---
title: "Witnessability Notation vocabulary | Namespace"
description: "The RDF vocabulary of the Witnessability Notation: classes, finding states and properties, aligned with W3C PROV-O, with one anchor per term."
canonical: "https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/"
representation: "Website reading format; consult linked publications for their exact status and terms."
---

Namespace / wn

# Witnessability Notation vocabulary

The terms of the boundary-diagram notation as RDF: what a diagram shows and what an evaluator found, with one anchor per term. `https://witnessability.io/ns/wn#Record` opens at Record.

## About this vocabulary

Namespace `https://witnessability.io/ns/wn#`. Machine-readable files: [`/ns/wn.ttl`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn.ttl) and [`/ns/wn.jsonld`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn.jsonld) (the Turtle vocabulary and the JSON-LD 1.1 context). Informative, prepared on 3 November 2026 as a bridge of the [Witnessability Notation](https://witnessability.io/notation/) (version 0.4); where it and the versioned texts of the Conceptual Core, CBEE or WEXP differ, the texts prevail. Licence: the vocabulary and its files are dedicated to the public domain under [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (Specification v0.4 §13, erratum E-13).

Alignment with W3C PROV-O: a record or an assertion is a `prov:Entity`, the evaluator a `prov:Agent`, the appraisal a `prov:Activity` that used the evaluated set; each finding is a `prov:Entity` generated by the appraisal. PROV is used only for who produced the findings and from what. The state of a finding, its premises and the ceiling are terms of this vocabulary, not PROV relations. An expected record found absent is not a `prov:Entity`.

## Classes

### `wn:Diagram` — diagram

A claim-relative figure: one report's records, claims and findings. Specification §3.

### `wn:Band` — control band

One party's control. Two points in one band are never independent. Does not mean: a trust zone.

### `wn:Boundary` — witness boundary

The producing boundary of CBEE −02: where records are produced, what can be observed there, who controls it. A type of the Core's Witnessability Boundary (Core 1.0 §5.3). Does not mean: a network perimeter, an organisational unit or a security control.

### `wn:ObservationPoint` — observation point

An Observation Locus (Core 1.0 §5.4) on a boundary. With observed = true capture occurred: a record exists. Does not mean: that the record is correct, complete or trustworthy. With observed = false only a capability exists (the ring). Does not mean: that nothing happened.

### `wn:Record` — record

A record (verified artefact), an assertion, or an expected record found absent. Records and assertions are also typed prov:Entity; an absent record is not, because it is no artefact. Tags are verified properties. Does not mean: the artefact's content is true.

### `wn:Claim` — claim

A Target Proposition (Core 1.0 §2.1), written literally, grouped by kind; rank orders claims within a kind as the author does (CBEE −02 §5 presumes no comparability); an unranked claim has no rank and no stated order with any other claim of its kind (v0.4, D-10).

### `wn:Finding` — finding

An arrow of the diagram: the evaluator's finding about what one or more records, offered for a claim, support. Several offered records form a linked support: they warrant the claim jointly and none of them alone. Does not mean: that each record supports the claim a little.

Subclass of `prov:Entity`

### `wn:Appraisal` — appraisal

The evaluation that generated the findings; it used the evaluated set and is associated with the evaluator.

Subclass of `prov:Activity`

### `wn:Evaluator` — evaluator

Subclass of `prov:Agent`

### `wn:Premise` — premise

A named premise a finding rests on.

### `wn:Ceiling` — ceiling

The claim ceiling of CBEE −02 §5: the limit that records from one boundary place on claims of one kind, under the stated premises. An exclusion rule, not a source of support. Does not mean: that a claim below it is supported, that a claim above it is false, or that another boundary cannot reach it.

### `wn:Tie` — binding tie

A Binding Relation (Core 1.0 §5.4) between two records; established or only asserted. Does not mean: the two records agree.

### `wn:Coverage` — coverage

Effective Capture Coverage (Core 1.0 §5.4): the channels, interval and rule within which absence of a record is informative.

### `wn:Downgrade` — downgrade

From an asserted claim to the supported claim of the same kind.

## States, grounding classes and record forms

### `wn:State` — finding state

### `wn:Supported` — supported

Under the cited premises, the offered records warrant the claim; the evaluator's finding. Does not mean: the claim is true in the world.

Value of [`wn:State`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#State)

### `wn:Unsupported` — unsupported (does not follow)

Evaluated; the claim does not follow from the offered records. Does not mean: that the claim is false.

Value of [`wn:State`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#State)

### `wn:Refuted` — refuted

Evaluated; the offered records refute the claim under the named premises.

Value of [`wn:State`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#State)

### `wn:NotEvaluated` — not evaluated

Not assessed; supplies no finding for or against the claim. Does not mean: unsupported.

Value of [`wn:State`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#State)

### `wn:Grounding` — grounding class

How a boundary description is grounded (WEXP Core −02 §7 classes).

