UA-.NETStandard/docs/HistoricalAccess.md

Historical Access (OPC UA Part 11)

Contents

• Overview
• Architecture and Scope — what's implemented and how it fits together.
• Server developer guide — quick start, fluent builder, the registry, per-NodeManager wiring, annotations, configuration node.
• Provider author guide — interface-by-interface contract for a custom historian, including resume tokens, pagination, status codes, error semantics, and thread safety.
• Client developer guide — HistoryClient usage patterns.
• Automatic value capture
• Capability discovery and Auditing.
• Part 11 profile conformance catalog
• Limitations and roadmap

Overview

The .NET Standard stack implements OPC UA Part 11 Historical Access through a provider model. Use it to back historizing variables with any time-series storage engine. Opc.Ua.Server also includes an in-memory engine, so you can get started without extra packages.

Architecture

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      OPC UA Client                            │
│                                                               │
│  Opc.Ua.Client.Historian.HistoryClient                        │
│    ├ ReadRawAsync / ReadModifiedAsync     (IAsyncEnumerable)  │
│    ├ ReadAtTimeAsync / ReadProcessedAsync (IAsyncEnumerable)  │
│    ├ ReadAnnotationsAsync / ReadEventsAsync                   │
│    ├ InsertAsync / ReplaceAsync / UpdateAsync                 │
│    ├ InsertEventsAsync / ReplaceEventsAsync                   │
│    ├ UpdateEventsAsync / DeleteEventsAsync                    │
│    ├ DeleteRawAsync / DeleteAtTimeAsync                       │
│    ├ UpdateStructureDataAsync / WriteAnnotationsAsync         │
│    ├ GetServerCapabilitiesAsync / GetConfigurationAsync       │
│    └ session.Historian() extension                            │
└──────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
           │  HistoryRead / HistoryUpdate (binary or HTTPS)
           ▼
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      OPC UA Server                            │
│                                                               │
│  Opc.Ua.Server.AsyncCustomNodeManager / CustomNodeManager2    │
│    HistoryReadAsync / HistoryUpdateAsync                      │
│      ↓ validates + dispatches by detail type                  │
│  Opc.Ua.Server.Historian.HistorianDispatcher                  │
│    ├ resolves provider per node                               │
│    │   (per-NM override → registry → fallback)                │
│    └ reports audit events on update                           │
│  Opc.Ua.Server.Historian.IHistorianProvider                   │
│    ├ IHistorianDataProvider          (raw + Insert/Replace…)  │
│    ├ IHistorianModifiedProvider                               │
│    ├ IHistorianAtTimeProvider             (optional)          │
│    ├ IHistorianProcessedProvider          (optional)          │
│    ├ IHistorianAnnotationProvider                             │
│    ├ IHistorianEventProvider                                  │
│    └ IHistorianTransactionalProvider      (optional, atomic)  │
│      │                                                        │
│      ↓ provider implementations:                              │
│   InMemoryHistorianProvider, your tsdb adapter, …             │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Scope

This release ships the following Part 11 capabilities:

Feature	Status
Read raw history	✅ Shipped
Read modified history	✅ Shipped — HistoryClient.ReadModifiedAsync returns each DataValue with its ModificationInfo.
Read processed (aggregates)	✅ Shipped — the server rejects aggregate identifiers not registered with AggregateManager before provider execution, then uses native provider push-down or the streaming calculator fallback. All 37 Part 13 v1.05.07 functions; see the Aggregates (Part 13) guide.
Read at-time	✅ Shipped via interpolation fallback or provider push-down
Insert / Replace / Update raw values	✅ Shipped — HistoryUpdate uses per-value best-effort, including providers with explicit atomic batch APIs
Delete raw / Delete at-time	✅ Shipped
Annotations (read / write / delete)	✅ Shipped — server dispatcher routes the Annotations Property to the parent variable's IHistorianAnnotationProvider. Fluent Historize(...) auto-creates the Annotations property and sets its access-level bits when the provider advertises InsertAnnotation. Client supports single and batched writes/removes through WriteAnnotationAsync, WriteAnnotationsAsync, and UpdateStructureDataAsync.
HistoryServerCapabilities population	✅ Shipped (union of registered providers). AggregateFunctions folder populated by AggregateManager.RegisterFactoryAsync → DiagnosticsNodeManager.AddAggregateFunctionAsync.
Event history (read / write / delete)	✅ Shipped — IHistorianEventProvider, queued automatic capture after both synchronous and asynchronous live event forwarding, dispatcher event paths, InMemoryHistorianProvider event store, and full HistoryClient read/insert/replace/update/delete APIs. Select clauses use complete type/attribute/path/range identity and WhereClause is evaluated server-side.
HistoricalDataConfigurationType	✅ Shipped — install asynchronously with await HistorianBuilder.HistorizeAsync(variable, systemContext, ...).
Fluent registration	✅ Shipped — server.UseHistorian().UseInMemoryProvider().RegisterAsDefault().
Audit events for HistoryUpdate	✅ Shipped — dispatcher reports value, annotation, raw-delete, at-time-delete, event-update, and event-delete audit events using provider-returned old values.

Server developer guide

Quick start: in-memory provider

using Opc.Ua.Server;
using Opc.Ua.Server.Historian;
using Opc.Ua.Server.Historian.InMemory;

// inside your NodeManager (subclass of AsyncCustomNodeManager):
private InMemoryHistorianProvider _historian = new();

public MyNodeManager(IServerInternal server, ApplicationConfiguration configuration, string ns)
    : base(server, configuration, ns)
{
    // ...standard setup...
}

protected override IHistorianProvider? GetHistorianProvider(NodeState node)
{
    return _historian;
}

// Mark a variable as historizing and (optionally) seed initial samples:
var temperature = new BaseDataVariableState<double>(parent)
{
    NodeId = new NodeId("Temperature", NamespaceIndex),
    BrowseName = "Temperature",
    DataType = DataTypeIds.Double,
    Historizing = true,
    AccessLevel = (byte)(AccessLevels.CurrentRead
                        | AccessLevels.HistoryRead
                        | AccessLevels.HistoryWrite),
};
_historian.Register(temperature.NodeId);

The bundled provider retains one hour of raw data per variable by default. Configure a different source-timestamp window, combine it with a hard sample cap, or explicitly restore process-lifetime retention:

var bounded = new InMemoryHistorianProvider(new InMemoryHistorianOptions
{
    RawDataRetentionPeriod = TimeSpan.FromHours(24),
    MaxSamplesPerNode = 100_000
});

var unbounded = new InMemoryHistorianProvider(new InMemoryHistorianOptions
{
    RawDataRetentionPeriod = TimeSpan.Zero
});

When both limits are set, the provider enforces both. Raw retention uses UTC wall-clock time, not the newest stored timestamp. A future-dated sample cannot move the retention horizon or erase current history. The cutoff is inclusive: a sample exactly one retention period old is retained; an older insert or inserting update returns BadOutOfRange without creating an INSERT modification. A full sample-count archive likewise rejects an entry whose composite key would cause it to be evicted immediately. Expired raw values are also removed on reads, except for the newest stored value at or before the cutoff: it remains the retained window's start bound, including when a value has not changed during the entire window. A value exactly at the cutoff supersedes any older start bound. The hard sample cap still applies to this bound. Raw reads and the at-time/processed fallbacks share this retained archive, so reading raw history does not erase a bound needed by subsequent interpolation or aggregation.

