Ontologies

Create or import an ontology

Every new ontology starts in the same wizard. You name the ontology, then choose how to build it: from scratch, from a file, from Microsoft Fabric, with an AI agent, or from an industry standard.

In the app: Data Context › Ontologies › Add Ontology

[screenshot]
The New Ontology wizard on the "How do you want to build it?" step.

Before you start

  • You need write access to the organization. Add Ontology is disabled while your organization is in read-only mode.
  • Importing from Fabric needs a Fabric credential set up for your organization.
  • The industry-standard path appears only when your organization has the Industry Standards feature and at least one enabled standard.

Step 1: Name the ontology

The Ontology Identity step asks for:

Field What it is Required
Name What you call the ontology, for example “Acme Corp — Core Ontology”. Yes
Namespace A short display label, for example “Catalog”. It is separate from the Base IRI you set later. No
Description The domain the ontology covers. No
Owner The role or person responsible for it. No

Click Next.

Step 2: Choose a starting point

The How do you want to build it? step offers:

  • Start from blank: an empty ontology you fill in yourself.
  • Import from a file: upload a Turtle, OWL, or RDF/XML file.
  • Import from Microsoft Fabric: pull in an existing Fabric Ontology item.
  • Generate with an agent: have an AI agent draft the ontology from your data and documents.
  • From an industry standard: build from one of your organization’s enabled standards.

Pick one and click Next.

About the Base IRI

Most paths ask for a Base IRI: the web address that every identifier in the ontology starts with, for example http://acme.example/catalog#. It must be an absolute address; the wizard warns you if it isn’t. It also becomes the : prefix when you export.

The field is prefilled with your organization’s Default Base IRI if an admin has set one. See Ontology settings. The Base IRI can’t be changed after the ontology is created, so check it before you continue.

Start from blank

  1. Check or edit the Base IRI.
  2. Review the summary of name, namespace, description, and owner.
  3. Click Create ontology.

The wizard confirms the ontology is ready and it appears in your list as a Draft. Click View ontology to open it and start adding classes.

Import from a file

  1. Drag a file onto the drop zone, or click to browse. Accepted types are .ttl (Turtle), .owl, .xml, and .rdf (RDF/XML), up to 20 MB.
  2. Optionally fill in Default namespace (override). Leave it blank to keep the default namespace declared in the file; set it to control the : prefix on export.
  3. Click Import ontology.

The import runs in the background. The wizard shows its progress and then the outcome:

  • Success names the new ontology and counts its classes, relationships, triples, and warnings. Warnings don’t stop the import.
  • Already imported: if you upload a file that was imported before, Kenseme returns the existing ontology instead of saving a second copy, and says so. To get a second copy, use Duplicate.
  • Failure shows the reason, for example a file that isn’t valid Turtle, OWL, or RDF/XML. Nothing is saved.

You can close the wizard with Open Ontologies list at any time; the import keeps running and you can follow it on the background jobs page.

Import from Microsoft Fabric

  1. Click Choose Fabric ontology and pick a Fabric Ontology item in the explorer.
  2. Set the Base IRI. Kenseme uses it to create identifiers for the Fabric entities.
  3. Click Import ontology.

Fabric stays the source of truth for this ontology. The content arrives in the background within a few seconds, and later syncs pull changes from Fabric. See Sync an ontology with Microsoft Fabric.

Generate with an agent

  1. Set the Base IRI.
  2. Click Open generator.

The generator page opens with your name and description filled in. There you choose the sources and instructions for the agent. See Generate an ontology with AI.

From an industry standard

Pick a Standard, set the Base IRI, and choose which part of the standard to bring in. Standards published as RDF import exactly; others are drafted by the generation agent. See Import a standard as an ontology.

What happens next

The new ontology appears in your Ontologies list as a Draft. Change its status to In Review or Published with the Edit button on the ontology page when it’s ready.