Ontology Studio

Ontology Studio is the authoring surface for business ontology definitions. Use it to model a domain, connect the model to existing resources, add ontology-owned data, inspect semantic paths, and publish an immutable version into the UOSE ontology runtime. The Studio separates editable draft state from published runtime state. Changes are saved to a revisioned draft; Ontology Workspace and downstream plugins continue to read the last published snapshot until a new version is validated and published.

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Create an ontology

Open Data & Ontology → Ontology Studio, then select Create ontology. The Studio list shows the resource ID, current published version, draft status, entity count, relationship count, instance count, and last update time. Search filters definitions by their identifying text.

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Design workspace

The Design workspace is used for schema and Action authoring.

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Entity types and properties

An entity type defines a stable code, readable name, description, optional icon and color, optional default state, and typed properties. Supported property value types are:

• string
• number
• integer
• boolean
• datetime
• json

Each property can be required or repeated. Stable codes are used by bindings, relationships, Actions, Agent tools, and plugins; readable names can be localized or refined without changing those contracts.

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Relationship types

A relationship type connects a source entity type to a target entity type. Select one of four cardinalities:

• one to one;
• one to many;
• many to one;
• many to many.

Relationships can also have their own typed properties. Create them from the resource explorer or drag between entity handles on the graph canvas. Endpoint constraints are validated before publication.

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Action definitions

An Action definition describes a semantic operation without embedding an execution implementation. It can define:

• one or more target entity type codes;
• risk level: LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, or CRITICAL;
• whether approval is required;
• discovery mode: manual only, suggestable, auto-plannable, or auto-executable;
• intent tags and preconditions;
• input and output schemas;
• expected effects such as read, analysis, state transition, or external call;
• idempotency and expected-effect requirements.

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Canvas tools

The canvas supports selection, drag positioning, zoom, fit-to-view, automatic layout, relationship creation, and PNG export. The alternative RDF view renders a Turtle preview generated from the current draft. Studio keeps local undo/redo history and autosaves the draft. Updates use the expected draft revision, so a concurrent edit produces a conflict instead of silently overwriting newer server state. When a conflict occurs, reload the server draft or download the local draft before continuing.

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Import RDF / OWL

Use Import RDF to load an RDF/XML ontology into the current draft. The import flow:

1. parses a file up to 5 MB;
2. previews added, updated, and removed entity and relationship types;
3. reports mapping notes for unsupported or defaulted semantics;
4. explains which Actions, bindings, instances, and instance relationships will be cleared;
5. replaces the current draft only after explicit confirmation.

The importer maps OWL classes, datatype properties, object properties, identifiers, and cardinality when the Studio contract can represent them. It reports skipped bindings, unsupported property metadata, unresolved endpoints, and value-type conversions rather than guessing.

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Data & Bindings workspace

The Data & Bindings workspace connects the schema to data. All three sections share the same revision, validation, and publication lifecycle as the schema.

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Source bindings

A source binding maps one entity type to an existing UOSE resource. Configure:

• source resource ID and resource type;
• optional source table or object;
• primary key and optional display field;
• property-to-source-field mappings.

Bindings can be draft, valid, or invalid. Run binding validation before publication and resolve missing keys, source fields, or incompatible mappings.

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Manual instances

Manual instances are records owned by the ontology definition. Select an entity type, provide a stable external key, an optional display name and lifecycle state, and values for known properties. Attribute names and required values are validated against the schema.

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Instance relationships

Instance relationships connect concrete source and target instances. The chosen relationship type constrains both endpoint types, preventing a draft from linking objects that violate the schema.

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Explore workspace

The Explore workspace helps review semantic structure before and after publication:

• search entity and relationship types;
• filter graph layers and labels;
• inspect incoming and outgoing relationships;
• find a semantic path between two types;
• compare the draft schema graph with the published schema graph;
• inspect published details when a version exists;
• pass the current definition, draft revision, workspace, and selected schema element to the ontology Assistant.

The Assistant can provide contextual design guidance and, when the configured template includes ontology-authoring tools, write bounded draft changes. Studio refreshes successful remote changes and does not overwrite unsaved local edits.

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Validate, preview, and publish

Use the Versions workspace for release management.

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Validate

Validation reports errors and warnings with an owner kind and path. It checks, among other things:

• duplicate or invalid stable codes;
• property definitions and required instance attributes;
• relationship source and target integrity;
• Action targets, contracts, and referenced types;
• data bindings and instance relationships;
• publishable schema and data counts.

Resolve errors before publication. Review warnings as release-readiness signals, including optional fields that remain unmapped.

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Preview manifest

Preview manifest compiles the draft into the exact MetaManifest and business-ontology publish request. Use it when reviewing Action contracts, generated schema, or integration output before a release.

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Publish

Provide a semantic version and optional release notes. Publication validates again, then creates:

• an immutable ontology-definition version;
• a compiled manifest and publish request;
• a business ontology snapshot;
• a graph version and ontology ID;
• RDF materialization and runtime instance projections when configured.

After publication, select Open in Ontology Workspace to inspect the resulting resource.

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Version and lifecycle management

Published versions are immutable. From version history you can:

• inspect version metadata, snapshot ID, and graph version;
• compare a published version with the current draft;
• download the compiled Manifest and RDF artifacts;
• restore an earlier version as a new editable draft.

An ontology that has never been published can be deleted. A published ontology is archived instead: it leaves the active Studio list while immutable versions and published runtime snapshots remain available.

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Recommended authoring sequence