For deterministic replay, inject a TimeProvider into new InMemoryHistorianProvider(options, timeProvider), or explicitly set RawDataRetentionPeriod = TimeSpan.Zero. The fluent builder uses the server's injected clock automatically. Deleting a newer value does not rewind time or make expired backfill valid again. The once-seeded ReferenceServer and TestData sample histories explicitly use unbounded raw retention.

Modified history has a separate finite default of 10,000 entries per node, controlled by MaxModifiedEntriesPerNode; set it to zero only when unbounded modified history is intentional. Its FIFO log and composite-key prior-value index keep eviction and raw ExtraData lookup independent of total historical traffic. Explicit HistoryUpdate inserts remain visible as INSERT modifications, but do not set ExtraData by themselves. Retained prior versions or associated annotations set that bit consistently on raw, exact-time, and bounding values. The bulk auto-capture path does not create INSERT modification copies.

The one-hour raw retention period and 10,000-entry modified-history capacity are in-memory provider policies, not OPC UA defaults. Rejection of a timestamp outside the archive's supported range follows Part 11, 6.9.2.2. INSERT modification records follow Part 11, 6.5.3.3; the separate ExtraData conditions are defined in Part 11, 6.5.3.2.

Fluent builder (server.UseHistorian()…)

For the most common case — one provider per server, default fallback — use the fluent builder. It rolls up provider registration, per-variable Historizing/access-level flags, optional Annotations property creation, and asynchronous HistoricalDataConfigurationType installation:

using Opc.Ua.Server.Historian;
using Opc.Ua.Server.Historian.InMemory;

// inside your NodeManager.CreateAddressSpace:
HistorianBuilder historian = Server
    .UseHistorian()
    .UseInMemoryProvider()          // or .UseProvider(yourProvider)
    .RegisterAsDefault();           // make the provider the server-wide fallback

await historian.HistorizeAsync(
    temperature,
    SystemContext,
    historyAccessLevel: AccessLevels.HistoryRead | AccessLevels.HistoryWrite,
    capabilities: HistorianNodeCapabilities.ReadWrite);

historian.Historize(
    pressure,
    historyAccessLevel: AccessLevels.HistoryRead | AccessLevels.HistoryWrite,
    systemContext: SystemContext,
    capabilities: HistorianNodeCapabilities.ReadWrite);

historyAccessLevel defaults to AccessLevels.HistoryRead: a historized variable is read-only for HistoryUpdate unless HistoryWrite is requested explicitly.

HistorianBuilder ships three explicit registration scopes — pick the one that matches the scope of your storage backend:

Method	Binds	Use when
RegisterAsDefault()	All historizing nodes not covered by a more specific binding.	One global store for everything.
RegisterForNamespace("urn:my-app:vars")	Every node whose NodeId namespace matches.	Per-tenant or per-domain stores.
RegisterForNode(nodeId)	Single node.	Specialised stores for high-frequency signals.

Resolution precedence is deterministic — see Provider resolution order below.

Fluent server API integration (builder.Variable<T>(...).Historize())

The historian surface is also reachable from the standard Opc.Ua.Server.Fluent builder used by source-generated node managers — historization fits in the same Configure(INodeManagerBuilder) chain as OnRead / OnWrite / OnCall / Publish<TEvent>:

using Opc.Ua.Server.Fluent;       // exposes UseHistorian/Historize/WithHistorian
using Opc.Ua.Server.Historian;

[NodeManager(NamespaceUri = "http://example.com/Plant/")]
public partial class PlantNodeManager
{
    partial void Configure(INodeManagerBuilder builder)
    {
        // Provision once: in-memory engine, registered as the default.
        HistorianBuilder hist = builder.UseHistorian();
        hist.UseInMemory();
        hist.RegisterAsDefault();

        // Variable-typed Historize() — most common form.
        builder.Variable<double>("Temperature")
               .OnRead(GetTemperature)
               .Historize();
    }
}

The fluent surface ships three entry points (extension methods on the standard builder interfaces):

Method	Use case
builder.UseHistorian()	Returns a per-manager HistorianBuilder cached in a ConditionalWeakTable keyed by the INodeManagerBuilder. Subsequent Historize() calls inherit this default. Calling it more than once on the same manager returns the same instance.
variable.Historize(...)	Opts the variable in to historization. Without a prior UseHistorian() call (and without a per-call provider argument), the call lazily creates an in-memory provider and registers it as the server-wide default — the "just works" path. Returns the same builder so the chain can continue.
variable.WithHistorian(provider)	Binds a specific IHistorianProvider to the variable's NodeId. Per-node bindings take precedence over the default, so this is the right knob for per-signal storage routing.

Per-call overrides on Historize(...):

// Per-call provider — bypasses the cached default for this one variable.
builder.Variable<int>("AuditLog")
       .OnRead(GetAuditValue)
       .Historize(provider: mySqliteProvider);

// History is read-only by default (historyAccessLevel = HistoryRead).
// HistoryUpdate needs an explicit opt-in; restrict it with RolePermissions.
builder.Variable<double>("CorrectableSetpoint")
       .Historize(
           historyAccessLevel: AccessLevels.HistoryRead | AccessLevels.HistoryWrite);

// Per-call capabilities — the same HistorianNodeCapabilities POCO the
// HistorianBuilder uses; propagated to the provider's GetCapabilitiesAsync.
builder.Variable<double>("ReadOnlySensor")
       .OnRead(GetReading)
       .Historize(capabilities: new HistorianNodeCapabilities
       {
           InsertData = false, ReplaceData = false,
           DeleteRaw = false, DeleteAtTime = false,
       });

// The archive owns the live Historizing state. Register history access and
// provider routing without overwriting the current attribute value.
builder.Variable<double>("ArchiveControlled")
       .Historize(
           historizing: null,
           autoCapture: false);

The nullable historizing argument controls only the OPC UA BaseVariableState.Historizing attribute:

Value	Behavior
true (default)	Sets Historizing = true, preserving existing fluent behavior.
false	Explicitly sets Historizing = false.
null	Leaves the current provider- or application-owned value unchanged.

Provider registration, requested HistoryRead / HistoryWrite access bits, historical configuration installation, and automatic capture are independent from this attribute choice.

Source-generated typed traversal works the same way — the trailing .Historize() attaches to any IVariableBuilder<T>:

partial void Configure(IBoilerNodeManagerBuilder builder)
{
    builder.Boilers.Boiler__1.LCX001.Measurement
           .OnRead(GenerateLevelControlMeasurement)
           .Historize();
}

No GetHistorianProvider(...) override is required on the manager — the fluent path writes into the server-wide IHistorianProviderRegistry so the dispatcher's normal precedence (per-NM override → registry NodeId → namespace → default) picks the provider automatically.

Per-NodeManager GetHistorianProvider override

Both AsyncCustomNodeManager and CustomNodeManager2 expose a virtual hook that lets a node manager veto / customise provider resolution for nodes it owns:

protected override IHistorianProvider? GetHistorianProvider(NodeState node)
{
    if (node.NodeId.NamespaceIndex == NamespaceIndex)
    {
        return _historian;          // my variables go to my historian
    }
    return null;                    // fall through to the server-wide registry
}

Returning null lets the dispatcher fall through to the server-wide registry; returning non-null short-circuits the registry lookup for that node.

Server-wide registry (IHistorianRegistryProvider)

ServerInternalData exposes the historian registry via the optional side-door interface IHistorianRegistryProvider:

if (server is IHistorianRegistryProvider registryProvider)
{
    IHistorianProviderRegistry registry = registryProvider.HistorianRegistry;
    registry.RegisterDefault(_historian);
    registry.RegisterForNamespace("urn:my-app:vars", _vendorTsdb);
    registry.RegisterForNode(myNodeId, _archive);

    // Unregister is supported too:
    registry.UnregisterForNamespace("urn:my-app:vars");
    registry.UnregisterForNode(myNodeId);
    registry.ClearDefault();
}

The interface lives next to the historian types in Opc.Ua.Server.Historian so that mocks of IServerInternal don't need to implement it; production servers built on ServerInternalData always satisfy the check.

