What is data provenance in Apache NiFi and how do you access it?

Data provenance in NiFi is the complete, immutable audit trail of everything that happens to every FlowFile from when it enters until it leaves or is dropped. NiFi records a provenance event automatically for every significant action — no explicit configuration is required.

Provenance event types include: RECEIVE (data enters NiFi), SEND (data sent to external destination), FETCH, CREATE, FORK (FlowFile split into multiple), JOIN (FlowFiles merged), CLONE, CONTENT_MODIFIED, ATTRIBUTES_MODIFIED, DROP, and REPLAY.

Each event records: timestamp, event type, duration, FlowFile UUID, attributes before and after, the component that processed it, SHA-256 content hashes, and transit URI (the actual endpoint URL for SEND/RECEIVE).

Access provenance via the NiFi global menu → Data Provenance. Search by FlowFile UUID, filename, content size, processor, or time range. From a FORK event you can navigate to child FlowFiles; from JOIN to parents — reconstructing complete lineage. The Replay button on RECEIVE or CONTENT_MODIFIED events re-injects that exact FlowFile state back into the flow, invaluable for debugging and reprocessing.

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