Ontospy

What it is

Ontospy is a lightweight Python library and command-line tool for inspecting vocabularies encoded in RDF-family languages. It can scan RDFS, OWL, SKOS, and SHACL material, expose ontology information through Python objects, and generate documentation.

Key concepts

• It works as a Python package, direct command-line scanner, or optional interactive shell/REPL.
• Models can be loaded from files or graph URIs, then interrogated for classes, properties, SKOS concepts, SHACL shapes, and entity relationships.
• A local repository can cache ontologies for later inspection.
• Documentation output includes simple HTML, Markdown, and interactive D3.js-based visualizations; version 2 moved this facility from Django to Jinja and added SHACL support.

How you’d use it

Run ontospy scan against a graph URI for a quick terminal inventory, instantiate Ontospy in Python when an application needs schema information, or use ontospy gendocs to produce browsable ontology documentation. Cache frequently inspected vocabularies locally when repeated loading would be inconvenient.

LLM angle

none stated

Pitfalls & lessons

Ontospy explicitly does not edit ontologies. The interactive shell requires the optional readline dependency, and the version 2 internal changes may break custom extensions built around the older documentation generator.

Verdict

A focused inspection and documentation utility for people who want RDF schema visibility without opening a full ontology editor; use another tool when authoring or editing is required.

Sources consulted

• http://lambdamusic.github.io/Ontospy/