. The relationship is recreated on every match-merge run.
  • Event — relationships emerge from event data (e.g. an Order event creates a Customer→Product relationship). Requires an event-source connector.
  • Manual — stewards create relationships by hand on Relationships.

Resolution​

Source FKs typically reference source-system IDs, not MDM golden record IDs. Cross-domain relationships resolve those at match-merge time:

  1. Source row says "customer_sf_id 12345 purchased product_sf_id ABC"
  2. MDM resolves 12345 → ent_cust_001 (golden) and ABC → ent_prod_042
  3. Creates relationship ent_cust_001 --purchased--> ent_prod_042

Use cases​

  • 360 view — show all products a customer has purchased
  • Recommendations — "customers who purchased X also bought Y"
  • Risk — "these accounts share a beneficiary; flag for review"
  • Lifetime value — aggregate spend across all related entities

API​

GET   /mdm/cross-domain
POST  /mdm/cross-domain
DELETE /mdm/cross-domain/{id}
GET   /mdm/cross-domain/{id}/coverage   # how many relationships have been derived