Status: Editor’s Draft — W3C Holon Community Group (Acting Chair: Kurt Cagle)
Namespace: http://w3id.org/holon/
Repository: https://github.com/kurtcagle/holon-spec
DataBook CLI: v1.4.4
Last updated: 2026-06-09
This provides an introduction to the Holon Graph Architecture (HGA), walking the reader through an example showing a medical rounds scenario as it illustrates various components of the HGA. This assumes knowledge of RDF, SHACL, and SPARQL, and is intended primarily to showcase a typical use case for a holonic system.
All 15 normative DataBook artefacts are listed below in pass order. Files are
maintained in the hga/ folder of the W3C Holon CG Google Drive workspace.
| # | File | Pass | Version | Conformance | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0a | hga-pass0-manifest | Pass 0 | 0.1.1 | All | ✓ Active |
| 0b | hga-pass0-namespace-registry | Pass 0 | 0.1.1 | Core | ✓ Active |
| A1 | hga-pass-a-ontology-header | Pass A | 0.1.1 | Core | ✓ Active |
| A2 | hga-pass-a-skos-taxonomies | Pass A | 0.1.0 | Core | ✓ Active |
| B1 | hga-pass-b-core-structure | Pass B | 0.1.1¹ | Core | ✓ Active |
| B2 | hga-pass-b-portals | Pass B | 0.1.0 | Extended | ✓ Active |
| C1 | hga-pass-c-events | Pass C | 0.1.1¹ | Core | ✓ Active |
| C2 | hga-pass-c-provenance | Pass C | 0.1.0 | Core | ✓ Active |
| D1 | hga-pass-d-bayesian | Pass D | 0.1.0 | Bayesian | ⚠ At Risk |
| D2 | hga-pass-d-policy | Pass D | 0.1.0 | Extended | ✓ Active |
| D3 | hga-pass-d-vc | Pass D | 0.1.0 | Extended | ✓ Active |
| E1 | hga-pass-e-markov-blanket | Pass E | 0.3.0 | Markov | ✓ Active |
| E2 | hga-pass-e-projection | Pass E | 0.1.1 | Projection | ✓ Active |
| F1 | hga-pass-f-media | Pass F | 0.1.0 | Media | 🔵 New |
| G1 | hga-pass-g-viewer | Pass G | 0.1.0 | Viewer | 🔵 New |
| T | hga-table-of-contents | — | 1.1.0 | — | ✓ Active |
¹ Minor amendment pending — applies cross-reference note only; SHACL shapes unchanged.
| Class | sh:order | Extends | Defined In |
|---|---|---|---|
hspec:HGACore |
1 | — | Pass 0 Manifest |
hspec:HGAExtended |
2 | HGACore | Pass 0 Manifest |
hspec:HGABayesian |
3 | HGAExtended | Pass 0 Manifest |
hspec:HGAMarkov |
4 | HGABayesian | Pass 0 Manifest |
hspec:HGAProjection |
5 | HGAExtended | Pass 0 Manifest |
hspec:HGAMedia |
6 | HGAMarkov | Pass 0 Manifest |
hspec:HGAViewer |
7 | HGAProjection | Pass G |
| Prefix | Namespace IRI | Conformance | DataBook |
|---|---|---|---|
holon: |
http://w3id.org/holon/ |
Core | Pass B §1 |
hev: |
http://w3id.org/holon/event/ |
Core | Pass C §1 |
hprov: |
http://w3id.org/holon/provenance/ |
Core | Pass C §2 |
hdb: |
http://w3id.org/holon/databook/ |
Core | (DataBook spec) |
hspec: |
http://w3id.org/holon/spec/ |
All | Pass 0 §1 |
hpol: |
http://w3id.org/holon/policy/ |
Extended | Pass D §2 |
hvc: |
http://w3id.org/holon/vc/ |
Extended | Pass D §3 |
hbayes: |
http://w3id.org/holon/bayesian/ |
Bayesian | Pass D §1 |
hmk: |
http://w3id.org/holon/markov/ |
Markov | Pass E §1 |
hproj: |
http://w3id.org/holon/projection/ |
Projection | Pass E §2 |
hmedia: |
http://w3id.org/holon/media/ |
Media | Pass F |
hfed: |
http://w3id.org/holon/federation/ |
Reserved | — |
File: hga-pass0-manifest.databook.md · Version: 0.1.1
Conformance: All ·
Top-level specification manifest. Governance statement, licence declarations (W3C Document License prose; CC0-1.0 ontology), forward dependency register (6 working drafts with risk assessments), 6 conformance class definitions (Core through Media), federation scope statement, section registry (13 normative DataBooks + annexes).
