Context Documents Not Appearing in DataHub Sidebar After Version 2.1 Upgrade – DataHub Customer Support Portal

Area: UI Issues

Sub-Area: Context Documents / Views Configuration

Issue

After upgrading to DataHub version 2.1, Context Documents that were previously visible in the left-side navigation sidebar may no longer appear, even though the documents themselves are being generated successfully and remain accessible via the right-side content panel. Affected users may see an empty sidebar panel, a non-expanding "Documents Home" entry, or zero results when searching within the left navigation panel. This behavior occurs consistently across all environments (e.g., staging and production) for any user subject to an active default View that does not explicitly include the Document entity type.

Error Messages

searchDocuments response: total: 0 (observed in network requests when a View URN filter is active and Documents are not included in the View)

You Might Be Asking

Why are my Context Documents not showing in the sidebar even though they were generated successfully?
Why did the Documents left navigation panel suddenly become empty after a recent upgrade?
Why does the Documents sidebar work when I remove my active View but not when a View is selected?
Did something change in DataHub 2.1 that affects how Views interact with Context Documents?

Solution

The root cause is a breaking change introduced in DataHub version 2.1: Context Documents must now be explicitly included in a View for them to appear in the sidebar. When a default View (personal or organization-wide) is active and does not include the Document entity type, the sidebar's document query includes a viewUrn filter that returns zero results — causing the panel to appear empty even though documents exist.

Follow these steps to diagnose and resolve the issue:

Check for a personal default View:
Navigate to your personal Views settings:
```
https://<your-instance>.datahubproject.io/settings/views/personal
```
Look for any View that is marked as your default. If one exists, note its name.
Check for an organization-wide (public) default View:
Navigate to your organization's public Views settings:
```
https://<your-instance>.datahubproject.io/settings/views/public
```
Look for any View set as the organization default (for example, a persona-based view such as __default_technicalUser). Org-wide default Views affect all users assigned to that persona and can silently filter out Documents for the entire organization.
Resolve the View configuration using one of these options:
- Option A (Recommended short-term fix): Opt out of the default View by navigating to the public Views settings page and deselecting the active default View. Documents should reappear in the sidebar immediately after reloading the page.
- Option B (Recommended long-term fix): Edit the default View and explicitly add Document as an allowed entity type. This allows the View to remain active while also displaying Context Documents in the sidebar.
```
Steps to edit a View:
1. Go to Settings → Views (Personal or Public)
2. Click the edit icon on the relevant default View
3. In the entity type selector, enable "Document"
4. Save the View
```
Verify the fix:
Reload the Documents page. The left-side navigation panel should now display the full hierarchical document tree. You can also confirm the fix by inspecting the network request for searchDocuments — the response should now return a non-zero total count.

Additional Notes

Breaking change in v2.1: Prior to version 2.1, active Views did not filter Context Document visibility in the sidebar. Documents appeared regardless of which View was selected. This behavior changed in v2.1, where Views now gate all entity types including Documents. This change was not clearly communicated in the UI at the time of release.
Planned UX improvement in v2.2: The DataHub engineering team has acknowledged this as a poor user experience and has planned improvements for version 2.2 that will make it visually obvious when a View is active and is filtering the Documents page. Until that version is released, users must manually check their View settings when documents appear to be missing.
Scope of impact: This issue affects any user or organization that has a default View applied — whether personal or org-wide — that was created before the v2.1 requirement to explicitly include Documents. Persona-based org-wide Views (e.g., role-based default Views) are particularly likely to cause this issue at scale, as they affect all users assigned to that persona silently.
Right-panel workaround: While investigating, note that the right-side content panel on the Documents Home page is not affected by this issue. Top-level document sections will still render there and can be used for navigation in the interim.
Views UX feedback: This issue highlights a broader UX gap where active Views can affect many areas of the product without surfacing clear visual indicators to users. This feedback has been shared with the DataHub product team for consideration across the platform, not just the Documents UI.

Issue

Error Messages

You Might Be Asking

Solution

Additional Notes

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