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Relationships (also called link types) define how object types are connected. They capture the real-world associations between entities — a deal belongs to a company, a person works at an organization, a candidate is applying for a position.

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Creating a Relationship

1

Connect two types

In the Ontology Builder, drag from the connection handle on one object type node to another, or right-click a node and select New Relationship. The handle appears on hover at the edges of each node.
2

Configure the link

A dialog appears with the following fields:
  • Link Name — A descriptive name for the relationship (e.g., “assigned_to”, “works_at”, “owns”)
  • Cardinality — How many instances can be on each side
  • Directional — Whether the link goes one way or both
  • Description — Optional context about what this relationship means
3

Save

Click Create to add the relationship. It appears as an edge in the graph between the two object types.
You can also create self-referential relationships — for example, a “Company” that has a “parent_company” link back to itself.

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Cardinality

Cardinality defines how many instances can participate on each side of a relationship.
CardinalityMeaningExample
One-to-OneEach source has exactly one target, and vice versaPerson → has_passport → Passport
One-to-ManyEach source can have many targets, but each target has one sourceCompany → employs → Person
Many-to-OneEach source has one target, but each target can have many sourcesPerson → works_at → Company
Many-to-ManyNo restrictions on either sidePerson → member_of → Project
Choose the cardinality that best reflects the real-world constraint. For example, if each deal has exactly one owner but each person can own multiple deals, use Many-to-One (Deal → Person).

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Directionality

Relationships can be directional or bidirectional:
  • Directional (A → B): The link has a clear source and target. “Deal owned_by Person” implies the deal points to the person, not the reverse.
  • Bidirectional (A ↔ B): The link works both ways equally. “Person collaborates_with Person” has no inherent direction.
In the Ontology Builder graph, directional relationships are shown with an arrow, while bidirectional relationships show a line connecting both types equally.

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Visualizing Relationships

The Ontology Builder graph renders relationships as edges between object type nodes. Each edge displays:
  • The link name as a label on the edge
  • The cardinality notation (1:1, 1:N, N:1, N:N)
  • Direction shown with an arrow (→) for directional links or a bidirectional indicator (↔) for undirected links
Self-referential relationships (where source and target are the same type) are rendered as looped edges on the node.

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Examples

Here are common relationship patterns across different domains:

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Editing and Deleting

  • To edit a relationship, click on the edge in the Ontology Builder graph to open it in Spaces where you can modify its properties.
  • To delete a relationship, use the delete action from the edge’s context menu.
Deleting a relationship removes the link type definition. It does not delete the object type instances on either side.
If you delete an object type, all relationships that reference it as a source or target are also deleted automatically.