### `wn:AssertedOnly` — asserted-only

Value of [`wn:Grounding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Grounding)

### `wn:Attributed` — attributed

Value of [`wn:Grounding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Grounding)

### `wn:Attested` — attested

Value of [`wn:Grounding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Grounding)

### `wn:GroundingNotEvaluated` — not evaluated

The grounding of the boundary was not evaluated (WEXP Core -02 §7). Added with notation v0.4 after review R-1, 3 November 2026.

Value of [`wn:Grounding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Grounding)

### `wn:RecordFormKind` — record form

### `wn:RecordForm` — record

Value of [`wn:RecordFormKind`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#RecordFormKind)

### `wn:AssertionForm` — assertion

Value of [`wn:RecordFormKind`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#RecordFormKind)

### `wn:AbsentForm` — no record

Value of [`wn:RecordFormKind`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#RecordFormKind)

## Properties

### `wn:title`

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:sourceFormat`

The version of the source format the diagram was written in (the wn field; Specification §13).

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:generator`

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:action`

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:kindOrder`

Display order of kinds (an rdf:List of strings).

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · object property

### `wn:reliance`

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · Range `xsd:boolean` · datatype property

### `wn:notEvaluatedItem`

Domain [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:inDiagram`

Range [`wn:Diagram`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Diagram) · object property

### `wn:evaluatedSet`

Every record the evaluator examined, absent ones included; prov:used names only the artefacts among them.

Domain [`wn:Appraisal`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Appraisal) · Range [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · object property

### `wn:label`

Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:text`

Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:kind`

The base or report kind a claim or ceiling belongs to (CBEE −02 §4, §5).

Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:rank`

Domain [`wn:Claim`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Claim) · Range `xsd:integer` · datatype property

### `wn:wmType`

A WM 2.0 draft proposition type (Obs, Auth, Inv, Exec, Orig, NonExec); omitted where the claim is not a proposition about one action.

Domain [`wn:Claim`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Claim) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:tag`

Domain [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:note`

Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:inBand`

Domain [`wn:Boundary`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Boundary) · Range [`wn:Band`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Band) · object property

### `wn:onBoundary`

Domain [`wn:ObservationPoint`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#ObservationPoint) · Range [`wn:Boundary`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Boundary) · object property

### `wn:producedAt`

Domain [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · Range [`wn:ObservationPoint`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#ObservationPoint) · object property

### `wn:assertedAt`

A record asserted at a boundary with no observation point.

Domain [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · Range [`wn:Boundary`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Boundary) · object property

### `wn:form`

Domain [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · Range [`wn:RecordFormKind`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#RecordFormKind) · object property

### `wn:grounding`

Domain [`wn:Boundary`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Boundary) · Range [`wn:Grounding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Grounding) · object property

### `wn:observed`

Domain [`wn:ObservationPoint`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#ObservationPoint) · Range `xsd:boolean` · datatype property

### `wn:enforcement`

Domain [`wn:Boundary`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Boundary) · Range `xsd:boolean` · datatype property

### `wn:offers`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · object property

### `wn:forClaim`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range [`wn:Claim`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Claim) · object property

### `wn:state`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range [`wn:State`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#State) · object property

### `wn:premise`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range [`wn:Premise`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Premise) · object property

### `wn:threshold`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:thresholdK`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range `xsd:integer` · datatype property

### `wn:thresholdN`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range `xsd:integer` · datatype property

### `wn:thresholdT`

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range `xsd:integer` · datatype property

### `wn:ofBoundary`

Range [`wn:Boundary`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Boundary) · object property

### `wn:directlyAbove`

The claim directly below the ceiling; absent when the ceiling sits below the whole stack of its kind.

Domain [`wn:Ceiling`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Ceiling) · Range [`wn:Claim`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Claim) · object property

### `wn:ceilingPremise`

A premise the ceiling rests on (Specification v0.4, N-12): CBEE −02 §5 places a ceiling under stated premises. Kept apart from wn:premise, whose domain is a finding.

Domain [`wn:Ceiling`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Ceiling) · Range [`wn:Premise`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Premise) · object property

### `wn:between`

Domain [`wn:Tie`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Tie) · Range [`wn:Record`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Record) · object property

### `wn:established`

Domain [`wn:Tie`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Tie) · Range `xsd:boolean` · datatype property

### `wn:limit`

v0.4 (N-18): the struck finding states its boundary's limit on an unranked claim, under the premises it cites, not a gap in the evidence set.

Domain [`wn:Finding`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Finding) · Range `xsd:boolean` · datatype property

### `wn:channel`

Domain [`wn:Coverage`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Coverage) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:interval`

Domain [`wn:Coverage`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Coverage) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:cutoff`

Domain [`wn:Coverage`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Coverage) · Range `xsd:string` · datatype property

### `wn:fromClaim`

Domain [`wn:Downgrade`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Downgrade) · Range [`wn:Claim`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Claim) · object property

### `wn:toClaim`

Domain [`wn:Downgrade`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Downgrade) · Range [`wn:Claim`](https://witnessability.io/ns/wn/#Claim) · object property