Amendment 0.1.1: Added hspec:HGAMarkov, hspec:HGAProjection, and
hspec:HGAMedia conformance class declarations; added section registry entries
for Pass E §1, Pass E §2, and Pass F.
File: hga-pass0-namespace-registry.databook.md · Version: 0.1.1
Conformance: Core ·
Canonical namespace and prefix registry. Namespace design principles, 11 active
hspec:PrefixRegistryEntry instances, summary table, external vocabulary
assignments (10 W3C vocabularies), .htaccess content negotiation rules,
README.md for w3id.org PR, migration bridge from legacy ontologist.io
namespace, JSON-LD 1.1 context stub.
Amendment 0.1.1: Added hspec:ns-hmk (Markov), hspec:ns-hproj
(Projection), and hspec:ns-hmedia (Media) PrefixRegistryEntry instances;
updated summary table to 11 active namespaces; updated JSON-LD context stub and
w3id.org README sub-namespaces table.
File: hga-pass-a-ontology-header.databook.md · Version: 0.1.1
Conformance: Core ·
Normative ontology header for all HGA sub-namespaces. Inferencing policy (SHACL
normative, OWL 2 RL non-normative, self-sufficient shapes, OWL 2 RL profile),
owl:Ontology declarations for all 11 active namespaces in TriG named graphs,
namespace import graph (4-level DAG). GGSC namespace reconciliation annex.
Amendment 0.1.1: Added hmk:, hproj:, and hmedia: owl:Ontology
declarations with full owl:imports, descriptions, and sh:agentInstruction.
Updated import graph to show 4-level DAG (hmedia: is deepest node, importing
both hmk: and hproj:).
File: hga-pass-a-skos-taxonomies.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Core ·
Four normative SKOS concept schemes for the HGA vocabulary: holon:LifecycleStatusScheme
(Candidate/Registered/Deprecated), holon:ValidationSeverityScheme
(Violation/Warning/Info), holon:ConcernLevelScheme (Low/Medium/High/Critical),
holon:MatchTypeScheme (Exact/Fuzzy/No). SHACL shapes validate skos:ConceptScheme
and skos:Concept integrity. Not amended — hmedia: defines its own SKOS
schemes internally in Pass F.
File: hga-pass-b-core-structure.databook.md · Version: 0.1.1¹
Conformance: Core ·
Core holonic structure vocabulary and SHACL shapes. Seven holon classes (Holon, HomeHolon, IndexHolon, AgentHolon, PlaceHolon, OrganisationHolon, DataHolon), BoundaryLayer, GroundingRecord. Containment, membership, and registration properties. Reifier IRI labelling invariant.
Amendment 0.1.1¹: Cross-reference note — hmedia:appearance and
hmedia:hasMedia (Pass F) are available as opt-in properties on all
holon:Holon instances. SHACL shapes unchanged.
File: hga-pass-b-portals.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Extended ·
Portal and PortalLock vocabulary and SHACL shapes. Bidirectional portal model, portal lock conditions, traversal guards, portal activation. Not amended — no media properties on portals in Pass F.
File: hga-pass-c-events.databook.md · Version: 0.1.1¹
Conformance: Core ·
Event envelope vocabulary and SHACL shapes (closed). ObservationEvent,
AssertionEvent, CommandEvent, CommandRejected, ViolationEvent, OutOfBounds,
ExpansionRequest, UnresolvableTarget, RemoteEventEnvelope. Temporal properties,
targetHolon routing, RDF 1.2 reification annotation patterns.
