Rights & Policy Verification
Evaluates declarative permissions, obligations, prohibitions, and ODRL agreements against live transactional states, ensuring decisions adhere strictly to agreed rules.
Engine Architecture Guide
Pluggable high-performance engines for open data graphs.
Web Civics Databox supports multiple underlying engines to match diverse deployment scale, reasoning requirements, and licensing models. Whether running fast SPARQL 1.1 graph queries or executing verifiable symbolic decision logic, your underlying records always remain independent, portable W3C Solid RDF.
Architectural Role
Decoupling personal storage from computation engines.
In the Web Civics Databox architecture, storage and computation are strictly separated. The Databox serves as the secure ledger and access control plane, while query and reasoning engines act as modular processing units.
Both supported engines — Oxigraph and Web Civics Qualia — interact seamlessly with standard linked data. Organisations can deploy either or both engines depending on their operational needs: fast graph analytics, administrative reporting, or verifiable rules-based decision auditing.
People & ServicesExchange records through Relationship Databoxes
Standard Solid RDF RecordsCryptographically committed & verifiable in the Web of Data
Open Standards Foundation
Connecting data across the decentralized web.
Solid Protocol Integration
Traditional web hyperlinks connect human-readable documents. The Web of Data connects structured information — people, institutions, credentials, receipts, and contractual duties — through uniform web identifiers and shared vocabularies.
Solid adds fine-grained, permission-based access control (WAC/ACP) on top of standard HTTP and LDP. With Web Civics Databox, any compatible Solid client can interact with authorized records without vendor lock-in or proprietary API silos.
Qualia Decision Intelligence
Qualia extends standard RDF graphs with high-assurance validation, symbolic reasoning, and verifiable evidence generation. It enables automated compliance checking, mathematical verification, and audit trails that can prove why a decision was reached.
While Solid guarantees that records are decentralized and accessible, Qualia provides the mathematical and logical rigor required for mission-critical civic and enterprise operations.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Engine capabilities at a glance.
Review the architectural strengths, deployment targets, and operational characteristics of each engine.
| Dimension | Oxigraph | Web Civics Qualia (WASM) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | High-performance, general-purpose RDF graph database and SPARQL 1.1 query engine. | Advanced symbolic decision-evidence engine with formal logic, semantic reasoning, and data validation. |
| Ideal Use Cases | Fast administrative reporting, federated SPARQL search, graph indexing, and standard linked data queries. | Rules enforcement, ODRL duties verification, contradiction resolution, calculation proofs, and personal OPFS vaults. |
| Data Representation | Native RDF triples and quads with SPARQL 1.1 Update support. | Dual model: standard Solid RDF for external exchange, internal Quin representation for high-speed multi-logic reasoning. |
| Runtime Environments | Embedded in-process WASM or standalone native Rust daemon; browser-compatible builds available. | Client-side browser WASM with persistent Origin Private File System (OPFS) storage; Node.js testing; mobile WebViews via wasm-webcivics. |
| Feature Set | SPARQL 1.1 Query/Update, TriG/N-Quads/Turtle parsers, transactional ACID workspaces. | Turtle/JSON-LD/TriG, SHACL validation, paraconsistent logic, exact arithmetic, statistical diagnostics, and encrypted backup packages. |
| Architectural Boundary | Pure query engine; does not enforce business logic, access policies, or governance rules. | Pure deterministic symbolic engine; excludes opaque neural networks, LLMs, or non-deterministic generators. |
| Production Readiness | Fully integrated as an in-process Databox SPARQL module with active CI smoke tests. | Core WASM runtime, integrity verification, and memory safety bridges implemented; administrative sanctuary routes in active rollout. |
| Fallback Resilience | Solid RDF files remain the single source of truth; can be re-indexed into any standard SPARQL store at any time. | Solid RDF records remain accessible. Qualia reasoning operates non-destructively without risking underlying record loss. |
Advanced Qualia Capabilities
Deterministic symbolic reasoning and decision evidence.
Qualia provides a mathematical framework for verifiable governance, formal logic, and client-side autonomy.
Paraconsistent Logic
Gracefully isolates conflicting claims and contradictions without crashing or corrupting the global knowledge base, allowing systems to operate safely amidst messy real-world data.
SHACL & Cryptographic Evidence
Validates graph structures using W3C SHACL schemas, pins immutable JSON-LD contexts, and generates verifiable receipts detailing every computational step.
Explainable Numerical Analysis
Performs exact arithmetic, econometric modeling, descriptive statistics, and linear algebra with explicit diagnostic logs rather than uninterpretable black-box predictions.
Local Browser Database (OPFS)
Runs directly within progressive web apps (PWAs) using the browser's Origin Private File System, providing high-speed persistent storage that works offline and survives page reloads.
Verified Backup & Migration
Includes end-to-end verified backup and restore tools (webcivics.vault-backup.v1), enabling seamless data migration across devices and clean export to standard Solid RDF.
AI Architecture
Symbolic reasoning versus generative models.
Deterministic Symbolic Logic
Symbolic AI operates on explicit facts, defined concepts, and mathematical rules: “Person A holds verified Credential X until Date Y”. It rigorously tests conclusions through transparent deduction. Every output can be traced, audited, and mathematically proven.
For civic infrastructure, finance, health, and law, transparency is non-negotiable. Qualia delivers predictable, rule-bound verification that guarantees accountability.
Synergy with Generative AI
Generative models (LLMs) excel at natural language synthesis, translation, and user assistance. However, because they are probabilistic pattern matchers, they can hallucinate and cannot serve as legal or transactional sources of truth.
The Databox architecture cleanly separates these concerns: generative tools may help users formulate queries, while symbolic engines like Qualia verify credentials, enforce access boundaries, and issue signed cryptographic receipts.
Licensing & Stewardship
Clear, transparent licensing choices.
Both engines are engineered to support long-term sustainability, open innovation, and ethical deployment across civic and commercial ecosystems.
Oxigraph Engine
Permissive Open Source
Oxigraph is dual-licensed under the MIT License and Apache License 2.0. This permissive licensing allows royalty-free adoption, customization, and deployment across both open-source and commercial environments.
Deployment Path: Recommended for public deployments, standard SPARQL query endpoints, and organisations requiring standard permissive open-source licenses.
View Oxigraph LicenseWeb Civics Qualia (WASM)
Specialized Civic Field-of-Use
The compiled wasm-webcivics binary is provided as freeware restricted to authorized Web Civics Databox deployments. The Databox bridge integration code is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Deployment Path: Ideal for high-assurance environments requiring formal decision auditing, client-side OPFS vaults, and paraconsistent logic within the Web Civics ecosystem.
Review Integration DetailsRecommendations
How to select the right engine for your project.
Standard Query & Reporting
Deploy Oxigraph for fast, standards-compliant SPARQL 1.1 querying, graph search, and zero-configuration open-source operations.
High-Assurance Decision Auditing
Deploy Qualia when your application requires formal SHACL validation, deterministic decision proofs, or client-side OPFS offline vaults.
Hybrid Enterprise Deployment
Run both: utilize Oxigraph for enterprise-wide administrative indexing and reporting, while executing sensitive bilateral transactions and policy checks with Qualia.