Provider resolution order

For every HistoryRead / HistoryUpdate operation the dispatcher resolves the provider in this order:

1. Per-NodeManager override — GetHistorianProvider(node) is called first. Non-null wins.
2. Server-wide registry — searched in RegisterForNode → RegisterForNamespace → RegisterDefault order.
3. Fallback — if all of the above return null, the dispatcher returns BadHistoryOperationUnsupported.

Startup advertisement reconciliation

At server startup, AsyncCustomNodeManager reconciles every variable that advertises history (Historizing, AccessLevels.HistoryRead, or AccessLevels.HistoryWrite) with the provider resolution order above. If no IHistorianProvider is wired for a variable, the server clears Historizing and masks the history bits from AccessLevel, UserAccessLevel, AccessLevelEx, and the attribute read callbacks.

This is intentional for companion NodeSets: many official models mark variables as historizing because the model permits history, but a particular server instance may not archive those variables. Variables configured with .Historize(...), WithHistorian(...), a namespace or default historian registration, or a node-manager GetHistorianProvider(...) override keep their advertised history surface. See Server address-space metadata for the startup sequence.

Hosted registrations are staged before MasterNodeManager startup, so reconciliation and the initial HistoryServerCapabilities rollup see the configured provider. Distributed historians also complete validation, recovery, continuation-store initialization, fencing, and leader-election startup through IServerPreStartupTask before any NodeManager is exposed. Startup fails if this consistency initialization fails.

Annotations

Annotations live on a historizing variable's Annotations property (HasProperty, DataType = Annotation, ValueRank = OneDimension). Clients address that property; the dispatcher translates it to the parent variable NodeId before invoking the provider.

The dispatcher prefers IHistorianTimestampedAnnotationProvider when available. Its HistorianAnnotation payload preserves the source timestamp of the annotated value separately from Annotation.AnnotationTime. The in-memory archive identifies an annotation by (SourceTimestamp, AnnotationTime): equal annotation times on different values do not collide, and replacement cannot move an annotation to a different value.

Timestamped reads filter and order by source time, then annotation time. Both directions support exclusive composite resume tokens, bounded pages, and open-ended quotas. Exact-time reads return every annotation at that source time. The IHistorianAnnotationProvider interface remains available for backends that key annotations by annotation time alone: writes map source time to annotation time, and reads order/filter by annotation time. Use the timestamped API to update annotations whose two timestamps differ.

The standard-history access path is defined in Part 11, 5.1.2; 6.6.6 distinguishes annotation creation time from the annotated value's source timestamp. The composite identity and tie-break ordering above are the provider's documented storage contract, not a claim that OPC UA mandates that exact database key.

Annotation updates preserve one result for every input DataValue, including BadInvalidArgument placeholders for null or undecodable values. A provider response with the wrong result count becomes BadUnexpectedError for each requested item rather than shifting subsequent statuses.

The fluent builder auto-creates the property when the supplied capabilities advertise InsertAnnotation = true:

.Historize(
    temperature,
    systemContext: SystemContext,
    capabilities: new HistorianNodeCapabilities { InsertAnnotation = true, /* … */ })

When the capability is set but the property already exists (e.g. from a nodeset XML), the builder reuses it and only adjusts access-level bits.

HistoricalDataConfigurationType companion object

The Part 11 §5.2.3 companion object is installed asynchronously:

Mode	Argument	Behavior
Installed	await builder.HistorizeAsync(variable, context, ...)	Awaits provider capability discovery and installs the companion before returning.
Off	builder.Historize(variable, ...)	No companion object. Clients see only the historical value.

The companion's property values are populated from HistorianNodeCapabilities.Stepped / Definition / MaxTimeInterval / MinTimeInterval / ExceptionDeviation / StartOfArchive — populate these on the capability set you pass to Historize(...).

Aggregate-filtered monitored items

AsyncCustomNodeManager resolves the node's historian when it validates an AggregateFilter. When a historian resolves, the revised processing interval honors the monitored-item sampling interval, the server-wide minimum, and the provider's MinTimeInterval (or MaxTimeInterval when no minimum is supplied). ServerAggregateFilter.Stepped and server-default AggregateConfiguration values come from the same per-node HistorianNodeCapabilities. The returned AggregateFilterResult contains these revised values. If the queue window requires advancing StartTime, it is clamped directly to the earliest time retained by the queue.

Without a resolved historian, the existing aggregate revision behavior is preserved: the processing interval is at least the monitored-item sampling interval and the start time is clamped directly to the retained queue window.

When a revised aggregate StartTime is in the past and the provider implements IHistorianDataProvider, the async node-manager path:

• Reads raw history from StartTime to one captured server time.
• Queues the history oldest-to-newest before live delivery begins.
• Buffers live values that arrive during the read, then delivers them after the historical window. It never queues the current value ahead of history.

The following cases keep the normal current-value initialization:

• The start time is in the future.
• The monitored attribute is not Value.
• The node has no raw historian.

If a provider read fails, the server queues an error notification and keeps the monitored item active for later live values; it does not silently fall back. If the live-value buffer overflows, creation fails because the server can no longer guarantee history-to-live ordering.

The server protects required priming-error notifications while the live queue size is greater than one. A queue size of one retains only the newest notification, even after a resize. Later samples can replace an error before publication, as specified in Part 4, 5.13.1.5. Growing a single-value queue does not restore protection.

Priming protection is transient queue state. Durable restore retains the monitored-item definition, last value or error, and stored raw queue values. It does not restore priming protection or synthesize a notification missing from the stored queue. The sample store uses format 1; shared-store definitions use format 3. The system does not support interim formats with notification-priority metadata (sample format 2 and shared format 4).

Modifying an existing monitored item to a past-start aggregate uses the same history-before-live handoff whenever the aggregate calculator changes. Equivalent filter revisions do not replay history or replace the calculator. If post-commit priming fails, the existing monitored item stays registered, queues an error notification under the same queue-size rules, and continues with later live values.

Custom monitored-item implementations can preserve the same ordering by implementing IInitialValueMonitoredItem.

Part 4, 7.22.4 allows past start times and server revision; it does not require every server to read history or prescribe where aggregation is implemented. This stack supports historical initialization when the resolved provider can supply it. AggregationFilterHandler owns calculator changes, bounded live buffering, overlap identities, and aggregate output. MonitoredItem delegates that work while retaining its normal filtering, notification, and lifecycle responsibilities. The effective filter has one IMonitoringFilter owner: protocol filters expose themselves directly, while AggregationFilterHandler retains the current definition during preparation and commits its replacement atomically with the monitored-item change. The original client filter remains separate from the effective server-revised definition.

The synchronous CustomNodeManager path retains its synchronous aggregate revision and current-value initialization behavior; it does not block on asynchronous provider capabilities.

ServerSystemContext.Server

ServerSystemContext now exposes the underlying IServerInternal Server property, populated by every ctor. Use it instead of SystemHandle as IServerInternal — node managers freely set SystemHandle for their own per-manager state, so the cast is essentially never the server in production.

The historian dispatcher relies on systemContext.Server for:

• AggregateManager — used by the streaming processed-read fallback and aggregate defaults.
• Telemetry — used by audit-event reporting and the dispatcher's diagnostic logger.
• NamespaceUris / TypeTree — used by event WhereClause evaluation (when the provider doesn't push it down).
• IAuditEventServer — IServerInternal : IAuditEventServer, so the same reference doubles as the audit sink.

