Announcing the SOLI API and Python library

Technical Software
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We are excited to announce the release of two new MIT-licensed resources for developers: the SOLI API and the SOLI Python Library.

SOLI API

The SOLI API provides a robust and efficient way to interact with the SOLI ontology over HTTPS. This RESTful API enables seamless integration of SOLI into various applications and workflows, facilitating access to our comprehensive legal information standard.

Key features of the SOLI API include:

  • Access to the entire SOLI ontology
  • Search functionality for classes by label or definition
  • Retrieval of detailed class information
  • Multiple output formats including JSON, JSON-LD, OWL XML, and Markdown
  • CORS-enabled for cross-origin requests in web applications
  • Open and free to use without authentication, API keys, or rate limits

For more information and to start using the API, visit our SOLI API documentation page.

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SOLI API - Basic UI

In addition to machine-readable formats, the SOLI API also includes a basic UI for navigating class information.

You can access this view by adding /html to the end of the class IRI. For example, to view the class with the IRI https://soli.openlegalstandard.org/R8pNPutX0TN6DlEqkyZuxSw, you would visit https://soli.openlegalstandard.org/R8pNPutX0TN6DlEqkyZuxSw/html.

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SOLI Python Library

The SOLI Python Library is a powerful tool that allows Python developers to easily integrate SOLI into their projects. This library provides a simple and intuitive interface for working with the SOLI ontology, enabling efficient data manipulation and analysis in the legal domain.

Key features of the SOLI Python Library include:

  • Load the SOLI ontology from GitHub or a custom HTTP URL
  • Conveniently access class information, including RDF(S), SKOS, and OWL properties
  • Search for classes by label or definition
  • Traverse taxonomy relationships like parent/ancestor and child/descendant classes
  • Convert classes to JSON, JSON-LD, OWL XML, or Markdown format

To get started with the SOLI Python Library, visit our SOLI Python Library documentation page.

Getting Started

Both the SOLI API and Python Library are designed to be developer-friendly and easy to integrate into existing projects. Here’s a quick example of how you can use the Python Library to search for a class:

from soli import SOLI

# Initialize the SOLI client
soli = SOLI()

# Search for a class by label
result, score = soli.search_by_label("southern district new york")[0]
print(f"{result.iri} (Score: {score})")
print(f"Preferred Label: {result.preferred_label}")
print(f"Synonyms: {result.alternative_labels}")
print(f"Parents: {[soli[c].label for c in result.sub_class_of]}")

Community and Support

We encourage developers to explore these new resources and provide feedback. If you encounter any issues or have questions, please don’t hesitate to:

Your input is valuable in helping us improve and expand these tools to better serve the legal tech community.

Future Development

The release of the SOLI API and Python Library marks an important milestone in making SOLI more accessible and useful for developers. We are committed to continually improving and expanding these resources based on community feedback and evolving needs in the legal tech landscape.

Stay tuned for future updates, including additional language bindings, enhanced features, and expanded documentation.

We’re excited to see how developers will leverage these new tools to create innovative solutions in the legal domain. Happy coding!

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