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Temporal Namespace

Open source and Temporal Cloud

This page covers core namespace concepts that apply to both open source Temporal and Temporal Cloud.

Temporal Cloud namespaces include additional capabilities, such as API key and mTLS authentication, built-in role-based access controls, high availability replication, and namespace tags.

Moving from self-hosting to Cloud, or the reverse, requires zero code changes and incurs zero downtime.

A Namespace is a unit of isolation within the Temporal Platform.

Task Queues and Workflow Executions belong to a Namespace. When a Workflow Execution is spawned, it does so within a specific Namespace.

Usage​

  • Workflow ID uniqueness: Temporal guarantees a unique Workflow Id within a Namespace. Workflow Executions may have the same Workflow Id if they are in different Namespaces.
  • Resource isolation: Heavy traffic from one Namespace will not impact other Namespaces running on the same Temporal Service.
  • Configuration boundaries: Options like the Retention Period and Archival destination are configured per Namespace.
  • Default Namespace: If no Namespace is specified, the Temporal Service uses the Namespace "default" for all Temporal SDKs and the Temporal CLI. You must create a Namespace before using it in your Client.
  • Multi-tenancy: A single Namespace is still multi-tenant. Multiple applications or teams can share a Namespace, but must coordinate on Workflow ID and Task Queue naming to avoid conflicts.

Namespace operations​

For how to create and manage Namespaces: