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rdflib.js

The JavaScript library for RDF. Parse, serialize, query, and manipulate Linked Data in the browser and Node.js.

Overview​

rdflib.js is the foundational library for working with RDF in JavaScript. It powers SolidOS, solid-client, and many other Solid ecosystem tools.

Installation​

npm install rdflib

Core Concepts​

Stores and Graphs​

import { graph, parse, serialize } from 'rdflib';

// Create a store
const store = graph();

// Parse Turtle into the store
const turtle = `
  @prefix foaf: <http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/> .
  <#me> a foaf:Person ; foaf:name "Alice" .
`;
parse(turtle, store, 'https://example.org/profile');

// Serialize back to Turtle
const output = serialize(null, store, 'https://example.org/profile', 'text/turtle');

Symbols and Literals​

import { sym, lit, Namespace } from 'rdflib';

// Create a named node (URI)
const alice = sym('https://alice.example/profile#me');

// Create a literal
const name = lit('Alice');

// Use namespaces
const FOAF = Namespace('http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/');
const knows = FOAF('knows');

Querying​

import { graph, sym, Namespace } from 'rdflib';

const store = graph();
const FOAF = Namespace('http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/');

// Find all people Alice knows
const alice = sym('https://alice.example/profile#me');
const friends = store.each(alice, FOAF('knows'), null);

friends.forEach(friend => {
  console.log(friend.uri);
});

Fetching Remote Data​

import { graph, Fetcher } from 'rdflib';

const store = graph();
const fetcher = new Fetcher(store);

// Load a remote document
await fetcher.load('https://alice.example/profile');

// Data is now in the store

Formats Supported​

FormatMIME TypeReadWrite
Turtletext/turtle✓✓
N-Triplesapplication/n-triples✓✓
JSON-LDapplication/ld+json✓✓
RDF/XMLapplication/rdf+xml✓✓
N3text/n3✓✓
RDFatext/html✓—

UpdateManager (CRUD Operations)​

For read-write applications, UpdateManager handles saving changes:

import { graph, Fetcher, UpdateManager, sym, st } from 'rdflib';

const store = graph();
const fetcher = new Fetcher(store);
const updater = new UpdateManager(store);

// Load existing data
await fetcher.load('https://alice.pod/profile');

// Prepare updates
const me = sym('https://alice.pod/profile#me');
const FOAF = Namespace('http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/');

const deletions = [];
const insertions = [
  st(me, FOAF('name'), lit('Alice Smith'), me.doc())
];

// Send PATCH to server
await updater.update(deletions, insertions);

Real-Time Collaboration​

rdflib.js supports WebSocket subscriptions for live updates:

import { graph, Fetcher, UpdateManager } from 'rdflib';

const store = graph();
const fetcher = new Fetcher(store);
const updater = new UpdateManager(store);

// Load and subscribe
await fetcher.load('https://alice.pod/chat');

// Store automatically updates when others make changes
// UI can react to store changes

Provenance Tracking​

rdflib.js tracks where each triple came from:

// Each statement has a 'why' (graph/source)
const statements = store.match(null, null, null, doc);

statements.forEach(st => {
  console.log(`${st.subject} ${st.predicate} ${st.object}`);
  console.log(`  Source: ${st.why}`);
});

SPARQL-like Queries​

Basic graph pattern matching (not full SPARQL):

import { graph, variable } from 'rdflib';

const store = graph();
const x = variable('x');

// Find all things Alice knows
const results = store.match(alice, FOAF('knows'), x);

Comparison with solid-client​

Featurerdflib.jssolid-client
LevelLow-levelHigh-level
Learning curveSteeperGentler
FlexibilityMaximumOpinionated
Use caseLibraries, complex appsTypical Solid apps
Maintained byCommunityInrupt

Use rdflib.js when you need fine-grained control. Use solid-client for most applications.

See Also​