--- title: "KYE Protocol™ — Ontology Profile · semantic authority across systems" description: "KYE™ Ontology Profile™ is the semantic layer of KYE™ — shared meaning of entities, authorities, capabilities, scopes, states, decisions, evidence, profiles…" url: https://kyeprotocol.com/ontology/ lang: en source: "KYE Protocol" --- > KYE™ Ontology Profile™ is the semantic layer of KYE™ — shared meaning of entities, authorities, capabilities, scopes, states, decisions, evidence, profiles… KYE™ Ontology Profile™ · v1.0 # Semantic authority, not just permissions. How KYE™ names entities. Five classes. One URN scheme. Same shape across SDKs, schemas. And the OpenAPI spec. [Apply for pilot →](https://kyeprotocol.com/pilot-apply/) [Read the docs](https://kyeprotocol.com/docs/) **KYE™ Ontology Profile™** defines how entities, authorities, capabilities, scopes, states, decisions and evidence relate across systems, sectors and profiles. **Schemas make data valid. Ontologies make data meaningful.** Plain Q&A ## Plain Q&A Short questions. Short answers. - **What is ontology?** How we name things. - **What is a class?** A kind of entity. - **How many classes are there?** Five. - **What is a URN?** A name with five parts. - **What goes in part one?** The class. - **What goes in part two?** The trust domain. - **What goes in part three?** The subclass. - **What goes in part four?** The local name. - **Is it open?** Yes. The vocab is open. Plain take ## Plain take Five classes. One URN. Same shape, top to bottom. - Every entity is a URN. - Every URN has five parts. - Same names in TypeScript. Same names in Python. - Same names in the OpenAPI spec. 1 · Where the semantic layer sits ## Schemas. Dictionaries. Taxonomies. Ontology. Graph. Policy. Runtime. The ontology layer is not a replacement for any of the others. It gives them shared meaning so different systems can agree on what an entity, agent, authority, capability, state, decision or evidence pack actually _is_. **Dictionaries** Allowed terms. Stable names KYE™ recognises. **Taxonomies** Parent / child classification of those names. **KYE™ Ontology Profile™** Semantic relationships between names — what they mean, what they require, what they are _not_. **Schemas (JSON Schema)** Runtime validation. Bytes on the wire. **Knowledge graph** Live instances of entities, authorities, decisions. **Policy engine** Decisions over meaning + state. **Runtime gateway** Enforcement at the decision point. **Evidence Pack™** Signed semantic artefact a regulator can replay offline. 2 · The twelve ontology domains ## Every KYE™ term belongs to exactly one domain. Domains carve the semantic surface so terms cannot drift across categories silently. `delegated_payment_authority` lives in `authority`. `payment_initiation` lives in `capability`. `amount_limit` lives in `scope`. Mappings between domains are explicit. ### entity Human, org, agent, model, tool, device, dataset, credential, instrument, asset. ### authority Delegation, mandate, consent, approval, permission, entitlement, licence, power\_of\_attorney. ### capability payment\_initiation, card\_purchase, data\_access, contract\_signing, tool\_invocation. ### scope amount\_limit, time\_window, jurisdiction, data\_class, environment, retention\_limit. ### state entity, authority, delegation, credential, capability, risk, recovery, continuity, discovery, certification. ### decision allow, allow\_with\_constraints, require\_approval, deny, continuity\_\*. ### evidence audit\_event, decision\_map, evidence\_pack, payload\_hash, signature, intent\_trace. ### continuity Drift types and continuity dimensions. ### discoverability Discovery modes, risk-discovery types, masking classes. ### connector Connector Profile™ family kinds. ### sector payments, open\_finance, legal, health, pensions, cyber, critical\_infrastructure, sovereign\_ai, telecom, pharma\_gxp. ### certification Conformance / certification artefacts. 3 · Mapping types — interactive ## Six explicit mapping types. Including "not equivalent." Every external-system term mapped into KYE™ declares exactly one mapping type. The runtime enforces it. An OAuth scope may be `related_not_identical` to a delegated payment authority — presenting the scope alone, without the companion authority record, is denied. When does it apply? Source and KYE™ term are interchangeable for runtime purposes. Rare in practice; usually only safe within a single trust domain. **Example:** `oidc_id_token.sub` ≡ `kye:term:entity:human` when both reference the same KYE-issued URN. **Runtime effect:** presenting either term resolves to the same KYE™ term. No companion object required. ### does not prove the KYE™ term Overlap exists but the source term . Companion KYE™ objects MUST be presented. ### Example: OAuth scope ↔ ; companions required: , , , . payments:write kye:term:capability:payment\_initiation KYEAuthorityGrant KYEScope KYEStateSnapshot KYEPolicyDecision ### Runtime effect: if any companion is missing, deny with reason code . external\_term\_not\_equivalent When does it apply? The source term MUST NOT be treated as the KYE™ term. Asserting equivalence is itself a policy violation. **Example:** `oauth.scope:profile.read` ≠ `kye:term:legal:power_of_attorney`. **Runtime effect:** deny with reason code `semantic_equivalence_rejected`. When does it apply? A label-level alias only — same KYE™ term under a different display name. **Example:** `"payment mandate"` alias of `kye:term:authority:delegated_payment_authority`. **Runtime effect:** presenting either resolves identically; no policy gate. When does it apply? The source term is a _narrower_ meaning than the KYE™ term. **Example:** `card_purchase` subsumes the broader `kye:term:capability:payment_initiation` only for card-rail subset. **Runtime effect:** resolves to the KYE™ term but only within the declared narrow scope. When does it apply? The source term is a _broader_ meaning than the KYE™ term. **Example:** `generic.access` subsumed\_by `kye:term:authority:delegated_payment_authority` — presenting the broad term is insufficient. **Runtime effect:** require additional KYE™ objects to narrow the resolution; deny if absent. 