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Ontology & API

The Semantic Communication Encoding (SCE) ontology defines a governed set of Unicode emoji symbols with explicit meaning, usage rules, and domain roles. It ensures humans, tools, and LLMs interpret symbols consistently.

Ontology structure

The canonical ontology exists in:

packages/core/ts/src/ontology.ts

This file is considered normative for the current version of SCE.

Each symbol definition includes:

Field Purpose
emoji The Unicode grapheme representing the symbol
role The semantic category (e.g., STRUCTURE, TASK, STATE)
meaning Human-readable definition
allowedContext Where this symbol may be used (HUMAN, LLM, TOOL)
usage REQUIRED, OPTIONAL, or CONDITIONAL
conflictsWith Symbols that cannot appear in the same semantic position
example A canonical usage reference

Type Signature

export interface SceSymbolDefinition {
  emoji: string;
  role: SceRole;
  meaning: string;
  allowedContext: SceContext[];
  usage: SceUsage;
  conflictsWith: string[];
  example: string;
}

Domain model

SCE symbols are grouped into eight role domains:

Domain Examples Usage
structure 🗂️ 📌 📎 Sections, pinned facts, anchors
legalPolicy ⚖️ 📜 🧾 🏛️ Legal rules, citation, evidence
reasoning 🔍 🧠 🕵️ Analysis, inference, investigation
tasks 📝 ☐ ☑️ ✅ 🔁 Work items, completion state
privacy 🔐 🗝️ 🔓 Access control and authorization
actors 👤 🧑‍🎓 🧑‍🏫 🧑‍⚖️ 🏢 Persons and institutions
state ⏳ ❓ ⚠️ ❌ Status, uncertainty, warnings
control 🔀 ⏭️ ⏮️ Flow and decision indicators

Each symbol belongs to exactly one domain.

Programmatic access

Importing the ontology

import { SemanticOntology } from "semanticencoding";

console.log(SemanticOntology.structure.pinned);
/*
{
  emoji: "📌",
  role: "STRUCTURE",
  meaning: "Pinned fact or non-negotiable constraint",
  allowedContext: ["HUMAN", "LLM"],
  usage: "REQUIRED",
  conflictsWith: [...],
  example: "📌 The date of first notification is fixed."
}
*/

Runtime utilities

Extract symbol definitions from text

import { getDefinitionsFromText } from "semanticencoding";

const result = getDefinitionsFromText("⚠️ Issue ⏳ still unresolved");
console.log(result);

Validate ontology

import { validateOntology } from "semanticencoding";

const issues = validateOntology();
if (issues.length > 0) {
  console.table(issues);
}

Suggest symbols

import { suggestSymbols } from "semanticencoding";

console.log(suggestSymbols("requires follow-up and pending review"));

Stability and governance

The ontology is versioned and governed according to:

  • GOVERNANCE.md
  • /rfcs/
  • LICENSE.md (Ethical Use)

Breaking changes require an approved RFC.

Next steps