Noun Types

42 standardized types for categorizing entities. Combined with 127 Verb Types, this creates 5,334+ base combinations covering 96-97% of human knowledge domains.

Why Noun Types?

Every entity in Brainy has a Noun Type that classifies what kind of thing it represents. This isn't just organization—it's the foundation of a universal protocol for knowledge:

42 Nouns × 127 Verbs × ∞ Metadata = Universal Knowledge

This standardized type system enables:

Universal interoperability — Data flows between any Brainy instance
AI understanding — Models know what entities represent
Semantic reasoning — Infer relationships and patterns
Type-aware optimization — 87% memory reduction at scale
Domain flexibility — Model any domain with metadata on top

Quick Reference

using-noun-types.js

          import { Brainy, NounType } from '@soulcraft/brainy'

// Use the NounType enum
await brain.add({
  data: "Jane Smith",
  type: NounType.Person
})

// Or use string literals
await brain.add({
  data: "Research findings on neural networks",
  type: "proposition"
})
        

Agents & Actors (4 types)

Entities that can act, decide, or perform actions:

Type	Description	Examples
`person`	Human individuals	Users, Authors, Employees, Customers
`agent`	Autonomous entities	AI assistants, Bots, Software agents
`organism`	Living beings	Animals, Plants, Microorganisms
`socialGroup`	Informal groups	Friend groups, Communities, Movements

Social Structures (4 types)

Formal and informal social entities:

Type	Description	Examples
`organization`	Formal organizations	Companies, Teams, Departments
`institution`	Established institutions	Universities, Governments, Churches
`role`	Positions and responsibilities	Admin, Editor, Manager, Customer
`norm`	Social norms and conventions	Best practices, Etiquette, Standards

Physical & Material (4 types)

Tangible entities and their properties:

Type	Description	Examples
`thing`	Physical objects	Devices, Equipment, Furniture
`substance`	Materials and matter	Water, Steel, Chemicals, Ingredients
`location`	Geographic places	Cities, Buildings, Rooms, Coordinates
`quality`	Properties and characteristics	Colors, Sizes, Textures, Conditions

Information (6 types)

Digital content and information carriers:

Type	Description	Examples
`document`	Text-based files	PDFs, Word docs, Markdown, Articles
`file`	Generic digital files	Code files, Config, Binaries
`media`	Non-text media	Images, Videos, Audio, Podcasts
`message`	Communication content	Emails, Chat, Comments, Notifications
`informationContent`	Abstract information	Ideas, Meanings, Semantic content
`informationBearer`	Physical carriers	Books, Hard drives, CDs, Paper

Concepts & Ideas (3 types)

Abstract mental entities:

Type	Description	Examples
`concept`	Abstract ideas (default type)	Topics, Technologies, Principles
`proposition`	Statements (true/false)	Claims, Facts, Assertions, Beliefs
`hypothesis`	Unverified theories	Research hypotheses, Assumptions

Events & Processes (5 types)

Things that happen over time:

Type	Description	Examples
`event`	Occurrences in time	Meetings, Conferences, Launches
`process`	Ongoing activities	CI/CD pipelines, Workflows, Algorithms
`task`	Work items	Todos, Issues, Tickets, Actions
`project`	Organized initiatives	Software projects, Campaigns, Research
`experiment`	Research trials	A/B tests, Lab experiments, Studies

Business & Commerce (4 types)

Commercial and legal entities:

Type	Description	Examples
`product`	Commercial offerings	Software, Hardware, SKUs
`service`	Services	APIs, SaaS, Consulting, Support
`contract`	Legal agreements	NDAs, SLAs, Terms, Licenses
`regulation`	Compliance requirements	GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2, Standards

Technical (7 types)

Technical and infrastructure entities:

Type	Description	Examples
`function`	Executable code units	Methods, Lambdas, Procedures
`interface`	APIs and protocols	REST APIs, GraphQL, SDKs
`resource`	Infrastructure	Servers, Databases, VMs, URLs
`collection`	Generic groupings	Playlists, Folders, Albums
`dataset`	Structured data	CSV imports, API responses
`relationship`	Meta-entity for relations	Reified relationships, Links
`custom`	User-defined types	Domain-specific entities

Measurements & Units (4 types)

Quantitative and linguistic entities:

Type	Description	Examples
`measurement`	Metrics and quantities	Temperature, Distance, Weight
`currency`	Monetary units	USD, EUR, BTC, Credits
`language`	Languages	English, Spanish, Python, TypeScript
`timeInterval`	Periods of time	Q1 2024, Sprint 5, Fiscal Year

States (1 type)

Type	Description	Examples
`state`	Conditions or statuses	Active, Pending, Approved, Error

Filtering by Type

filter-by-type.js

          // Find only People
const engineers = await brain.find({
  query: "engineers with AI experience",
  type: NounType.Person
})

// Find multiple types
const results = await brain.find({
  query: "machine learning",
  type: [NounType.Concept, NounType.Document, NounType.Project]
})

// Combine with metadata filtering
const activeTasks = await brain.find({
  query: "urgent tasks",
  type: NounType.Task,
  where: {
    status: "active",
    priority: { oneOf: ["high", "critical"] }
  }
})
        

Type-Aware Performance

Brainy's Type-Aware HNSW indices provide massive improvements when querying by type:

87% memory reduction at billion-scale (384GB to 50GB)
10x faster single-type queries
5-8x faster multi-type queries
Automatic — no configuration needed

The Universal Protocol

The 42 Noun Types aren't arbitrary—they're based on formal ontology research to cover:

Stage 3 CANONICAL — 96-97% coverage of human knowledge domains
Every domain — Healthcare, Finance, Manufacturing, Education, Gaming
Any scale — From personal notes to enterprise knowledge graphs

Combined with 127 Verb Types, this creates 5,334+ base combinations that can express virtually any relationship in any domain. Add unlimited metadata on top, and you have infinite expressiveness with perfect interoperability.