529-Type Ontology
Talonic classifies every document using a 529-type ontology — a hierarchical taxonomy of document categories that guides field discovery, schema suggestion, and extraction accuracy.
Ontology structure
The ontology organizes 529 document types into a three-level hierarchy: domain, category, and type. The system classifies each document against the ontology, and pipelines and extraction build on that classification, which selects the appropriate Field Registry entries.
| Level | Count | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | 12 | Finance, Legal, Logistics, Healthcare, Energy |
| Category | 67 | Accounts Payable, Contracts, Shipping, Clinical |
| Type | 529 | Invoice, Purchase Order, Bill of Lading, Lab Report |
DIN SPEC 91491 alignment
The ontology aligns with DIN SPEC 91491, the German standard for AI-assisted document processing that Talonic co-authored. Domain and category levels map directly to the standard's document classification scheme. This ensures interoperability with other DIN SPEC 91491-compliant systems.
Auto-classification
When you submit a document to the extract endpoint without specifying a schema, the pipeline uses the ontology to classify the document and suggest relevant fields. The classification confidence is included in the extraction data response.
Schema Graph integration
The Schema Graph links schemas to ontology types. A schema associated with the "Invoice" type inherits default fields from the ontology, such as vendor_name, invoice_number, and total_amount. Use the search API to query documents by ontology type.
Custom types
Enterprise customers can extend the ontology with custom types specific to their domain. Fields from custom types join the Field Registry like any other field and move through its maturity levels: Core, Proven, and Candidate. Contact Talonic for Enterprise ontology customization.