pub.layers.ontology

Annotation ontology definitions. Defines the types, labels, and relationships used in annotation, inspired by FOVEA's persona-based ontology builder and bead's unified frame ontology interfaces. Ontologies are first-class objects that can be shared, versioned, and linked to knowledge graphs.

The record mains declare key: any (Scheme A): rkeys may be arbitrary strings rather than TIDs.

Ontologies also back the controlled vocabularies that every <x>Uri field across the lexicons points at. Layers seeds three ontology accounts, whose typeDefs the <x>Uri fields resolve into:

• layers-core.ontology.layers.pub: media-kind, modality, catalog-kind, membership-role, pin-policy, stability, count-source, unit, facet-dimension, rollup-warning, language-role, license-component, credit-policy, access-condition, trust-tier, writing-direction.
• layers-acquisition.ontology.layers.pub: channel-type, sensor-type, coordinate-system, spatial-axes, si-unit, eeg-reference-scheme, electrode-placement, electrode-material, device-kind, stream-role, sync-method, consent-scope, identifiability, sex, handedness, proficiency, skeleton, signal-format.
• layers-annotation.ontology.layers.pub: annotation-kind, annotation-subkind, formalism, articulator, source-method.

The modality lattice is one structural rule: a modality typeDef (eeg, fmri, speech-audio) names its carrier media-kind typeDef (media-kind-signal, media-kind-volume, media-kind-audio) via parentTypeRef. So signalInfo.modalityUri, recordingMethod.methodUri, and contentSummary.modalityUri resolve to the SAME node set, while media.kindUri resolves to the PARENT of those nodes. Species, institutions, funders, licenses, and languages are not minted here; they ground through knowledgeRef.

Types

ontology

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.ontology Type: Record

An annotation ontology: a collection of typed definitions (entity types, situation types, role types, relation types) that together form a complete annotation framework.

Field	Type	Description
name	string	Human-readable name for this ontology.
description	string	Detailed description of the ontology's purpose and scope.
version	string	Semantic version string.
domainUri	at-uri	AT-URI of the domain definition node. Community-expandable via knowledge graph.
domain	string	Domain slug (fallback when domainUri unavailable). Known values: general, biomedical, legal, financial, news, social-media, scientific, intelligence, dialogue, multimodal, custom
parentRef	at-uri	Reference to a parent ontology this one extends.
personaRef	at-uri	Reference to the persona that created/owns this ontology.
knowledgeRefs	array	Knowledge graph references grounding this ontology. Array of ref: pub.layers.defs#knowledgeRef
licensing	ref	Licensing terms governing this ontology (supports dual/multi/component licensing). Ref: pub.layers.defs#licensing
eprintRefs	array	Eprint records (papers/preprints) describing or associated with this ontology. Array of at-uri (max 64)
languages	array	BCP-47 language tags this ontology covers. Empty when language-independent. Array of strings (item max 32). No array-level cap.
languageRefs	array	Structured language references (canonical BCP-47 tag plus optional script, region, variety, and role) grounding the languages this ontology covers. Array of ref: pub.layers.defs#languageRef
metadata	ref	Provenance: who authored this ontology, with what tool, under what persona. Ref: pub.layers.defs#annotationMetadata
features	ref	Open-ended features describing this ontology (e.g., release channel, coverage, status). Ref: pub.layers.defs#featureMap
reproducibility	ref	How this ontology was produced (code, commit, command, environment, seed, funding, ethics approvals). Ref: pub.layers.defs#reproducibilityInfo
createdAt	datetime	Record creation timestamp.

typeDef

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.typeDef Type: Record

A type definition within an ontology. Covers entity types, situation types, role types, and relation types in a single unified model.

Field	Type	Description
ontologyRef	at-uri	The ontology this type belongs to.
name	string	The type name/label.
typeKindUri	at-uri	AT-URI of the type kind definition node. Community-expandable via knowledge graph.
typeKind	string	Type kind slug (fallback when typeKindUri unavailable). Known values: entity-type, situation-type, role-type, relation-type, attribute-type
gloss	string	Rich text definition/gloss of this type. May include references to other types and Wikidata entities.
parentTypeRef	at-uri	Reference to a parent type (for type hierarchies/inheritance).
allowedRoles	array	For frame/situation types: the roles that can be filled. Array of ref: pub.layers.ontology.defs#roleSlot
allowedValues	array	For attribute types: enumerated allowed values. Array of strings
knowledgeRefs	array	Knowledge graph groundings (Wikidata, chive.pub, FrameNet, etc.). Array of ref: pub.layers.defs#knowledgeRef
features	ref	Open-ended features. For relation-type typeDefs, standardized feature keys include: symmetric (boolean, if true A→B implies B→A), transitive (boolean, if true A→B and B→C implies A→C), reflexive (boolean, if true A→A is valid), inverse (AT-URI of the inverse relation typeDef), domain (AT-URI of required source type), range (AT-URI of required target type). Ref: pub.layers.defs#featureMap
createdAt	datetime	Record creation timestamp.

roleSlot

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.defs#roleSlot Type: Object

A role/argument slot in a frame or event type definition. Structurally parallel to pub.layers.resource.defs#slot: both represent named positions with type constraints.

Field	Type	Description
roleName	string	The role label (e.g., Agent, Patient, Theme, ARG0).
roleDescription	string	Description of the role.
fillerTypeRefs	array	References to allowed filler types (pub.layers.ontology.typeDef AT-URIs). Array of at-uri
collectionRef	at-uri	AT-URI of a pub.layers.resource.collection constraining allowed fillers.
required	boolean	Whether this role is obligatory.
defaultValue	string	Default filler value if not explicitly filled.
constraints	array	Declarative constraints on fillers of this role. Array of ref: pub.layers.defs#constraint
knowledgeRefs	array	Knowledge graph references. Array of ref: pub.layers.defs#knowledgeRef
features	ref	Open-ended features for this role slot. Ref: pub.layers.defs#featureMap

XRPC Queries

getOntology

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.getOntology

Retrieve a single ontology record by AT-URI.

Parameter	Type	Description
uri	at-uri (required)	The AT-URI of the ontology record.

Output: { uri, cid, value: ontology }

listOntologies

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.listOntologies

List ontology records in a repository with pagination.

Parameter	Type	Description
repo	at-identifier (required)	The handle or DID of the repository.
domain	string	Filter ontologies by domain slug.
limit	integer	Maximum number of records to return (1-100, default 50).
cursor	string	Pagination cursor from previous response.

Output: { records: { uri, cid, value: ontology }[], cursor?: string }

getTypeDef

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.getTypeDef

Retrieve a single type definition record by AT-URI.

Parameter	Type	Description
uri	at-uri (required)	The AT-URI of the type definition record.

Output: { uri, cid, value: typeDef }

listTypeDefs

NSID: pub.layers.ontology.listTypeDefs

List type definition records in a repository with pagination.

Parameter	Type	Description
ontologyRef	at-uri (required)	The AT-URI of the ontology whose type definitions to list.
typeKind	string	Filter by type kind.
limit	integer	Maximum number of records to return (1-100, default 50).
cursor	string	Pagination cursor from previous response.

Output: { records: { uri, cid, value: typeDef }[], cursor?: string }