4 · Schemas (Apache 2.0, public mirror) ## Five normative objects + JSON-LD context. Validated in CI. - `ontology-profile.json` — KYE™ Ontology Profile™ manifest - `ontology-term.json` — one canonical term - `ontology-relationship.json` — (subject, predicate, object) triple with constraints - `ontology-mapping.json` — external term → KYE™ term mapping with mapping\_type + companion-objects - `semantic-assertion.json` — decision-bound semantics, hash-chained into the audit ledger - `jsonld-context.json` — JSON-LD context for semantic interoperability RDF / OWL export is supported as an optional serialization for research, public-sector. And regulator integrations. KYE™ is JSON-native at runtime and ontology-aware at the semantic layer. 4b · Canonical relationship terms (derived) ## The terms below are derived from `internal`. Per Constitution (Transitive Update Cascade), this block regenerates automatically when the ontology dictionary changes. The TypeScript + Python SDK vocabulary modules regenerate at the same time. No hand-edit between the markers below — edit the dictionary instead. - `delegates_to` — Principal A grants authority to act to Principal B within a bounded scope. - `accountable_for` — Principal is the responsible accountable owner of an actor or workflow. - `authorised_by` — Action authorised by a specific authority grant. - `evidenced_by` — Decision evidenced by a specific Evidence Pack™. - `scoped_to` — Authority grant is scoped to a specific capability set. - `supersedes` — New authority/policy supersedes a previous one. - `depends_on` — Object A depends on Object B for resolution. - `cascades_to` — A change to Object A automatically propagates to Object B in the same commit, per Constitution (Transitive Update Cascade). - `interacts_with` — Object A engages in bidirectional runtime exchange with Object B (one of the v1.1 typed-edge relationship-map vocabulary; the bidirectional sibling of produces/consumes). Cascade source: `internal` · Settled by: `scripts/build-ontology-derivative.mjs` · Coverage gate: `cascade-coverage` 5 · Apps that compose this profile ## Four planned apps. Contracts open; engines paid. What it is. Why it matters. What to do next. ### KYE™ Ontology Registry™ Define and govern terms, relationships, mappings and semantic assertions. ### KYE™ Semantic Authority Mapper™ Map OAuth scopes, IAM roles, payment mandates, legal delegations and healthcare consents into KYE™ without losing meaning. ### KYE™ Semantic Graph™ Graph view of the ontology + live instances; semantic-path search + risk-ranked traversal. ### KYE™ Ontology Conformance™ Conformance fixture suite + certification track for ontology-correct implementations. 6 · Open / paid boundary ## The contracts are open. The semantic engine is paid. One sentence: a signed, replayable proof of decision. Open source ### Open - KYE™ Ontology Profile™ schema - Term + relationship + mapping + semantic-assertion schemas - JSON-LD context - Predicate dictionary + 6 mapping types - Reason-code dictionary - Sample terms + sample mappings - RDF / OWL optional export examples - Basic conformance fixtures Commercial track ### Paid - KYE™ Ontology Registry™ Pro - KYE™ Semantic Authority Mapper™ - KYE™ Semantic Graph™ engine - False-equivalence detection engine - Cross-profile mapping reconciliation - Sector ontology packs - Tenant ontology overlays - Risk-weighted traversal - Certification workflow 7 · How it strengthens Continuity + Discoverability ## Ontology makes discovery meaningful and continuity portable. What it is. Why it matters. What to do next. ### + Discoverability _Without ontology:_ "find all payment permissions." _With ontology:_ "find all **active delegated payment authorities**, including mapped payment mandates, **excluding** ordinary API scopes that do not prove principal authority." ### + Continuity User says "book travel." Agent interprets "buy airline ticket." Ontology checks whether `book` implies _prepare-only_, _reserve-only_, or _purchase_ authority — preventing intent / authority drift. ### + Evidence Each runtime decision emits a signed `KYESemanticAssertion`, hash-chained into the audit ledger; a regulator can re-derive what the decision _meant_, not just what it returned. **KYE™ is JSON-native at runtime, JSON-LD-ready for semantic interoperability, and graph-aware for authority discovery, continuity and evidence.** Where to go next ## Adjacent reading. What it is. Why it matters. What to do next. [Continuity Profile™ →](https://kyeprotocol.com/continuity/) [Discoverability Profile™ →](https://kyeprotocol.com/discoverability/) [Vocabulary →](https://kyeprotocol.com/vocabulary/) [Glossary — ontology entries](https://kyeprotocol.com/glossary/#ontology) [Whitepaper.6](https://kyeprotocol.com/whitepaper/#sec-7-6) ## Ready to see your AI agents flagged? Start in shadow mode. We’ll deliver your first Evidence Pack™ in 4–8 weeks. [Apply for pilot →](https://kyeprotocol.com/pilot-apply/) [Try the sandbox →](https://kyeprotocol.com/sandbox/demos/) Canonical KYE™ surfaces referenced on this page: [Evidence Pack™](https://kyeprotocol.com/evidence-pack/) · [KYE Protocol™](https://kyeprotocol.com/).