Define ownership for Software Catalog entities

Overview

Define ownership in Software Catalog to connect entities to the Datadog Teams responsible for them. Ownership information appears on each entity’s details page and allows you to:

  • Filter views by team across Datadog products.
  • Attribute Scorecards and Campaigns to the right owners.
  • Route notifications and on-call context to the correct team.

Create a Team

You can create a Team from your Datadog Organization Settings or directly from Software Catalog. For full instructions, see Team set up and configuration.

A Team definition includes the following:

  1. Team name: For example, “Bits Demo”.
  2. Handle: A unique identifier, such as bits-demo. Handles can be used as search facets (for example, team:bits-demo).
  3. Members: One or more Datadog users.
  4. Description: Optional, but recommended for context.

After creating a Team, you can add reference links, configure notifications, and associate the Team with Datadog resources such as Monitors and Dashboards.

Configure entity ownership

In Datadog

To add or update an entity’s owner in Datadog:

  1. Go to Service Management > Software Catalog, and open the entity.
  2. Click Edit in UI on the entity page.
  3. In the Ownership section, set the Owner and optionally add Additional owners.
    • Search by team name or paste a handle (for example, team:example-team).
  4. Click Save Entry.

Through configuration files

If you manage entities as code (for example, through repository-backed service definitions or automation), include the team handle(s) in the entity metadata field that maps to owners. Ensure handles exactly match existing Datadog Teams.

Best practices

  • Use Teams, not individuals: Assign entities to Teams so membership changes don’t break ownership links, filters, or notifications.
  • Choose a primary owner: Designate one accountable Team; add secondary owners only when necessary.
  • Keep handles consistent: Use lowercase, hyphenated handles for consistency and searchability (for example, payments-platform, not Payments Platform).
  • Sync from your IdP: If possible, provision Teams from SAML or SCIM to keep membership current.
  • Use team filters: Encourage engineers to enable My Teams to focus views on owned entities.