ontology

Q: How do I install ontology?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/sundial-org/awesome-openclaw-skills --skill ontology in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/ontology/ (personal) or .claude/skills/ontology/ (project).

by sundial-orgCode Quality & Workflow

Typed knowledge graph for structured agent memory and composable skills. Use when creating/querying entities (Person, Project, Task, Event, Document), linking related objects, enforcing constraints, planning multi-step actions as graph transformations, or when skills need to share state. Trigger on "remember", "what do I know about", "link X to Y", "show dependencies", entity CRUD, or cross-skill data access.

Installs: 3.7K
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Security: Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/sundial-org/awesome-openclaw-skills --skill ontology

01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads ontology automatically when relevant.
03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Ontology

A typed vocabulary + constraint system for representing knowledge as a verifiable graph.

Core Concept

Everything is an entity with a type, properties, and relations to other entities. Every mutation is validated against type constraints before committing.

Entity: { id, type, properties, relations, created, updated }
Relation: { from_id, relation_type, to_id, properties }

When to Use

Trigger	Action
"Remember that..."	Create/update entity
"What do I know about X?"	Query graph
"Link X to Y"	Create relation
"Show all tasks for project Z"	Graph traversal
"What depends on X?"	Dependency query
Planning multi-step work	Model as graph transformations
Skill needs shared state	Read/write ontology objects

Core Types

# Agents & People
Person: { name, email?, phone?, notes? }
Organization: { name, type?, members[] }

# Work
Project: { name, status, goals[], owner? }
Task: { title, status, due?, priority?, assignee?, blockers[] }
Goal: { description, target_date?, metrics[] }

# Time & Place
Event: { title, start, end?, location?, attendees[], recurrence? }
Location: { name, address?, coordinates? }

# Information
Document: { title, path?, url?, summary? }
Message: { content, sender, recipients[], thread? }
Thread: { subject, participants[], messages[] }
Note: { content, tags[], refs[] }

# Resources
Account: { service, username, credential_ref? }
Device: { name, type, identifiers[] }
Credential: { service, secret_ref }  # Never store secrets directly

# Meta
Action: { type, target, timestamp, outcome? }
Policy: { scope, rule, enforcement }

Storage

Default: memory/ontology/graph.jsonl

{"op":"create","entity":{"id":"p_001","type":"Person","properties":{"name":"Alice"}}}
{"op":"create","entity":{"id":"proj_001","type":"Project","properties":{"name":"Website Redesign","status":"active"}}}
{"op":"relate","from":"proj_001","rel":"has_owner","to":"p_001"}

Query via scripts or direct file ops. For complex graphs, migrate to SQLite.

Workflows

Create Entity

python3 scripts/ontology.py create --type Person --props '{"name":"Alice","email":"alice@example.com"}'

Query

python3 scripts/ontology.py query --type Task --where '{"status":"open"}'
python3 scripts/ontology.py get --id task_001
python3 scripts/ontology.py related --id proj_001 --rel has_task

Link Entities

python3 scripts/ontology.py relate --from proj_001 --rel has_task --to task_001

Validate

python3 scripts/ontology.py validate  # Check all constraints

Constraints

Define in memory/ontology/schema.yaml:

types:
  Task:
    required: [title, status]
    status_enum: [open, in_progress, blocked, done]
  
  Event:
    required: [title, start]
    validate: "end >= start if end exists"

  Credential:
    required: [service, secret_ref]
    forbidden_properties: [password, secret, token]  # Force indirection

relations:
  has_owner:
    from_types: [Project, Task]
    to_types: [Person]
    cardinality: many_to_one
  
  blocks:
    from_types: [Task]
    to_types: [Task]
    acyclic: true  # No circular dependencies

Skill Contract

Skills that use ontology should declare:

# In SKILL.md frontmatter or header
ontology:
  reads: [Task, Project, Person]
  writes: [Task, Action]
  preconditions:
    - "Task.assignee must exist"
  postconditions:
    - "Created Task has status=open"

Planning as Graph Transformation

Model multi-step plans as a sequence of graph operations:

Plan: "Schedule team meeting and create follow-up tasks"

1. CREATE Event { title: "Team Sync", attendees: [p_001, p_002] }
2. RELATE Event -> has_project -> proj_001
3. CREATE Task { title: "Prepare agenda", assignee: p_001 }
4. RELATE Task -> for_event -> event_001
5. CREATE Task { title: "Send summary", assignee: p_001, blockers: [task_001] }

Each step is validated before execution. Rollback on constraint violation.

Integration Patterns

With Causal Inference

Log ontology mutations as causal actions:

# When creating/updating entities, also log to causal action log
action = {
    "action": "create_entity",
    "domain": "ontology", 
    "context": {"type": "Task", "project": "proj_001"},
    "outcome": "created"
}

Cross-Skill Communication

# Email skill creates commitment
commitment = ontology.create("Commitment", {
    "source_message": msg_id,
    "description": "Send report by Friday",
    "due": "2026-01-31"
})

# Task skill picks it up
tasks = ontology.query("Commitment", {"status": "pending"})
for c in tasks:
    ontology.create("Task", {
        "title": c.description,
        "due": c.due,
        "source": c.id
    })

Quick Start

# Initialize ontology storage
mkdir -p memory/ontology
touch memory/ontology/graph.jsonl

# Create schema (optional but recommended)
cat > memory/ontology/schema.yaml << 'EOF'
types:
  Task:
    required: [title, status]
  Project:
    required: [name]
  Person:
    required: [name]
EOF

# Start using
python3 scripts/ontology.py create --type Person --props '{"name":"Alice"}'
python3 scripts/ontology.py list --type Person

References

references/schema.md — Full type definitions and constraint patterns
references/queries.md — Query language and traversal examples

FAQ

What does the ontology skill do?

How do I install ontology?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/sundial-org/awesome-openclaw-skills --skill ontology in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/ontology/ (personal) or .claude/skills/ontology/ (project).

Which AI agents can use ontology?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is ontology safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains ontology?

It is published by sundial-org in sundial-org/awesome-openclaw-skills. It has 3,709 recorded installs.