> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cortex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cortex.io/ingesting-data-into-cortex/entities-overview/entities/ownership/ownership-inheritance.md).
# Ownership inheritance
Rather than assigning owners to every entity individually, you can define ownership at the domain level and have it propagate to child entities. This is useful for large catalogs where many entities share a common accountable team.
Inheritance is configured per owner using the `inheritance` field in the `x-cortex-owners` block. If omitted, it defaults to `NONE`.
```yaml
openapi: 3.0.1
info:
title: Payments Platform
description: Domain covering all payments-related services and resources.
x-cortex-tag: payments-platform
x-cortex-type: domain
x-cortex-owners:
- type: group
name: payments-leads # owns this domain directly; no inheritance
provider: CORTEX
inheritance: NONE
- type: group
name: platform-engineering # appended as owner on all child entities
provider: CORTEX
inheritance: APPEND
- type: group
name: cortexapps/payments-team # fallback if a child has no other owners
provider: GITHUB
inheritance: FALLBACK
```
The three `inheritance` values behave as follows:
* **`APPEND`** - This owner is added to the owner list of every child entity, regardless of whether the child already has owners.
* **`FALLBACK`** - This owner is assigned to a child entity only if that child has no other valid owners (including other fallbacks). Note that `FALLBACK` applies to children only, not to the domain itself.
* **`NONE`** - This owner belongs to the domain but does not propagate to children.
You can also configure inheritance in the Cortex UI when [creating a domain](/ingesting-data-into-cortex/entities-overview/entities/adding-entities/domains.md) or [defining a relationship type](/ingesting-data-into-cortex/entities-overview/entities/defining-relationship-types.md).
## **Viewing the source of an inherited owner**
When ownership is layered across a hierarchy, it can be hard to tell why a particular team appears as an owner on a given entity. To trace it:
1. Navigate to the [entity details page](/ingesting-data-into-cortex/entities-overview/entities/details.md) of the entity.
2. In the [metadata sidebar](/ingesting-data-into-cortex/entities-overview/entities/details.md#configuring-the-entity-metadata-sidebar), locate the **Owners** section.
3. Next to an owner, click the **Inheritance chain** icon.
Cortex shows the source entity, the relationship type, and the rule (`APPEND` or `FALLBACK`) that caused the owner to propagate. The icon only appears for inherited owners; direct owners defined on the entity itself have no chain to display.
## Automatic discovery for AWS
{% hint style="info" %}
Cortex syncs ownership from AWS every day at 6 am UTC.
{% endhint %}
If your AWS resources are tagged with an `owner` tag, Cortex can use those tags to assign ownership automatically.
To enable this:
1. In AWS, tag your AWS resources with `owner: `, where the value matches the `x-cortex-tag` of the corresponding Cortex team.
2. In Cortex:
1. Click your avatar in the bottom-left corner, then select **Settings**.
2. From the **Settings** menu, scroll to the **Identity mappings** section.
3. Select **AWS**.
4. Enable **Sync ownership from AWS**.
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