Topic Browser
Real-time exploration of Unified Namespace. There are two ways to access the Topic Browser:
Management Console (recommended, access via management.umh.app)
GraphQL API (for programmatic access, prototype)
Management Console
The Topic Browser in the Management Console provides a comprehensive, real-time view of your Unified Namespace (UNS). It lets you explore all your data topics/tags in a hierarchical tree, aggregated from all connected UMH instances, without having to worry about underlying technical details like MQTT topics, Kafka keys, or payload formats. Each tag typically represents a data point (e.g. a sensor reading or machine status) in your ISA-95 asset hierarchy. The Topic Browser is the primary tool for navigating this structure, monitoring live values, and inspecting metadata and history for each topic.
Accessing the Topic Browser
To open the Topic Browser, log in to the Management Console and select Topic Browser from the navigation menu (without the (Classic)). The interface is split into two main areas: a topic tree on the left and a details panel on the right. The topic tree displays the hierarchical structure of all your topics, while the details panel shows information about any topic you select. Once opened, the Topic Browser will begin loading the UNS topic structure and live data from all your connected instances automatically.
Browsing the Hierarchical Topic Tree
On the left, you will see a collapsible tree representing the hierarchy of topics in your Unified Namespace. This hierarchy follows the ISA-95 style structure (Enterprise → Site → Area → Line/Cell, etc., down to individual tag names), organizing data in logical levels. You can expand folder nodes (groupings like enterprises, sites, or equipment groups) to reveal deeper levels, and ultimately the leaf nodes which represent individual data tags.
Data Aggregation: The Topic Browser automatically consolidates and merges topics from all your UMH instances into this single tree view. This means if you have multiple instances or brokers publishing data, their topics all appear in one unified namespace hierarchy. (If the same topic exists on multiple instances, it will be combined under one entry with an indication of the multiple data sources.)
Hierarchical Structure: The tree clearly shows how each tag is categorized by location and context. In other words, you can easily see which part of the namespace a tag belongs to – for example, which enterprise and site a sensor value is associated with. Folder/group nodes make it simple to navigate through logical groupings of tags (for example, all tags under a certain machine or production line). You can collapse sections that you're not interested in and expand the ones you want to explore in depth.
Importantly, this topic list is live – if a new device comes online and publishes a new tag, you'll see a new node appear in the tree in real time at the appropriate position. The tree auto-refreshes as data changes, so you're always looking at an up-to-date snapshot of your unified namespace.
Filtering and Searching Topics
When dealing with a large number of topics, the Topic Browser offers a filter/search function to quickly find what you need. At the top of the topic tree panel, there is a search bar where you can type a keyword or partial topic name. As you type, the topic tree filters to show only the branches and tags that match your input. This is extremely useful for pinpointing a specific tag without manually expanding every level of the hierarchy. For example, you can type a machine name or tag name (such as "temperature") to instantly highlight and navigate to relevant topics. The filtering applies across the full topic path and even tag metadata, making it easy to locate data points in a complex namespace.
Real-Time Updates and Auto-Refresh
One of the key benefits of the Topic Browser is that it updates automatically in real time. You do not need to refresh the page to get new data – the Management Console continuously streams updates from the UMH backend. Whenever a tag's value changes or a new topic is created, the interface will reflect those changes within seconds. You can literally watch sensor readings or other data points change live on the screen. The Topic Browser ensures you are always looking at current data. (Behind the scenes it processes incoming events in near real-time, so extremely rapid updates may be batched into short intervals, but generally it keeps the view up-to-date continuously.) This live view makes it easy to monitor system behavior and verify that data is flowing as expected.
Viewing Topic Details and Data Inspection
When you click on a specific topic (a leaf node in the tree), the right-hand details panel displays comprehensive information about that topic organized into several sections:
Topic Details Section
At the top, you'll see core information about the selected topic:
Physical Path: The location hierarchy (e.g.,
enterprise-3.site-3.line-1)Data Contract: The schema type (e.g.,
_historian,_raw,_oee)Virtual Path: Additional path information if applicable
Tag Name: The specific tag identifier (e.g.,
temperature,pressure)
Last Message Section
This shows the most recent data point:
Payload Type: The message format (
Time-Series,Relational, etc.)Timestamp: The timestamp inside of the message. Not to be confused with the Produced At timestamp.
Data Type: The value type (
string,number,boolean)Value: The actual current value
Produced At: The timestamp of when the message arrived in the UNS. Not to be confused with the Timestamp timestamp.
For Time-Series payloads, single values are displayed directly. For array data, you'll see the full array of values (e.g., [10.123, 2.321, 3.313, 4.543, 5.123, 6.12, 7.423, 8.32, 9.12, 10.64]).
For Relational payloads, structured JSON data is displayed in a formatted view, showing complex objects with multiple fields like:
{
"timestamp_ms": 123123,
"value1": 123,
"value2": 234
}Metadata Section
Displays message metadata and context information
History Section
Shows recent data trends and patterns:
Time-Series Data: Displays an interactive line chart showing value changes over time, with timestamps on the x-axis and values on the y-axis
Boolean/String Data: Shows a table with timestamps and true/false values
Tracks the last 100 values for topics that publish frequent updates
GraphQL API
For programmatic access, the Topic Browser provides a GraphQL API that allows you to query topics, filter by metadata, and retrieve the latest message data. This is ideal for automation, integrations, and custom applications that need to access UNS data programmatically.
Accessing the GraphQL API
The GraphQL endpoint is available at http://localhost:8090/graphql by default. Unlike the Management Console UI which aggregates data from multiple UMH instances, the GraphQL API provides access to topics from a single UMH instance.
Querying Topics and Metadata
The API supports powerful filtering capabilities that allow you to:
Text Search: Find topics by name or metadata content
Metadata Filtering: Filter topics based on specific metadata key-value pairs
Combined Filtering: Use both text and metadata filters together
Latest Events: Retrieve the most recent message data for each topic
Example Query
Here's a comprehensive example showing how to filter topics by text and metadata, then retrieve the latest message data:
{
topics(filter: {
text: "temperature",
meta: [{ key: "data_contract", eq: "_historian" }]
}) {
topic
metadata {
key
value
}
lastEvent {
... on TimeSeriesEvent {
producedAt
numericValue
scalarType
}
... on RelationalEvent {
producedAt
json
}
}
}
}This query finds all topics containing "temperature" that use the _historian data contract, returns their metadata, and shows the latest message data with timestamps and values.
Configuration
The GraphQL API runs by default alongside the Topic Browser:
internal:
topicBrowser:
desiredState: "active" # Default
agent:
graphql:
enabled: true # Default
port: 8090 # Default
debug: false # Set true for GraphiQL UIFor detailed API documentation and additional query examples, see GraphQL API Reference.
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