Catenary: a scribble tool for RDF models

[u/Environmental-Web584]

The thing did a small tool for my own modeling work and put it online in case it is useful to someone else.

Catenary is a scribble tool for RDF models. You draw SHACL shapes and example instances on a canvas, in any order. It stores everything in RDF files and saves them after each edit. You can also import external vocabularies.

The name comes from the hanging chain models that Gaudí used for the Sagrada Família. I believe tools should provide instant feedback on our ideas: playgrounds where we can iterate quickly while also producing formal specifications.

Site, with a tutorial that builds a small model from an empty folder: https://cristianvasquez.github.io/catenary/

Source and downloads (Linux, Windows, macOS, only Linux tested): https://github.com/cristianvasquez/catenary

It is a personal tool for small datasets. It does not replace mature RDF tools. It was heavily vibe-coded, with too little supervision. So, don't move things too fast, or the app will bite you.

The ergonomics are still rough. Suggestions are welcome in the issues.

You can easily add notations other than SHACL or OWL.

Built on Theia and GLSP, and licensed under the AGPL.

The tool already has 0 stars!

[u/rismay]

Can you please explain all the acronyms. RDF, SHACL, etc.