OntoCode
Browse OWL/RDF ontologies in VS Code — index a workspace, explore classes and properties in the sidebar, inspect entities, and jump to Turtle/RDF source.
Quick start
- Install OntoCode from the Marketplace (you are here).
- File → Open Folder… and choose a project that contains ontology files.
- If VS Code asks, Trust the workspace (required for the bundled language server).
- Click the OntoCode icon in the Activity Bar (left edge of the window).
- Open Classes, Properties, or Individuals and click an entity name to open the Entity Inspector.
OntoCode indexes supported files automatically when the folder opens (ontocode.autoIndexOnOpen, default on).
Supported files
OntoCode activates when your workspace contains any of:
| Extension |
Format |
.ttl |
Turtle |
.owl, .rdf |
RDF/XML |
.jsonld, .json-ld |
JSON-LD |
.nt, .nq |
N-Triples / N-Quads |
.trig |
TriG |
You can also open the OntoCode → Ontologies view to force activation.
After indexing, the OntoCode activity bar shows five views:
| View |
What you see |
| Ontologies |
Indexed .ttl / .owl / … files and parse status |
| Classes |
Class hierarchy (subclasses nested under parents) |
| Properties |
Object, data, and annotation properties (grouped) |
| Individuals |
Named individuals |
| Diagnostics |
Placeholder (full validation UI planned for v0.3) |
Refresh — click the ↻ icon on any view title, or run OntoCode: Refresh Explorer.
Re-index — run OntoCode: Index Workspace from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) after you add or change ontology files.
Entity Inspector
To inspect a class, property, or individual:
- Expand Classes (or Properties / Individuals).
- Click the entity name (e.g.
Person).
The Entity Inspector panel opens with:
- IRI and kind (class, object property, individual, …)
- Labels and comments
- Parent and child classes
- Axioms (e.g.
SubClassOf)
- Jump to Source — opens the
.ttl / .owl file at the declaration
Right-click an entity for Jump to Source in the context menu.
Command Palette: OntoCode: Show Entity Inspector — paste an entity IRI if you know it.
In the editor
Open a .ttl (or other supported) file and use standard VS Code navigation:
| Action |
Shortcut (macOS) |
Shortcut (Windows/Linux) |
| Hover summary on an IRI |
hover |
hover |
| Go to definition |
F12 |
F12 |
| Document outline (symbols) |
Cmd+Shift+O |
Ctrl+Shift+O |
| Workspace symbol search |
Cmd+T |
Ctrl+T |
Command Palette
| Command |
When to use |
| OntoCode: Index Workspace |
After adding/changing ontology files |
| OntoCode: Refresh Explorer |
Reload tree views from the catalog |
| OntoCode: Show Entity Inspector |
Open inspector by IRI |
| OntoCode: Jump to Source |
Go to declaration by IRI |
Settings
Open Settings and search ontocode:
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
ontocode.autoIndexOnOpen |
true |
Index the workspace when OntoCode activates |
ontocode.lspPath |
(empty) |
Path to ontoindex-lsp binary. Trusted workspaces only. Leave empty to use the bundled server |
Troubleshooting
| Problem |
What to try |
| Sidebar says “Index workspace to browse ontologies” |
Run OntoCode: Index Workspace; confirm the folder contains .ttl, .owl, etc. |
| Extension never activates |
Open a supported ontology file, or click OntoCode → Ontologies |
failed to start language server |
Check View → Output → OntoIndex Language Server. Uninstall older OntoCode versions. Set ontocode.lspPath or run cargo install ontoindex-lsp |
| Empty Classes after indexing |
Output → OntoIndex Language Server for errors; run Index Workspace again |
| Workspace is Restricted |
Trust the folder — ontocode.lspPath is ignored in Restricted Mode |
More detail: Installation & troubleshooting
What’s included in v0.2.3
Shipped today: explorer, entity inspector, jump-to-source, hover, symbols, go-to-definition.
Planned: inline diagnostics, axiom editing, query workbench, reasoners — see the roadmap.
Release builds bundle ontoindex-lsp for Linux (x64, arm64), macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel), and Windows (x64). No extra install needed on those platforms.
Links
Contributing / building from source: see the repo README.