Amendment 0.1.1¹: Cross-reference note — hmedia:hasScene (repeatable,
Pass F) is available on all hev:Event instances. Each SceneDescriptor
composites actor, location, narrative, and camera reference for the event.
SHACL shapes unchanged.
File: hga-pass-c-provenance.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Core ·
PROV-O shape extensions for HGA event envelopes. IngestionActivity, transformer
attribution, DataBook processing stamp. Envelope-level provenance only; payload
provenance uses prov: directly. Not amended — provenance records the act
of generating media but has no direct structural changes required.
File: hga-pass-d-bayesian.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Bayesian (⚠ At Risk) ·
Bayesian and Active Inference vocabulary following Friston’s Free Energy Principle. BeliefState (prior/posterior/precision), FreeEnergy (complexity/accuracy), PolicySelection (expectedFreeEnergy). SPARQL-based precision invariant constraints. At-risk pending conformance class stabilisation. Not amended — no media dependency.
File: hga-pass-d-policy.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Extended ·
ODRL 2.2 policy bindings for holons and portals. PortalPolicy, BoundaryPolicy, AccessPermission, TraversalConstraint. Policy may eventually govern media asset access but no structural changes required in Pass F. Not amended.
File: hga-pass-d-vc.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Extended ·
VC Data Model 2.0 credential wrapper shapes. vc:VerifiableCredential,
vc:VerifiablePresentation, issuer, validFrom, validUntil, proof. credentialSubject
shape is open (sh:closed false). Not amended — no media dependency.
File: hga-pass-e-markov-blanket_databook.md · Version: 0.3.0
Conformance: Markov ·
Markov blanket four-surface agent state partition. MarkovBlanket,
InternalState, ExternalState, SensoryState, ActiveState. Utterance as
first-class communicative act. PropagationSignal with Distress/Resolution
polarity. ParticipationRecord, CoregulationRecord. Bridge properties to hproj:
and hmedia:.
Amendment 0.3.0: Added §1.11 “Sensor-Only Blankets and Camera Agents” design
principle; added hmedia:sensorOnly property; amended hmk:MarkovBlanketShape
to relax ActiveState and AgentHolon-shield constraints to SPARQL-guarded
sh:Warning when hmedia:sensorOnly true; added F9 SPARQL fallback for
sensor-only blanket detection.
File: hga-pass-e-projection.databook.md · Version: 0.1.1
Conformance: Projection ·
Projection envelope vocabulary. NowGraph (stage 8), DepictionProjection (stage 9), OutputProduct, ProjectionActivity, CartographerActivity, PromptBlock. Five SKOS schemes: ProjectionType, PersistencePolicy, RenderingMode (4 modes), ContentFormat (13 formats), TransmissionMode. Read-only invariant shape.
Amendment 0.1.1: Added §1.7 “Camera Agents and Rendering Hints” design note
with RenderingModeScheme → CameraAgent preset mapping table; added
hmedia:cameraRef property declaration in §3 (cross-namespace bridge reference);
added hmedia:cameraRef to sh:ignoredProperties in both NowGraphShape and
DepictionProjectionShape; added optional sh:property constraints (sh:Info
severity) for hmedia:cameraRef in both shapes; added
hproj:ProjectionBridgeReceptionShape (advisory); updated prefixes to include
hmedia:.
File: hga-pass-f-media.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Media ·
Media asset and visual representation vocabulary. New conformance class
hspec:HGAMedia extends hspec:HGAMarkov.
