Re: Shapes Repository

Apologies for hitting the wrong mailing list! This email has now been sent
to the public-solid mailing list.

On Tue, 31 Mar 2026 at 11:03, Jesse Wright <jesse.wright@theodi.org> wrote:

> Dear Solid Community,
>
> We would like to share a new repository - https://github.com/solid/shapes
> - aimed at supporting interoperability in the Solid ecosystem.
>
> We’d really welcome your feedback on this and the role it could play for
> the community!
>
> Primarily, this repository is designed to:
>
>    1.
>
>    Provide a space for the community to converge on the data models used
>    across applications – declared using SHACL shapes
>    2.
>
>    Build up a collection of well-understood, reusable shape patterns
>    3.
>
>    Enable a collaborative review process where shapes can be compared and
>    discussed transparently
>    4.
>
>    Support artefact generation from shapes, including object abstractions
>    in Javascript <https://github.com/rdfjs/wrapper>, data validators
>    (using SHACL engines), and forms
>    <https://w3c.github.io/data-shapes/shacl12-ui/>.
>    5.
>
>    Offer visibility into existing shapes to encourage reuse, reduce
>    duplication, contributor recognition, and help new participants get started
>    more easily
>
> We have documented an initial contribution process in the repository. In
> addition, there is an important human consensus step
> <https://github.com/solid/shapes/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md> that we are
> still refining and would welcome feedback on
> <https://github.com/solid/shapes/issues/24>.
>
> We have pre-filled this repository with shapes that we know are already
> used within the ecosystem – including shapes based on the data models used
> by SolidOS. We would now like to invite you to contribute shapes,
> representing the data that your Solid applications read and write - please
> refer to the guidelines on contributing
> <https://github.com/solid/shapes/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md>.
>
> Note: The goal of this repository is to achieve interoperability through
> social consensus rather than technical complexity, such as inference or
> mappings. As the Solid ecosystem scales beyond its current size, we may
> eventually deprecate this repository in favor of other mechanisms. We also
> expect that this repository will, in time, evolve beyond the use of SHACL
> alone – ways we imagine this could happen include:
>
>    -
>
>    Ontology-Driven Approach <https://github.com/solid/shapes/issues/32>:
>    Moving toward a set of recommended ontologies based on actual usage. Shapes
>    would still document how applications read/write data, with automated
>    checks to ensure they conform to these recommended ontologies.
>    -
>
>    Consistency Checks <https://github.com/solid/shapes/issues/33>:
>    Ensuring the consistency of recommended ontologies (though this may be too
>    academic for practical implementation).
>    -
>
>    Foundational Ontology <https://github.com/solid/shapes/issues/34>:
>    Introducing a foundational ontology (e.g., UFO) that all other ontologies
>    build upon (similarly, this may be too academic for our current needs).
>
> These are subject to change based on feedback from the repository’s usage
> and other interoperability efforts.
>
> If you have comments, we’d like to gather initial feedback asynchronously
> via GitHub discussions <https://github.com/solid/shapes/discussions>. If
> there’s interest in a deeper discussion, we can schedule a call or bring
> this to the Community Group agenda.
>
> Design decisions have been itemised on GitHub
> <https://github.com/solid/shapes/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20label%3Adesign>
> and we would encourage you to comment on individual design decisions there
> rather than via the email thread.
>
> Looking forward to your thoughts!
> Best,
> --
> *Jesse Wright (he/him)*
>
> *Project Lead, Solid
> <https://theodi.org/news-and-events/news/odi-and-solid-come-together-to-give-individuals-greater-control-over-personal-data/>*
> The Open Data Institute
> 4th Floor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
> Website: theodi.org
> Book a meeting: https://calendar.app.google/hv63aFQyL6jgjiXG9
> Tel: +44 7862381515
> *My work day may look different than yours. Please do not feel obligated
> to respond outside of your normal working hours.*
>


-- 
*Jesse Wright (he/him)*

*Project Lead, Solid
<https://theodi.org/news-and-events/news/odi-and-solid-come-together-to-give-individuals-greater-control-over-personal-data/>*
The Open Data Institute
4th Floor, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG
Website: theodi.org
Book a meeting: https://calendar.app.google/hv63aFQyL6jgjiXG9
Tel: +44 7862381515
*My work day may look different than yours. Please do not feel obligated to
respond outside of your normal working hours.*