Provider author guide

A provider is a class that implements IHistorianProvider (the umbrella) plus any subset of the seven narrow capability interfaces. The dispatcher type-tests the concrete provider at runtime and routes calls accordingly — there is no central registration of capabilities, no virtual base class with thirty NotImplementedExceptions, and no factory.

Recommended base class

HistorianProviderBase is a tiny abstract base that pre-implements IHistorianProvider with sensible defaults (IsHistorizingAsync → true, GetCapabilitiesAsync → HistorianNodeCapabilities.ReadOnly) and exposes one helper:

public abstract class HistorianProviderBase : IHistorianProvider
{
    public virtual ValueTask<bool> IsHistorizingAsync(NodeId nodeId, CancellationToken ct);
    public virtual ValueTask<HistorianNodeCapabilities> GetCapabilitiesAsync(NodeId nodeId, CancellationToken ct);

    protected static ArrayOf<StatusCode> RepeatStatus(StatusCode code, int count);
}

Inherit from it and add the capability interfaces you support:

public sealed class MyTsdbProvider :
    HistorianProviderBase,
    IHistorianDataProvider,
    IHistorianModifiedProvider,
    IHistorianAnnotationProvider
{
    public override ValueTask<HistorianNodeCapabilities> GetCapabilitiesAsync(
        NodeId nodeId, CancellationToken ct)
        => new(new HistorianNodeCapabilities
        {
            InsertData = true,
            ReplaceData = true,
            UpdateData = true,
            DeleteRaw = true,
            DeleteAtTime = true,
            InsertAnnotation = true,
            ServerTimestampSupported = true,
            // Stepped / Definition / MaxTimeInterval / … are used to populate
            // HistoricalDataConfigurationType when installed.
        });

    // … capability methods …
}

Capability interfaces

Interface	Required for	Notes
IHistorianProvider	Every provider	Umbrella — IsHistorizingAsync, GetCapabilitiesAsync.
IHistorianDataProvider	Raw read + Insert / Replace / Update / DeleteRaw / DeleteAtTime	Core read+write surface.
IHistorianModifiedProvider	Modified history	INSERT records and retained prior versions with modification metadata.
IHistorianAtTimeProvider	Native at-time reads	Optional. Framework falls back to interpolation over raw reads if absent.
IHistorianProcessedProvider	Native aggregate push-down	Optional. Framework falls back to streaming through AggregateManager if absent.
IHistorianAnnotationProvider	Annotations keyed by annotation time	Maps source time to AnnotationTime on writes.
IHistorianTimestampedAnnotationProvider	Timestamped annotations	Keys and pages by both timestamps.
IHistorianEventProvider	Event history	Read / Insert / Replace / Update / Delete events keyed by EventId.
IHistorianStructuredDataProvider	StructuredHistoryData (Part 11 §6.8.3)	Update-only. Entries are keyed by the composite HistoricalValueKey; reads go through the raw / modified / at-time interfaces.
IHistorianTransactionalProvider	Atomic batch updates	Optional. Application callers explicitly select atomic methods; the HistoryUpdate dispatcher always uses per-value methods.

Implement only what your backend supports. The dispatcher returns BadHistoryOperationUnsupported for operations the resolved provider doesn't implement.

HistorianOperationContext

Every read/write method receives a HistorianOperationContext:

public sealed class HistorianOperationContext
{
    public ServerSystemContext SystemContext { get; }   // includes Server, NamespaceUris, TypeTable, Telemetry
    public OperationContext   OperationContext { get; } // session, request type, locales
    public NodeState?         Node { get; }             // resolved variable / notifier, may be null
    public ModificationInfo   DefaultModificationInfo { get; }
}

DefaultModificationInfo is pre-populated with the current UTC time, the calling session's UserName, and the appropriate HistoryUpdateType (Insert / Replace / Update / Delete) for the call. Stamp it verbatim on modified-history entries unless your backend supplies stronger audit metadata.

Node may be null — historians that hold data for nodes no longer in the address space (deleted variables, archived devices) must still service read requests for them, so don't deref Node unconditionally.

Read pagination — HistorianResumeToken and HistorianPage<T>

For raw and timestamped annotation reads, MaxValues is the client's NumValuesPerNode; PageLimit is the server's per-page limit. The in-memory provider uses the minimum nonzero limit, additionally capped at 1,000 items. For a bounded time window the client limit applies to each page, with a continuation for remaining data. For an open-ended request it limits the total across all pages, so the cursor carries the remaining quota. Bounds count toward the raw-read quota. Portable annotation continuations retain both limits in codec version 5; the codec still reads earlier envelope versions.

This distinction follows Part 11, 6.5.3.1 and 6.5.3.2: with both endpoints and a count, additional values in the specified time domain require a continuation; with only one endpoint, the count defines the extent of that domain. 6.3 permits smaller server responses but never a response above the client maximum. The 1,000-item cap is a provider resource limit, not a replacement for the client's count or an OPC UA fixed page size.

Read methods return ValueTask<HistorianPage<T>>. A page is:

public readonly record struct HistorianPage<T>(
    ArrayOf<T> Values,
    HistorianResumeToken NextToken = default)
{
    public bool IsFinal => NextToken.IsEmpty;   // computed
}

A resume token is opaque bytes:

public readonly record struct HistorianResumeToken(ByteString State)
{
    public bool IsEmpty => State.IsEmpty;
}

Pagination rules:

1. On the first page, the framework passes a default (empty) token.
2. On subsequent pages, the framework passes back the exact NextToken from the previous page.
3. To indicate "no more pages", return a page with a default (empty) NextToken. IsFinal becomes true automatically.
4. Do not put live resources (cursors, transactions, connections) into a token. The token is serialised to the wire as the OPC UA continuation point and can outlive the originating task. Encode just enough state (typically the next timestamp or a keyset offset) to resume cleanly.

Resuming a continuation is an atomic claim. The dispatcher keeps the claimed state unchanged until it has durably saved a fresh successor. Provider, filtering, projection, encoding, cancellation, and successor-persistence failures restore the original continuation so the client can retry the same identifier. A successful page retires the old identifier, preserving single-use semantics.

The shared continuation store gives each persisted envelope a distinct incarnation. Deferred cleanup conditionally deletes only that exact protected record, so a delayed cleanup cannot delete a restored continuation with the same identifier. Indeterminate save failures schedule the same conditional cleanup whether they were creating a record or replacing a claim marker.

The asynchronous release path claims the portable record before acknowledging release. Synchronous session teardown only schedules cleanup and is not a crash-durable acknowledgement. Orderly store disposal drains queued cleanup within a bounded grace period, then cancels outstanding work and reports the timeout through diagnostics. Retained envelopes are subject to the store's expiration checks when loaded or claimed.

