Open Ontology

The open module and standard library for Alpha Ontology.

Meta-Effects systems are authored as markdown bundles: prose explains the model, fenced Alpha forms define the executable ontology, the compiler lowers those definitions into Canonical IR, and runtime assertions land in the Fact Store. Open Ontology is the open module layer on top of Alpha: reusable packages of entities, actions, policies, documents, workflows, and views that teams can copy, fork, import, and extend.

Why a Library#

Operational software repeats itself. Every organization has people, roles, documents, approvals, obligations, evidence, deadlines, exceptions, and work queues. A shared Open Ontology library gives those patterns stable names without forcing every team into the same application.

The library is intentionally source-first:

Readable markdown for humans reviewing the domain.
Fenced Alpha forms for executable definitions.
Composable modules for shared primitives and industry-specific overlays.
Explicit Alpha forms such as define-entity, define-action, define-policy, and define-projection.
Runtime SDK hooks for constraints, actions, workflows, effects, and projections.

Package Shape#

An ontology package is a directory of markdown files plus a manifest. The markdown is the review surface; the Alpha forms are the compiled surface.

text

open-ontology-library/  people/    ontology.md    schema.md    queries.md    constraints.md    actions.md  documents/    ontology.md    schema.md    workflows.md  staffing/    ontology.md    schema.md    onboarding.md    compliance.md

A package starts with an ontology manifest:

lisp

(ontology  (:id "library.people")  (:version "0.1.0")  (:preludes core documents viewspec)  (:files    "schema.md"    "queries.md"    "constraints.md"    "actions.md"))

Example: People#

The people package defines the minimal vocabulary for actors, identity, and membership.

lisp

(define-entity Person  (:field [person/display-name String {:required true}])  (:field [person/email String])  (:field [person/status String {:required true}]))(define-entity Organization  (:field [organization/name String {:required true}])  (:field [organization/domain String]))(define-relation member-of Person Organization  (:field [member-of/role String])  (:field [member-of/status String {:required true}]))

Example: Documents#

The documents package gives teams a common way to model evidence, requests, and completion state.

lisp

(define-entity Document  (:field [document/title String {:required true}])  (:field [document/type String {:required true}])  (:field [document/status String {:required true}])  (:field [document/subject Ref]))(define-query open-documents  (:from Document)  (:where (not (= (get it :document/status) "complete")))  (:select [document/title document/type document/status document/subject]))

Example: Staffing Overlay#

Domain overlays import shared packages and add local meaning. Staffing can reuse people and documents while naming onboarding, placements, and compliance checks.

lisp

(ontology  (:id "library.staffing")  (:version "0.1.0")  (:depends library.people library.documents)  (:preludes core documents viewspec)  (:files    "schema.md"    "onboarding.md"    "compliance.md"))(define-entity Placement  (:field [placement/worker (Ref Person) {:required true}])  (:field [placement/client (Ref Organization) {:required true}])  (:field [placement/status String {:required true}])  (:field [placement/start-date Number]))

Library Contract#

A useful Open Ontology module should be boring in the best way:

Define names that operators recognize.
Keep source markdown close to executable Alpha forms.
Prefer small packages over large vertical applications.
Make constraints explainable and actions permissioned.
Compile cleanly through Alpha Ontology into canonical IR.
Let product-specific Meta-Effects systems compose the pieces they need.

Where This Fits#

Read Forma for the language workbench. Read Canonical IR for the compiler boundary, Fact Store for durable facts and history, and Alpha Ontology for the default operational language package these modules build on. Return to Meta-Effects or Runtime SDK for the execution story: the library supplies reusable source, and Meta-Effects runs the resulting structured system.