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Context Patterns & Best Practices

This guide covers practical patterns for using @context effectively in your Fluree applications.

Defining Prefixes​

Use prefixes to shorten URIs:


{
"@context": {
"ex": "http://example.org/",
"schema": "http://schema.org/"
},
"ledger": "my-app/data",
"insert": {
"@id": "ex:alice",
"schema:name": "Alice"
}
}

Defining Custom Terms​

Map short names to full URIs:


{
"@context": {
"name": "http://schema.org/name",
"email": "http://schema.org/email",
"worksAt": {"@id": "http://example.org/worksAt", "@type": "@id"}
}
}

Now you can write:


{
"@id": "ex:alice",
"name": "Alice",
"worksAt": {"@id": "ex:acme"}
}

Specifying Property Types​

Use @type to indicate how values should be interpreted:


{
"@context": {
"birthDate": {"@id": "schema:birthDate", "@type": "xsd:date"},
"manager": {"@id": "ex:manager", "@type": "@id"}
}
}

  • @type": "@id" — Value is a reference to another entity
  • @type": "xsd:date" — Value is a date
  • @type": "xsd:integer" — Value is an integer

Context in Transactions​

Include context in your transactions:


{
"@context": {
"ex": "http://example.org/",
"schema": "http://schema.org/"
},
"ledger": "my-app/data",
"insert": {
"@id": "ex:product-1",
"schema:name": "Widget",
"schema:price": 29.99
}
}

Context in Queries​

Context also applies to queries:


{
"@context": {
"schema": "http://schema.org/"
},
"from": "my-app/data",
"where": {
"@id": "?product",
"schema:name": "?name"
},
"select": ["?name"]
}

Reusable Context​

Define context once and reuse it:


const myContext = {
"ex": "http://example.org/",
"schema": "http://schema.org/",
"name": "schema:name",
"email": "schema:email"
};
// Use in transactions
const transaction = {
"@context": myContext,
"ledger": "my-app/data",
"insert": {...}
};
// Use in queries
const query = {
"@context": myContext,
"from": "my-app/data",
...
};

Best Practices​

  1. Use established vocabularies — Schema.org, FOAF, Dublin Core when applicable
  2. Be consistent — Use the same terms throughout your application
  3. Document your context — Make it clear what terms mean
  4. Keep it minimal — Only include terms you actually use

Common Vocabularies​

PrefixURIUse For
schemahttp://schema.org/General-purpose (people, products, events)
foafhttp://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/People and social networks
dchttp://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/Metadata (title, creator, date)
rdfshttp://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Classes and properties

Next Steps​