A typical token encoding is the next sample's timestamp:

private static HistorianResumeToken EncodeTimestamp(DateTime ts)
{
    var bytes = new byte[8];
    BinaryPrimitives.WriteInt64LittleEndian(bytes, ts.ToBinary());
    return new HistorianResumeToken(ByteString.From(bytes));
}

private static DateTime DecodeTimestamp(HistorianResumeToken token)
    => token.IsEmpty
        ? DateTime.MinValue
        : DateTime.FromBinary(BinaryPrimitives.ReadInt64LittleEndian(token.State.Span));

Update semantics and status codes

All update methods return a HistorianUpdateOutcome<T>. Its OperationResults is an ArrayOf<StatusCode> with exactly one entry per input value; OldValues carries replaced or deleted values for auditing; DiagnosticInfos is either empty or aligned with OperationResults; and TransactionRolledBack identifies an atomic rollback. Providers never throw for per-value failures. Validate inputs and surface the per-value outcome:

Operation	Per-value success	Per-value expected failures
InsertAsync	Good / GoodEntryInserted	BadEntryExists when the source timestamp is already present.
ReplaceAsync	Good / GoodEntryReplaced	BadNoEntryExists when no entry exists at the timestamp.
UpdateAsync (upsert)	GoodEntryInserted or GoodEntryReplaced	n/a (insert if absent, replace if present).
DeleteRawAsync	Good for the whole range	BadInvalidArgument etc. for malformed ranges; do not fail per-sample. Returns a single StatusCode, not a list.
DeleteAtTimeAsync	Good per timestamp	Deletes every raw or structured entry at that source timestamp, including each composite uniqueness key. Returns BadNoEntryExists when the exact timestamp has nothing to delete.
Annotation variants	Same patterns, keyed by AnnotationTime.	Same status codes.
Event variants	Same patterns, keyed by EventId.	BadNoEntryExists / BadEntryExists.

SourceTimestamp uniqueness rule: a historizing variable has at most one live value per source timestamp. Explicit HistoryUpdate Insert operations log the inserted value as an INSERT modified-history entry, and Update operations that create a new entry do the same. Replace logs the prior value in modified history; subsequent replaces overwrite the live value but each Replace adds another modification entry. Automatic live-value capture uses the bulk insert path and does not create modified-history entries.

DeleteRaw interval semantics: the framework supplies a half-open interval [startTime, endTime). Providers must delete every value whose SourceTimestamp falls in that interval. The isDeleteModified flag selects whether the modified-history log is cleared instead of the live values.

Atomic batch updates (IHistorianTransactionalProvider)

The HistoryUpdate service uses per-value best-effort updates even when the provider implements IHistorianTransactionalProvider. A conflicting or invalid value gets its own failure status while applicable values are persisted. This preserves the one-result-per-value contract of Part 4 §5.11.5.2 and the Insert/Replace status semantics of Part 11 §6.9.2. OPC UA has no client flag for requesting an atomic HistoryUpdate.

Behavior change: implementing the transaction interface no longer implicitly makes service requests atomic. Applications that require all-or-nothing updates can call InsertAtomicAsync, ReplaceAtomicAsync, or UpdateAtomicAsync explicitly on the provider. Those methods retain their existing contract:

• If every input value is applicable, return one success status per value and commit.
• If any value cannot be applied, return the per-value failure code(s) and roll back the entire batch — the archive is left in its pre-call state.

The in-memory provider projects only the current batch's changes. Uncapped stores do not copy or sort existing archive keys. With a sample cap, preflight merges batch-added keys with an ordered cursor over the archive prefix that would be evicted, keeping projection work proportional to the batch rather than total archive size. It tracks retention-bound replacement and quota eviction in input order, preserving duplicate/replacement decisions and per-operation rollback statuses before committing.

Modified history

Implement IHistorianModifiedProvider if your backend retains prior versions of replaced/deleted values plus the audit ModificationInfo. ReadModifiedAsync returns HistorianPage<ModifiedDataValue>, where:

public readonly record struct ModifiedDataValue(DataValue Value, ModificationInfo Info);

Info.UpdateType distinguishes inserted (Insert), replaced (Replace) and deleted (Delete) entries. Explicit HistoryUpdate inserts, including Update operations that insert a missing value, carry the inserted value. Automatic live-value capture is not a HistoryUpdate and does not populate modified history. Info.UserName and Info.ModificationTime come from the original update's HistorianOperationContext.DefaultModificationInfo.

Modified history is ordered by (SourceTimestamp, ModificationTime, Sequence). The in-memory provider's keyset continuation carries the complete tuple, so paging remains lossless when a same-timestamp modification is added between pages; it also accepts legacy sequence-only tokens issued by earlier builds. The distributed provider instead pins an immutable archive generation and pages by offset.

The in-memory provider accepts equal start and end times as an inclusive exact-instant modified read, consistent with its raw, event and annotation reads. Only that source timestamp is returned; multiple modifications remain ordered and can span continuation pages.

Processed (aggregate) reads

If your backend can compute aggregates server-side (Cassandra / Influx / TimescaleDB downsampling, ksql window functions, etc.) implement IHistorianProcessedProvider. Otherwise omit the interface — the framework will:

1. Iterate IHistorianDataProvider.ReadRawAsync pages with ReturnBounds = true.
2. Stream raw values through the AggregateManager's IAggregateCalculator, using the node's Stepped setting and draining completed intervals after each sample.
3. Buffer the calculator output and emit it page-by-page back to the client (MaxValuesPerPage = 1000 per buffered page).

The fallback permits at most 100,000 buffered outputs. Exceeding that limit returns Bad_TooManyOperations before fetching further raw pages, rather than returning a partial successful result. When UseServerCapabilitiesDefaults is selected, both native and fallback requests use the node's advertised DefaultAggregateConfiguration; explicit request settings do not mutate those defaults.

AnnotationCount counts annotation timestamps in half-open processing intervals. A zero processing interval produces one count over the complete requested domain. Every returned count is an Int32 with Good, Calculated; the requested end time is excluded, and reverse-time requests preserve the same directional interval rules.

At-time reads

IHistorianAtTimeProvider returns exactly one DataValue per requested timestamp, in input order. An exact value preserves its quality and carries the Raw information bits. Otherwise the node's Stepped setting selects stepped or sloped interpolation and the result carries the Interpolated bits. UseSimpleBounds=true uses the nearest raw values as bounds; it does not return the nearest sample. UseSimpleBounds=false uses the nearest non-Bad values and marks the result Uncertain when Bad samples were skipped. Providers without this interface use the same calculation through the raw-read fallback. When the fallback scans 100,000 raw values without finding a bound for a requested time, that time returns Bad_BoundNotSupported (Part 11 §4.6) and the other requested times are still answered.

Annotations

IHistorianAnnotationProvider exposes Read/Insert/Replace/Update/Delete. Annotations are keyed by Annotation.AnnotationTime. The framework translates the property NodeId → variable NodeId before calling the provider, so the nodeId parameter is always the variable.

Structured history data

IHistorianStructuredDataProvider is the update surface for StructuredHistoryData (Part 11 §6.8.3, UpdateStructureDataDetails). It is deliberately update only — structured entries are read back through ReadRawAsync, ReadModifiedAsync and the at-time path, so raw and structured history share one read pipeline and one continuation-point format.

The difference to raw history is identity. Raw values are unique by SourceTimestamp; a structured variable may hold several entries at one instant (for example one KeyValuePair per named reading of a capture). Entries are therefore addressed by the composite key:

public readonly record struct HistoricalValueKey(DateTimeUtc SourceTimestamp, ByteString UniquenessKey);

UniquenessKey comes from an IHistorianStructuredDataKeySelector, the seam that defines "the same entry" for a structure type:

public interface IHistorianStructuredDataKeySelector
{
    ArrayOf<QualifiedName> UniquenessFields { get; }
    bool TryGetUniquenessKey(in DataValue value, out ByteString uniquenessKey);
}

Two selectors ship with the stack:

Selector	Uniqueness	Use for
TimestampStructuredDataKeySelector	SourceTimestamp	Default. One entry per timestamp — the raw-history rule (annotations, single-structure archives).
KeyValuePairStructuredDataKeySelector	SourceTimestamp + Key	Archives of standard Opc.Ua.KeyValuePair values.

