Annotations

What Annotations Are

Annotations attach metadata to schema nodes.

@deprecated
type OldUser {
  id string
}

The VDL core does not hardcode most domain behavior. Plugins read annotations and decide what they mean.

For example, one plugin may interpret @event, another may interpret @rpc, and another may interpret @deprecated.

Basic Syntax

An annotation starts with @ and a name.

@internal
type InternalUser {
  id string
}

Annotations can also have one argument.

@deprecated("Use NewUser instead.")
type OldUser {
  id string
}

The argument must be a data literal: string, number, boolean, object, array, constant reference, or enum member reference.

Multiple Annotations

You can stack annotations.

@internal
@owner("platform")
type InternalConfig {
  name string
}

Annotations attach to the declaration or member that immediately follows them.

Declaration Annotations

Annotations can be attached to type, enum, and const declarations.

@event("users.created.{userId}")
type UserCreated {
  userId string
  email string
}

@stable
enum Region {
  Europe = "eu"
  America = "us"
}

@config
const serviceName = "billing"

Field Annotations

Fields can have annotations.

type User {
  @id
  id string

  @deprecated("Use displayName instead.")
  name? string

  displayName string
}

Enum Member Annotations

Enum members can have annotations.

enum Plan {
  Free = "free"

  @deprecated("Use Team instead.")
  Startup = "startup"

  Team = "team"
}

Object Arguments

Object arguments are useful for structured metadata.

@meta({ owner "platform" tier "gold" })
type Account {
  id string
}

Object entries use VDL literal syntax: key followed by value, no colon, no comma.

Array Arguments

@tags(["public" "billing" "stable"])
type Invoice {
  id string
}

Array literal items must be the same kind.

Annotation Names

Annotation names should use camelCase.

@generateClient
type PublicApi {
  name string
}

Avoid underscores or PascalCase annotation names.

Annotations Are Plugin Contracts

An annotation has no effect unless some tool or plugin understands it.

This is a feature. It lets teams create domain-specific contracts without changing the VDL grammar.

Examples:

• @rpc can mark a type as an RPC service.
• @proc can mark a request/response RPC operation.
• @stream can mark a server-sent stream operation.
• @event("subject.{field}") can mark an event payload and routing subject.
• @deprecated can mark generated code or schema output as deprecated.

Always check the plugin documentation for the annotations it supports.