# Manage Data Catalog using Rudder CLI

This section explains how to create and manage events, properties, and custom data types in Data Catalog using Rudder CLI.

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**Important**

Data Catalog management via Rudder CLI is a push-only feature, meaning you can only push changes to your RudderStack workspace. You cannot pull changes from your workspace to your local system.
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## Overview

RudderStack's [Data Catalog]({{< ref "data-governance/data-catalog/" >}}) feature lets you centrally define and manage the events, properties, and data structures that power your data collection strategy. It serves as a single source of truth for your organization's data schema, helping teams maintain consistency across different platforms and applications.

Data Catalog helps you:

- Standardize event definitions and properties across all platforms
- Create reusable data validation patterns with custom types
- Maintain data quality through centralized schema management
- Ensure consistency between different teams and applications
- Track schema changes through version control

### Data Catalog components

The Data Catalog consists of the following components:

- **Events**: Events represent specific user actions or occurrences you want to track in your application. They can be events related to user actions (`track`), user identification (`identify`), view tracking (`page`/`screen`), or organization/account tracking (`group`).
- **Properties**: Properties are the attributes associated with events. They provide additional context about the event and can include user properties, event-specific properties, and contextual properties shared across events.
- **Custom Types**: Custom types are reusable validation patterns and data structures that you can use across multiple properties.

You can use these components to configure [Tracking Plans]({{< ref "data-governance/tracking-plans/" >}}) that enforce consistent data collection practices.

## How it works

Rudder CLI lets you manage the following Data Catalog components through YAML configuration files in your project:

- [Events]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/events.md" >}}) that represent user actions or occurrences you want to track
- [Event Categories]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/events.md#event-categories" >}}) that group events into logical categories
- [Properties]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/properties.md" >}}) that provide additional context and attributes for events
- [Custom Types]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/custom-types.md" >}}) for reusable validation patterns and data structures

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You can reference custom types across multiple properties, ensuring consistent data validation, standardized formats, and reduced duplication.
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You can then use Rudder CLI to:

- Add and validate definitions for these components locally
- Deploy the Catalog components to your workspace
- Manage changes through version control

## In this section

See the following guides to start creating and managing your Data Catalog project in Rudder CLI:

| Guide | Description |
| :----| :----|
| [Project Setup]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/project-setup.md" >}}) | Set up your Data Catalog project in Rudder CLI. |
| [Events]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/events.md" >}}) | Define and manage your events and event categories via YAML files. |
| [Event Categories]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/events.md#event-categories" >}}) | Group events into logical categories. |
| [Properties]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/properties.md" >}}) | Create and manage properties in your Data Catalog via YAML files. |
| [Custom Types]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/data-catalog/custom-types.md" >}}) | Create reusable validation patterns and reference them in your properties. |
| [YAML Reference]({{< ref "dev-tools/rudder-cli/yaml-data-catalog-and-tracking-plans/" >}}) | Complete YAML reference for defining and using your Data Catalog resources. |

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