Ordinary raw variables use an empty uniqueness key, so the composite key degenerates to the source timestamp and existing behaviour (including bounds, retention and paging) is unchanged. The in-memory provider opts a node into structured storage with:

provider.RegisterStructured(nodeId, KeyValuePairStructuredDataKeySelector.Instance);

await provider.InsertStructuredDataAsync(context, nodeId,
    new[] { temperatureAtT0, pressureAtT0 }, ct);   // same SourceTimestamp, different Key

Update semantics (per entry, best effort):

Operation	Status
Insert on an existing composite key	BadEntryExists
Replace / Remove on an absent composite key	BadNoEntryExists
Update	Upsert on the composite key
Value that is not the node's structure	BadTypeMismatch

Changing a uniqueness field changes the entry identity: Replace then returns BadNoEntryExists and the client must Remove the old entry and Insert the new one. Every replaced, updated and removed version is retained in modified history, so ReadModifiedAsync returns the full trail even when several entries share a timestamp. Raw and modified reads page with exclusive composite cursors, so entries that share a timestamp are never lost or duplicated across a page boundary. DeleteAtTime removes the complete set of entries stored at a timestamp, and ReturnBounds yields the adjacent entry in composite-key order on each side of the window.

Event history

Event reads include the request's start time and exclude its end time in either direction. Reverse reads therefore include the later start boundary and exclude the earlier end boundary. Paging retains timestamp and insertion-sequence ordering, including events sharing a timestamp.

IHistorianEventProvider works on notifier NodeIds. Events are keyed by HistorianEventRecord.EventId (within a notifier) and timestamped by SourceTimestamp:

public sealed record HistorianEventRecord(
    ByteString EventId,
    NodeId EventType,
    DateTimeUtc SourceTimestamp,
    ArrayOf<KeyValuePair<string, Variant>> Fields)
{
    public ArrayOf<KeyValuePair<HistorianEventFieldKey, Variant>>
        QualifiedFields { get; init; }

    public bool TryGetField(string path, out Variant value);
    public bool TryGetQualifiedField(
        HistorianEventFieldKey key,
        out Variant value);
}

QualifiedFields preserves the select clause's type definition, attribute, browse path, and index range. Fields is a compatibility view keyed by the slash-separated browse path.

The empty browse path with AttributeId = NodeId denotes a stored node identity, such as ConditionId when the operand is rooted at ConditionType; it is not an alias for EventType. Selection and filtering first resolve the exact qualified field, then an unambiguous compatible-type field using the server type tree. An absent identity returns a null Variant. The context-free projection helper resolves stored identities without inventing a type.

HistorianNodeCapabilities.EventFields lists additional fields the historian can retain, while MandatoryEventFields lists additional fields that an Insert/Update filter must provide. Fields that are invalid for the selected EventType or cannot be retained are omitted and return GoodDataIgnored; requested operation diagnostics identify their select-clause indexes and symbolic browse paths.

Client event-update validation accepts inherited standard fields rooted at BaseEventType or any EventType subtype. Structural requirements remain unchanged: standard fields use Attributes.Value, one namespace-zero browse path segment, and the exact standard browse name. A field supplied through both a base and subtype root is still a duplicate.

WhereClause evaluation runs on the framework side via FilterEvaluator + the HistorianEventFilterTarget adapter, but providers that can push filters down should evaluate request.Filter.WhereClause themselves and return only matching events (the framework re-evaluates the clause for correctness, so push-down is purely an optimisation).

Use HistorizeEventsAsync after the notifier is part of the address space. Events reported through either node API are forwarded to the normal live-event sink first, then snapshotted into a bounded queue so historian I/O cannot suppress live delivery:

await historian.HistorizeEventsAsync(
    notifier,
    SystemContext,
    capabilities: eventCapabilities);

await notifier.ReportEventAsync(SystemContext, eventState, cancellationToken);

The capture path always retains the mandatory BaseEventType fields and adds any operands configured through HistorianNodeCapabilities.EventFields.

Per-node capabilities

GetCapabilitiesAsync(nodeId, ct) may return different sets per node. Static presets keep ordinary data, structured data, and event registration truthful:

HistorianNodeCapabilities.ReadOnly;            // data reads only
HistorianNodeCapabilities.DataReadWrite;       // ordinary data CRUD
HistorianNodeCapabilities.StructuredReadWrite; // structured CRUD/read paths
HistorianNodeCapabilities.EventReadWrite;      // historical event CRUD
HistorianNodeCapabilities.ReadWrite;            // combined adapter/test preset

Always set the HistoricalDataConfigurationType advisory fields (Stepped, Definition, MaxTimeInterval, MinTimeInterval, ExceptionDeviation, StartOfArchive, StartOfOnlineArchive) on the capability set you return for nodes whose companion object you want the framework to install.

For the server-wide HistoryServerCapabilities rollup the dispatcher calls GetCapabilitiesAsync(NodeId.Null, ...). Treat NodeId.Null as "default — what does this provider support generally?" — the rollup unions the result across every registered provider.

Thread safety

Providers are called concurrently from multiple sessions. Concrete expectations:

• All methods must be safe to call from multiple threads simultaneously.
• Read methods (ReadRawAsync, ReadModifiedAsync, …) should never block writes; prefer reader-writer locking or copy-on-read.
• Write methods can serialise per-node if your backend doesn't natively serialise.
• Methods should not block on lock for long stretches — prefer SemaphoreSlim (or asynchronous primitives) over lock { ... await ... } patterns.

The bundled InMemoryHistorianProvider uses a single lock for simplicity. Production stores should use storage-engine primitives (per-node partitioning, MVCC, etc.) for higher throughput.

Cancellation

Every method takes a CancellationToken. Honour it — long-running queries against a remote store must abort cleanly when the OPC UA session terminates or the client cancels.

Example: minimal IHistorianDataProvider skeleton

public sealed class MyTsdbProvider :
    HistorianProviderBase,
    IHistorianDataProvider,
    IHistorianModifiedProvider
{
    public override ValueTask<HistorianNodeCapabilities> GetCapabilitiesAsync(
        NodeId nodeId, CancellationToken ct)
        => new(new HistorianNodeCapabilities
        {
            InsertData = true, ReplaceData = true, UpdateData = true,
            DeleteRaw = true, DeleteAtTime = true,
            ServerTimestampSupported = true,
            Stepped = false,
        });

    public async ValueTask<HistorianPage<HistoricalDataValue>> ReadRawAsync(
        HistorianOperationContext context,
        HistorianRawReadRequest request,
        HistorianResumeToken resumeToken,
        CancellationToken ct)
    {
        DateTime resumeAt = DecodeTimestamp(resumeToken);
        DateTime windowStart = resumeAt > DateTime.MinValue ? resumeAt : request.StartTime;

        // Issue the time-range query against your store, page-sized.
        ArrayOf<DataValue> raw = await _backend.QueryAsync(
            request.NodeId, windowStart, request.EndTime,
            limit: PageSize, isForward: request.IsForward, ct).ConfigureAwait(false);

        var values = new List<HistoricalDataValue>(raw.Count);
        foreach (DataValue dv in raw)
        {
            values.Add(new HistoricalDataValue(dv));
        }

