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CapabilityData & Persistence

Data federation

Reading data that lives in another system as if it were local — by federating the query, by copying the rows, or by caching what was read. Three different answers to one question, and the choice is about how stale you can afford to be.

Overview

SAP SHIPSby design
Node.js →

cds-federation-synonyms An experimental CAP plugin for CAP-to-CAP data federation over SAP HANA synonyms, so one project reads another's tables without the rows being copied.

@sap/cds Shows service-level replication as application code in the Data Federation guide: about forty lines in the xtravels sample that turn each @federated entity into a table, schedule a replicate handler with the runtime's scheduling API and upsert the rows newer than the local maximum of modifiedAt. The runtime supplies the annotation, the scheduling and the remote query; the loop is the application's own.

Not covered: At the pattern. The guide's replication is code the application owns, published as a sample and not as a runtime feature, and the integration overview names HANA virtual tables and SAP data products without a page for them yet. Delta beyond one timestamp, retries, run history and tenant-aware replicas are what the entries here add.

Shown as code the application owns, in @sap/cds's documentation, in xtravels
SourceServices & Platform Integration — capirechecked
THE COMMUNITY ADDS

@cap-js-community/commoncds-data-federationcds-data-pipeline

Licence1

LicenceSAP Developer License Agreement 3.2 CAP§ 1AlwaysReplication by a covered CAP application moves data from an SAP product into a non-SAP product.
  • § 1 License. Productive customer applications are limited to SAP BTP or another SAP-licensed platform, and mass extraction to a non-SAP product is restricted except where solely required for SAP interoperability.

Section 1 restricts mass extraction to a non-SAP product and states a scoped interoperability exception. That boundary is central to a replication design and must be checked against the actual use.

SAP Developer License Agreement 3.2 CAP →
SourceSAP Developer License Agreement 3.2 CAPchecked

Artifacts5

5 of 5 artifacts
ArtifactSignals
CDS plugins3
cds-data-federationData federation for CAP via delegation, caching and replication
Signals
Use terms
cds-data-pipelineScheduled READ, MAP, WRITE pipelines between CAP services
Signals
Use terms
cds-federation-synonymsCAP-to-CAP data federation over SAP HANA synonyms
Signals
Functional boundary+1
Packages2
@cap-js-community/commonSix CAP features in one package, from replication cache to rate limits
Signals
Functional boundary
@sap/cdsCAP Node.js runtime
Signals
none

Content3

Group by
Piece, what it offers
Data federation1
CAP-level Data Federation
YouTube — SAP Developers playlists, SAP Developers, Talk
cds-federation-synonyms1
CAP-level Data Federation
YouTube — SAP Developers playlists, SAP Developers, Talk
cds-data-federation2
Federating, Replicating, and Caching Remote Data in CAP — Part 2
SAP Community, Mike Zaschka, part 2 of 2, BlogThe reasoningA recipeRunnable code
The Full Picture: Federating, Replicating, and Caching Remote Data in CAP — Part 1
SAP Community, Mike Zaschka, part 1 of 2, BlogThe reasoning

Seen working2

ArtifactSignals
Samples2
cap-replication-demoReplication between systems with CAP
No license
SAP-samples/recap2026-cap-level-data-federationreCAP 2026 workshop on data federation between CAP applications
none

Details

Coverage
statecore and community, CAP
assessed
relationshipnarrow by design
domainData & Persistence
also inBTP/BAIP
SourceServices & Platform Integration — capirechecked SourceCAP-level Data Federation — capirechecked SourceCAP-level Data Federation — capirechecked SourceCAP-level Data Federation — capirechecked
Comparison properties6

These are the questions used to compare what the artifacts do. Values come from their documentation and may apply to a particular ecosystem or runtime. Each recorded value in the comparison opens its statement and sources.

StrategyRefreshDelta handlingWrites reach the sourceReads fromWrites to
For your agent
Ref
capability:replication
JSON
/capabilities/replication.json
MCP
Connecting an agent