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Shard schema

Department shard · 0.1.0

A UK government department. Carries current ministers, record counts per type, top topics by record volume, recent records, and outbound official-source URLs.

This page is the field reference for developers and AI clients. If you came here looking for a department, browse the department index instead.

Draft field reference. Canonical .json file not published.

Verified example pending /schemas/department@0.1.0.json (pending) Authoritative source Use with AI

Required fields

4

Optional fields

9

Dialect

JSON Schema draft 2020-12

Version

0.1.0

Required fields

Every shard validating against department@0.1.0 ships these fields. Provenance lines show where each value comes from — the load-bearing column for the structured-evidence promise.

  • slug string<slug>

    URL-safe department identifier.

    Provenance: Curated at admission against the GOV.UK organisations list.

    e.g. dhsc

  • displayName string

    Full name.

    Provenance: GOV.UK organisations directory verbatim.

  • canonicalUrl string<URL>

    Department page on GOV.UK.

    Provenance: GOV.UK content API base_path.

  • provenance object

    Provenance for the department snapshot.

    Provenance: Emitted by intake at department-snapshot refresh.

Optional fields

Present where the source carries the value or the derivation succeeds. Code consuming this schema should treat them as nullable.

  • shortName string · optional

    Common short form.

    Provenance: GOV.UK organisations directory verbatim.

  • officialId string · optional

    GOV.UK organisation identifier.

    Provenance: GOV.UK content API content_id.

  • subtitle string · optional

    Short descriptor of the department's remit.

    Provenance: GOV.UK organisations directory verbatim.

  • secretaryOfState object · optional

    Current Secretary of State.

    Provenance: Members API role lookup keyed to the department.

  • currentMinisters array<object> · optional

    Current ministerial team.

    Provenance: Members API role lookup keyed to the department.

  • recordCounts array<object> · optional

    Records assigned to this department per record-type.

    Provenance: Aggregated from per-record entity links produced at intake from the source feed.

  • topTopics array<object> · optional

    Top topics by record volume.

    Provenance: Aggregated from topic assignments over the records naming this department.

  • recentRecords array<object> · optional

    Recent records naming this department.

    Provenance: Records linked to this department via the per-record entity links, ordered by published date.

  • outboundSources array<object> · optional

    External source links (department GOV.UK page, departmental publications).

    Provenance: Curated at admission.

Related schemas

Entities referenced by this shard kind. A department shard's entities[] / nested references resolve to shards of these kinds.

Versioning + dialect
Schema id
department@0.1.0
Dialect
https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema
Canonical .json
/schemas/department@0.1.0.json (pending)
Verified example
Not linked until a verified live example is available.

Each planned schema follows semver. Patch bumps are additive and backwards-compatible. Minor bumps may add required fields or change validation rules. Major bumps will use a new URL path once canonical files are published.

Published structured data will declare its version in a $schema field. AI clients should respect that version when files become available.