        HistorianResumeToken next = raw.Count == PageSize
            ? EncodeTimestamp(raw[^1].SourceTimestamp)
            : default;
        return new HistorianPage<HistoricalDataValue>(values, next);
    }

    public async ValueTask<HistorianUpdateOutcome<DataValue>> InsertAsync(
        HistorianOperationContext context, NodeId nodeId,
        ArrayOf<DataValue> values, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        var statuses = new StatusCode[values.Count];
        for (int i = 0; i < values.Count; i++)
        {
            DataValue v = values[i];
            statuses[i] = await _backend.TryInsertAsync(nodeId, v, ct).ConfigureAwait(false)
                ? StatusCodes.GoodEntryInserted
                : StatusCodes.BadEntryExists;
        }
        return new HistorianUpdateOutcome<DataValue>(statuses);
    }

    // … Replace / Update / DeleteRaw / DeleteAtTime / ReadModified
}

Client developer guide

Constructing a HistoryClient

using Opc.Ua.Client.Historian;

// Idiomatic shortcut:
HistoryClient historian = session.Historian();

// Or explicit:
HistoryClient historian = new HistoryClient(session, new HistoryClientOptions
{
    // optional knobs (default page size, timeout, etc.)
});

Reads — IAsyncEnumerable<T> with automatic continuation handling

Every read method returns an IAsyncEnumerable<…>. The client transparently follows server-issued continuation points so iteration ends only when the time window is exhausted (or you break; out of the loop, which calls back to release the continuation):

// Raw read
await foreach (DataValue v in historian.ReadRawAsync(
    nodeId: temperatureNodeId,
    startTime: DateTime.UtcNow.AddHours(-1),
    endTime: DateTime.UtcNow,
    maxValuesPerNode: 500))                 // 0 = let the server decide
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{v.SourceTimestamp:o}  {v.Value}");
}

// Modified history: prior value plus who/when/how it was changed
await foreach (ModifiedHistoryValue modified in historian.ReadModifiedAsync(
    nodeId: temperatureNodeId,
    startTime: DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(-1),
    endTime: DateTime.UtcNow))
{
    Console.WriteLine(
        $"{modified.Value.SourceTimestamp:o} " +
        $"{modified.Info.UpdateType} by {modified.Info.UserName}");
}

// Processed (aggregate) — 1-minute Average buckets
await foreach (DataValue v in historian.ReadProcessedAsync(
    nodeId: temperatureNodeId,
    aggregateFunctionId: ObjectIds.AggregateFunction_Average,
    startTime: DateTime.UtcNow.AddHours(-24),
    endTime: DateTime.UtcNow,
    processingInterval: 60_000))
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{v.SourceTimestamp:o}  avg={v.Value}");
}

// At-time — one value per requested timestamp
await foreach (DataValue v in historian.ReadAtTimeAsync(
    nodeId: temperatureNodeId,
    times: new[] { t1, t2, t3 })) { /* … */ }

// Annotations on a variable
await foreach (Annotation a in historian.ReadAnnotationsAsync(
    variableId: temperatureNodeId,
    startTime: DateTime.UtcNow.AddDays(-7),
    endTime: DateTime.UtcNow))
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{a.AnnotationTime:o} {a.UserName}: {a.Message}");
}

// Historical events. Each field list follows the select-clause order.
var eventFilter = new EventFilter();
eventFilter.AddSelectClause(
    ObjectTypeIds.BaseEventType,
    BrowseNames.EventId,
    Attributes.Value);
eventFilter.AddSelectClause(
    ObjectTypeIds.BaseEventType,
    BrowseNames.EventType,
    Attributes.Value);
eventFilter.AddSelectClause(
    ObjectTypeIds.BaseEventType,
    BrowseNames.Time,
    Attributes.Value);
eventFilter.AddSelectClause(
    ObjectTypeIds.BaseEventType,
    BrowseNames.Message,
    Attributes.Value);

await foreach (HistoryEventFieldList fields in historian.ReadEventsAsync(
    nodeId: notifierId,
    startTime: DateTime.UtcNow.AddHours(-1),
    endTime: DateTime.UtcNow,
    filter: eventFilter))
{
    fields.EventFields[0].TryGetValue(out ByteString eventId);
    fields.EventFields[3].TryGetValue(out LocalizedText message);
    Console.WriteLine($"{eventId}: {message}");
}

Writes

// Insert
await historian.InsertAsync(temperatureNodeId, new[]
{
    new DataValue
    {
        WrappedValue = new Variant(42.0),
        SourceTimestamp = DateTime.UtcNow,
        StatusCode = StatusCodes.Good,
    },
});

// Replace / Update follow the same shape, with the documented BadEntryExists / BadNoEntryExists semantics.

// Delete by range
await historian.DeleteRawAsync(temperatureNodeId, fromUtc, untilUtc);

// Delete by exact timestamps
await historian.DeleteAtTimeAsync(temperatureNodeId, new[] { tsA, tsB });

// Single annotation
await historian.WriteAnnotationAsync(
    variableId: temperatureNodeId,
    annotationTime: DateTime.UtcNow,
    message: "calibration applied",
    userName: "alice");

await historian.DeleteAnnotationAsync(
    variableId: temperatureNodeId,
    annotationTime: when);

// Batched annotations use one UpdateStructureDataDetails service operation.
ArrayOf<Annotation> annotations =
[
    new Annotation
    {
        AnnotationTime = t1,
        Message = "calibration started",
        UserName = "alice"
    },
    new Annotation
    {
        AnnotationTime = t2,
        Message = "calibration completed",
        UserName = "alice"
    }
];
await historian.WriteAnnotationsAsync(temperatureNodeId, annotations);
await historian.WriteAnnotationsAsync(
    temperatureNodeId,
    annotations,
    PerformUpdateType.Remove);

// Event writes use the same filter and field order as event reads.
var historicalEvent = new HistoryEventFieldList
{
    EventFields =
    [
        new Variant(eventId),
        new Variant(ObjectTypeIds.BaseEventType),
        new Variant((DateTimeUtc)DateTime.UtcNow),
        new Variant(new LocalizedText("maintenance started"))
    ]
};
await historian.InsertEventsAsync(notifierId, eventFilter, [historicalEvent]);
await historian.ReplaceEventsAsync(notifierId, eventFilter, [historicalEvent]);
await historian.UpdateEventsAsync(notifierId, eventFilter, [historicalEvent]);
await historian.DeleteEventsAsync(notifierId, [eventId]);

PerformUpdateType.Remove is valid for UpdateStructureDataDetails, including annotation removal through UpdateStructureDataAsync or WriteAnnotationsAsync. It is not valid for UpdateDataDetails in Part 11 v1.05.07. Use DeleteAtTimeAsync to remove exact raw values and DeleteRawAsync to remove a raw time range.

Discovery — capabilities and configuration

HistoryServerCapabilitiesInfo caps = await historian.GetServerCapabilitiesAsync();
Console.WriteLine($"InsertAnnotation? {caps.InsertAnnotation}");

HistoricalDataConfigurationInfo cfg =
    await historian.GetConfigurationAsync(temperatureNodeId);
if (cfg.HasConfiguration)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Stepped={cfg.Stepped}, MaxInterval={cfg.MaxTimeInterval}");
}

HasConfiguration = false simply means the variable does not expose a HistoricalDataConfigurationType companion object (typical for read-only archives).

Automatic value capture

Historize(...) is opt-out: live updates to a historized variable are automatically captured into the archive. The capture pipeline is driven by NodeState.StateChanged, batched through a bounded System.Threading.Channels.Channel<T>, and flushed by a single per-historian-builder consumer task.

