generated: '2026-07-21'
method: derived
source: openapi/vanilla-api-openapi-original.json (components.schemas id-reference fields; 300 schemas)
description: >-
  Entity-relationship graph for the Vanilla (Higher Logic Vanilla) community
  data model, derived from id-reference fields in the platform-generated
  OpenAPI schemas. Core content entities (Discussion, Comment) hang off
  Category and User; moderation entities (Report, Escalation) reference
  content polymorphically via recordType/recordID; nearly every entity carries
  insertUserID/updateUserID audit references (insertUserID appears on 27
  schemas).
entities:
  - name: User
    id_field: userID
    notes: Central actor; audit fields insertUserID/updateUserID on most other entities point here.
  - name: Discussion
    id_field: discussionID
    notes: Also represents questions, polls, and ideas (postTypeID) with a workflow statusID.
  - name: Comment
    id_field: commentID
  - name: Category
    id_field: categoryID
  - name: Tag
    id_field: tagID
  - name: Role
    id_field: roleID
  - name: Conversation
    id_field: conversationID
    notes: Private messaging; messages via /messages.
  - name: Report
    id_field: reportID
    notes: Moderation report on a record (polymorphic recordID).
  - name: Escalation
    id_field: escalationID
    notes: Moderation escalation workflow over reported records.
  - name: Collection
    id_field: collectionID
relationships:
  - {from: Discussion, to: Category, kind: belongs_to, via: categoryID}
  - {from: Discussion, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: insertUserID}
  - {from: Discussion, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: lastUserID}
  - {from: Discussion, to: Status, kind: belongs_to, via: statusID}
  - {from: Discussion, to: PostType, kind: belongs_to, via: postTypeID}
  - {from: Comment, to: Discussion, kind: belongs_to, via: discussionID}
  - {from: Comment, to: Comment, kind: belongs_to, via: parentCommentID}
  - {from: Comment, to: Category, kind: belongs_to, via: categoryID}
  - {from: Comment, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: insertUserID}
  - {from: User, to: Rank, kind: belongs_to, via: rankID}
  - {from: User, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: inviteUserID}
  - {from: User, to: Role, kind: has_many, via: "roles[] on GET /users/{id}"}
  - {from: Report, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: reportedUserID}
  - {from: Report, to: Record (Discussion/Comment), kind: belongs_to, via: recordID (polymorphic with recordType)}
  - {from: Escalation, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: assignedUserID}
  - {from: Escalation, to: Record (Discussion/Comment), kind: belongs_to, via: recordID (polymorphic)}
  - {from: Escalation, to: Comment, kind: belongs_to, via: lastCommentID}
  - {from: Conversation, to: User, kind: belongs_to, via: insertUserID}
  - {from: Category, to: Discussion, kind: has_many, via: categoryID}
  - {from: Discussion, to: Comment, kind: has_many, via: discussionID}
conventions:
  audit_fields: insertUserID (27 schemas) and updateUserID (12 schemas) reference User on nearly every entity
  polymorphism: recordType + recordID (20 schemas) reference content polymorphically (moderation, reactions, media attachments)
  foreign_sso: foreignID fields (5 schemas) carry SSO identifiers; smart IDs resolve them (conventions/vanilla-forums-conventions.yml)