1. A method, comprising: identifying, at a database system, that a rule has been triggered; in response to the rule being triggered, receiving, at the database system from an application running on the database system, a first request including a first instruction indicating an operation to be performed on a set of first metadata, wherein the set of first metadata includes a name, a data type, and an object name, and describes a portion of data stored by the database system, and wherein the first request indicates that the operation is to be handled by an asynchronous process; based on the first instruction: performing the operation on the set of first metadata; prompting, by the database system, a subscriber of the database system for user input; receiving, at the database system, the user input from the subscriber, the user input including a second request including a second instruction indicating a modification to be performed on a set of second metadata that specifies a data type for another portion of data stored by the database service, wherein the second request indicates that the modification is to be handled by a synchronous process; determining whether the modification is permissible using a rule that indicates a size limit associated with the set of second metadata; performing the modification to the set of second metadata, when it is determined that the modification is permissible; wherein the asynchronous process includes a thread pool that is allocated a finite amount of a local resources such that the at least one first instruction is only processed when the local thread pool has sufficient capacity to process the at least one first instruction and is only processed in at least near-real time when, in response to receipt of the first request, the local thread pool has the sufficient capacity to process the at least one first instruction; wherein the synchronous process is automatically allocated with sufficient resources to process the second instruction such that the second instruction is processed in at least near-real time.