# Searchplex ID

Searchplex ID is a terminology identity and resolution layer for information retrieval and search engineering.

Use this site to resolve retrieval terminology to stable concept identifiers and to distinguish exact aliases, observed community terms, related concepts, and explicit non-equivalence.

Primary machine entry points:

- Resolver endpoint: https://id.searchplex.net/resolve/{url-encoded-term}
- Resolver service description: https://id.searchplex.net/resolve.json
- Resolver index: https://id.searchplex.net/data/resolver.json
- Search index: https://id.searchplex.net/data/search-index.json
- Bulk JSON: https://id.searchplex.net/data/searchplex-id.json
- Bulk JSONL: https://id.searchplex.net/data/searchplex-id.jsonl
- Bulk JSON-LD: https://id.searchplex.net/data/searchplex-id.jsonld
- Bulk Turtle: https://id.searchplex.net/data/searchplex-id.ttl
- Concept scheme: https://id.searchplex.net/scheme/
- Local vocabulary: https://id.searchplex.net/vocab/
- JSON-LD context: https://id.searchplex.net/context/v1.jsonld
- Data documentation: https://id.searchplex.net/data/
- Resolution guide: https://id.searchplex.net/resolve/

Recommended resolution workflow:

For single-term resolution:

1. GET https://id.searchplex.net/resolve/{url-encoded-term}.
2. Identity matches redirect to the canonical Searchplex ID.
3. Use Accept: application/json or ?format=json for a structured resolution result.
4. Observed/community terminology may return suggestions rather than an identity. Do not treat suggestions as exact aliases without inspection.

For batch or offline resolution:

1. Fetch https://id.searchplex.net/data/resolver.json.
2. Normalize the input term with Unicode normalization, lowercase, trim, hyphen-to-space, and whitespace collapse.
3. Check resolver.identity first. Identity matches are the safest canonical term-to-ID matches.
4. Use resolver.suggestions only as possible terminology matches. Suggestions are observed/community terms and should not be treated as exact aliases without inspection.
5. Fetch a full concept record from https://id.searchplex.net/{id}.json or inspect the canonical page at https://id.searchplex.net/{id}/.

Examples:

- Resolving "RRF": GET https://id.searchplex.net/resolve/RRF. It redirects to https://id.searchplex.net/reciprocal-rank-fusion/. Fetch https://id.searchplex.net/reciprocal-rank-fusion.json and use distinctions[] to avoid treating RRF as equivalent to Hybrid Retrieval.
- Resolving "candidate generation": GET https://id.searchplex.net/resolve/candidate%20generation with Accept: application/json. If it returns suggestions, present Candidate Retrieval as a possible terminology match and preserve the usage/community metadata.
- Comparing Semantic Search and Vector Search: fetch https://id.searchplex.net/semantic-search.json and inspect distinctions[] and notEquivalentTo relations before answering.

Important fields:

- id: canonical Searchplex concept ID slug.
- uri: stable canonical concept URI.
- prefLabel: preferred label.
- altLabels: exact alternative labels.
- terms: observed or community terminology, not necessarily exact aliases.
- definition: concise concept definition.
- scopeNote: boundary and usage note.
- relations and derivedRelations: typed links to nearby concepts.
- distinctions: agent-friendly "X is not Y" statements derived from notEquivalentTo relations.
- notEquivalentTo relations: explicit distinctions for commonly conflated concepts.
- mappings: external vocabulary mappings where available.

Current release: 2026.09
Published concepts: 145
License: CC0 1.0 for registry data