Vocabulary:
| Term | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
hmedia:MediaContext |
Class | Project-level asset root with hmedia:mediaBase URI |
hmedia:MediaAsset |
Class | Addressable asset (IRI, MIME, keywords, role, altText) |
hmedia:appearance |
Property | Lang-tagged rendering hint on any entity or event |
hmedia:hasMedia |
Property | Links any holon or event to hmedia:MediaAsset |
hmedia:SceneDescriptor |
Class | Repeatable event scene composite |
hmedia:hasScene |
Property | Repeatable: on hev:Event → hmedia:SceneDescriptor |
hmedia:CameraAgent |
Class | Extends hmk:SensoryState; passive sensor |
hmedia:sensorOnly |
Property | Boolean on hmk:MarkovBlanket for camera-only blankets |
hmedia:cameraRef |
Property | Links NowGraph / DepictionProjection to CameraAgent |
SKOS schemes: MediaRoleScheme (9 roles), SensorTypeScheme (5 types), ShotTypeScheme (8 shot types), PerspectiveScheme (4 perspectives), DepthOfFieldScheme (3 values).
Non-normative: SPARQL CONSTRUCT for scene narrative assembly from component
hmedia:appearance literals.
File: hga-pass-g-viewer.databook.md · Version: 0.1.0
Conformance: Viewer ·
Viewer context envelope vocabulary and shapes. Defines the four-part
ViewerPass structure (ViewerProfile, PriorContext, StanceDeclaration,
ResolutionProfile) that parameterises Stage 8 NowGraph construction.
Viewer properties are modelled as time-stamped, provenanced, weighted
assertion events (extending hev:AssertionEvent via Turtle 1.2
reification) rather than static profile fields, preserving full
provenance and temporal evolution of viewer state. Introduces bridge
property hview:viewerRef on hproj:NowGraph. Includes SHACL shapes
for all four sub-structures and a reifier shape for viewer assertions.
Anonymous viewer fallback defined for sessions without a supplied
ViewerPass (Standing Issue SI-G-01).
Key vocabulary: hview:ViewerPass, hview:ViewerProfile,
hview:ViewerAssertion, hview:PriorContext, hview:StanceDeclaration,
hview:TrustEntry, hview:ResolutionProfile, hview:DimensionWeight,
hview:viewerRef, hview:assertionWeight, hview:trustOrder,
hview:salience.
File: hga-table-of-contents.databook.md · Version: 1.1.0
Conformance: — ·
This document. Version 1.1.0: Added Pass F row; added hmedia: to namespace
table; added hspec:HGAMedia to conformance class table; updated amendment notes
for E.1, E.2, B.1, C.1.
| DataBook | Version | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
hga-pass-e-markov-blanket |
0.1.0 → 0.2.0 | 2026-06-06 | Initial build |
hga-pass-e-markov-blanket |
0.2.0 → 0.3.0 | 2026-06-09 | Sensor-only pattern; sensorOnly; F9 fallback |
hga-pass-e-projection |
0.1.0 → 0.1.1 | 2026-06-09 | §1.7 camera note; hmedia:cameraRef bridge |
hga-pass0-namespace-registry |
0.1.0 → 0.1.1 | 2026-06-09 | hmk, hproj, hmedia entries |
hga-pass0-manifest |
0.1.0 → 0.1.1 | 2026-06-09 | HGAMarkov, HGAProjection, HGAMedia; Pass E/F sections |
hga-pass-a-ontology-header |
0.1.0 → 0.1.1 | 2026-06-09 | hmk, hproj, hmedia owl:Ontology declarations |
hga-pass-b-core-structure |
0.1.0 → 0.1.1¹ | 2026-06-09 | Cross-reference note only |
hga-pass-c-events |
0.1.0 → 0.1.1¹ | 2026-06-09 | Cross-reference note only |
hga-pass-f-media |
(new) 0.1.0 | 2026-06-09 | Initial build |
hga-table-of-contents |
1.0.0 → 1.1.0 | 2026-06-09 | Pass F additions throughout |
hga-pass-g-viewer |
(new) 0.1.0 | 2026-06-13 | Initial build |
¹ Amendment note produced — apply manually to existing file.
Copyright 2026 Kurt Cagle / Semantical LLC. Specification prose: W3C Document License. Ontology content: CC0-1.0.