Pipeline

  variable.Value = sample;
  variable.Timestamp = now;
  variable.ClearChangeMasks(systemContext, false);   ← fires StateChanged(Value)
                            │
                            ▼
   StateChanged handler  (O(1), lock-free)
                            │
                            ▼
   bounded Channel<CaptureEvent>   ← MaxQueuedSamples (default 4096)
                            │
                            ▼
   HistorianCaptureSink consumer task
       • drain up to BatchTarget samples (default 64)
       • or wait BatchWindow (default 25 ms) for more
       • group by NodeId
       • flush:
            provider is IHistorianBulkInsertProvider  → InsertBatchAsync
            else                                      → per-node InsertAsync
       • provider exceptions count lost samples and leave the consumer running

The capture path is best-effort under overload. When the queue is full, CaptureFullMode.DropOldest keeps the freshest data and CaptureFullMode.DropNewest preserves the queued backlog. A synchronous value callback is never blocked on asynchronous storage. Applications that cannot drop samples must use the explicit HistoryUpdate Insert path or an application-owned durable queue, which provides awaited persistence and full per-value status feedback.

A non-shutdown provider exception drops the failed call's samples, increments DroppedSampleCount, and leaves the consumer available for later batches. In the per-node fallback, successful nodes are not counted as dropped and a failed node does not prevent the remaining nodes from being flushed. Provider bad-status results instead increment RejectedSampleCount. Failure warnings are limited to one per 30 seconds per sink; counters are never rate-limited. Unexpected consumer termination remains an explicit error, and later discarded samples are still counted.

Each capture pump owns one consumer task and a bounded channel; it does not spawn work per sample. Disposal closes the writer and drains the consumer for up to five seconds. A timeout cancels the pump and surfaces an error without starting further provider calls. An already-running provider must cooperate with cancellation; the framework cannot forcibly terminate it. Its token resources remain valid until it actually completes. A one-shot, static completion callback observes any late task failure and releases only the token source, without capturing the disposed pump, server, or request context. Normal graceful draining is preserved.

What triggers a capture

Auto-capture observes the Value bit of NodeStateChangeMasks. It fires when:

• Server code sets variable.Value and calls variable.ClearChangeMasks(ctx, includeChildren: false) — the standard simulation pattern in ReferenceNodeManager.DoSimulation.
• A client writes the variable via the Write service (the framework path also walks ClearChangeMasks).

It does not fire when:

• The variable uses an OnRead callback that returns a fresh value to a client read without ever storing it on variable.Value. Use the explicit HistoryUpdate Insert path, or store the value on the variable before returning.
• Only non-value attributes change (e.g. DisplayName).

Opting out

Disable capture per variable:

builder.Variable<double>("ExternalSink")
       .OnRead(GetReading)
       .Historize(autoCapture: false);

Tuning

Pass a HistorianCaptureOptions to override the defaults (per builder — the first opt-in call wins; subsequent calls share the same sink):

builder.Variable<double>("FastSignal")
       .Historize(captureOptions: new HistorianCaptureOptions
       {
           MaxQueuedSamples = 16_384,
           BatchTarget = 256,
           BatchWindow = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(10),
           FullMode = CaptureFullMode.DropOldest,
       });

Knob	Default	Effect
MaxQueuedSamples	4096	Queue depth before FullMode kicks in.
BatchTarget	64	Sample count per flush. Bigger → fewer provider calls.
BatchWindow	25 ms	Max wait for a partial batch. Bigger → fewer flushes; smaller → lower capture latency.
FullMode	DropOldest	DropOldest or DropNewest.

Implementing IHistorianBulkInsertProvider

Custom providers should implement IHistorianBulkInsertProvider to amortise per-batch overhead (database round-trips, lock acquisition, transaction setup):

public sealed class MyTsdbProvider :
    HistorianProviderBase,
    IHistorianDataProvider,
    IHistorianBulkInsertProvider
{
    public ValueTask<ArrayOf<HistorianUpdateOutcome<DataValue>>> InsertBatchAsync(
        HistorianOperationContext context,
        ArrayOf<HistorianDataBatch> batch,
        CancellationToken ct)
    {
        // One transaction, one round-trip — far cheaper than N InsertAsync calls.
        // Apply per-value semantics (BadEntryExists when the SourceTimestamp
        // already exists, GoodEntryInserted on success), then return one
        // HistorianUpdateOutcome in the same position as each input batch entry.
    }

    // ... per-node InsertAsync / Replace / Update fallback ...
}

The bundled InMemoryHistorianProvider implements the interface and acquires its single lock once per flush instead of once per node.

Capability discovery

When at least one provider is registered, Server.ServerCapabilities.HistoryServerCapabilities is populated as the union of every provider's GetCapabilitiesAsync(NodeId.Null, …). Clients can read this through normal Read requests or via session.Historian().Session.ReadValueAsync(...).

The rollup runs both when the capabilities node is freshly created by DiagnosticsNodeManager and when it was loaded from the predefined nodeset XML — so a stock server picks up the registered providers' capability set on every startup, without further wiring.

Auditing

The dispatcher reports the following audit events for successful and failed HistoryUpdate attempts, using IServerInternal.ReportAuditEvent:

Update kind	Audit event type
Insert/Replace/Update raw values	AuditHistoryValueUpdateEventType
Insert/Replace/Update annotations	AuditHistoryAnnotationUpdateEventType
Delete raw (range)	AuditHistoryRawModifyDeleteEventType
Delete at-time	AuditHistoryAtTimeDeleteEventType
Event insert/replace/update	AuditHistoryEventUpdateEventType
Event delete	AuditHistoryEventDeleteEventType

Provider update methods return HistorianUpdateOutcome<T>, including the prior values replaced or deleted by the same atomic storage operation. The dispatcher uses those values directly, avoiding a racy read-before-write.

Part 11 profile conformance catalog

Opc.Ua.HistoricalAccessProfileCatalog (in Opc.Ua.Core) is a machine-readable inventory of every released UACore 1.05 profile whose name contains "Historical" — 15 Server facets and 22 Client facets, 37 in total. Each HistoricalAccessProfileDescriptor records the profile's name, URI, side (Server/Client), functional family (raw/server-timestamp, modified, at-time, aggregate, annotation, structured, raw updates, or events), and its mandatory conformance unit names. Opc.Ua.HistoricalAggregateFunctionCatalog separately maps all 37 standard OPC UA aggregate functions to the optional conformance units of the two Aggregate profiles.

All 15 Server descriptors are verified for capability-gated advertisement. HistorianProfileCatalog requires the exact provider interface and exact capability flags for each profile URI; an Insert-only provider cannot claim Replace, Update, or Delete, and event read does not imply event write. The ReferenceServer derives its complete ServerProfileArray and mandatory conformance-unit set from this catalog, then adds the optional conformance unit for each of the 37 aggregate functions it exposes.

Client descriptors remain IsAdvertised == false because clients do not write Server ServerProfileArray entries. Their implementation is verified through the client and integration suites. HistoricalAccessProfileEvidenceCatalog maps every one of the 37 profiles to production modules, automated tests, and the in-repository reference samples.

Limitations and roadmap

• Eventual active/active history is unsupported — ordered history, modification chains, deletes, events, and atomic batches have no CRDT merge contract. UseDistributedHistorian therefore requires a linearizable active/passive topology and fails closed otherwise. Raft-backed reads commit a no-op barrier before accessing local materialized state, so a promoted replica cannot serve a pre-promotion snapshot; reads time out or cancel when no leader/quorum can complete the barrier.
• Framework aggregate fallback buffers output — providers without IHistorianProcessedProvider use the correct bounded framework calculator fallback, which buffers at most 100,000 output values. Distributed or high-volume providers should implement native processed paging.
• The in-memory adapter is intentionally ephemeral — use SharedKeyValueHistorianProvider for protected, strongly consistent active/passive persistence, or implement the provider interfaces for another durable backend.