Explanation
Conceptual explanation building understanding (Diataxis: understanding-oriented)
40 pages
A Graph Database with Git-like Version Control for Production Data
Database version control for production data — Git-style commits, branches, diffs, merges and clone/push/pull, built into the TerminusDB graph database engine.
A Graph Database with Time Travel Queries
TerminusDB keeps every write as an immutable commit, so you can query your graph as it was at any commit or branch. No backups or log replay.
A Knowledge Graph for AI Agents with Git-style Branching
Use TerminusDB as a knowledge graph for AI agents. Give each agent run its own branch, review the diff, merge it, and query past facts at any commit.
ACID Transactions Explanation
An explanation about ACID Transactions and how TerminusDB ensures ACID compliance, Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability
An Open-Source Graph Database with ACID Transactions
TerminusDB is an Apache 2.0 open-source graph database where every write is an ACID commit: atomic, schema-checked, isolated and durable. With runnable proof.
Change Request Workflows - TerminusDB Tour
This page details how change request workflows function in TerminusDB to enable safe collaboration
Choosing a Query Interface: WOQL, GraphQL, or HTTP API
Compare TerminusDB's three query interfaces — HTTP Document API, GraphQL, and WOQL — and decide which to use for your workload.
Document Graph API Howto
A howto guide for the TerminusDB document API interface.
Getting Started
TerminusDB is the open-source knowledge graph database with git-like version control for graphs and vectors. Branch, merge, diff and hybrid search any commit.
Graphs Explanation
An introduction to the hierarchy and system of graphs used by TerminusDB for collaboration and revision control.
How to Use VectorLink
A series of how-to guides to get you started with VectorLink, the semantic indexer
How WOQL Finds and Streams Solutions
Understand how TerminusDB's Datalog engine uses goal-seeking backtracking to find solutions in the knowledge graph, how results can be collected or streamed as ndjson with chunked transfer encoding, and when to use each approach.
Immutability and Concurrency
Why TerminusDB avoids locks and how its immutable delta architecture enables safe concurrent access.
Immutable Database Explained
Immutable database explained: what it is, how TerminusDB stores each change as an immutable commit, and what you get from it — audit, time travel, branches.
Knowledge Graph Database with Git-like Version Control
An instructional overview of TerminusDB as a git-for-data knowledge graph database — covering commits, branches, merges, rollback, diff and patch, time travel, and the similarities and differences with Git.
Knowledge Graph Diff
A knowledge graph diff shows which facts changed between two versions. Triple vs document diffs, and how to diff and patch a graph in TerminusDB.
Knowledge Graph Versioning
What knowledge graph versioning is, four ways to do it, the snapshot vs delta trade-off, and a short working example with TerminusDB.
Ontology Versioning
How to version an ontology or knowledge graph schema, breaking vs non-breaking changes, and how to change a class on a branch and migrate the data.
Operational Technologies Information Transfer
How to use TerminusDB in Operational Technologies environments for IEC62443, Purdue model and other environments where network segmentation is strict.
sys:JSON Internals - How It Works
Technical deep dive into sys:JSON implementation, storage, and behavior in TerminusDB
TerminusDB Cloud
Hosting options for TerminusDB — Azure Marketplace (coming autumn 2026), self-hosted Docker and Kubernetes, and early-access managed TerminusDB Cloud from the team at Gettier.
TerminusDB Dashboard Status
Information about the TerminusDB Dashboard component, its discontinuation, and how to continue using it if needed.
TerminusDB Document Model — Documents, Subdocuments, and Graph Relationships
TerminusDB stores graph documents in a schema-enforced triple store. Documents have typed relationships, subdocuments for nested data, and shared documents for reuse — combining document-store convenience with graph traversal power.
TerminusDB Documentation
TerminusDB is an open-source knowledge graph database with built-in version control. Branch, diff, and merge your data like code. Start in 10 minutes with Docker.
TerminusDB Enterprise Edition
TerminusDB Enterprise extends TerminusDB Community with commercial support, multi-format document processing including JSON-LD @context support, RDF/XML, and Turtle, management tooling, and observability.
TerminusDB features at a glance
A quick fact sheet of TerminusDB features: JSON documents in a typed graph, Git-like branch, diff and merge, WOQL and GraphQL. Links to every topic.
TerminusDB Internals
Examples to use the internals of TerminusDB from the command line.
TerminusDB vs MongoDB
A neutral, factual comparison of TerminusDB and MongoDB — data model, schema enforcement, version control, querying, and when to choose each document database.
TerminusDB vs Neo4j
A neutral, factual comparison of TerminusDB and Neo4j — data model, query language, version control, schema enforcement, and when to choose each.
The WOQL Query Language, Explained
WOQL (Web Object Query Language) is TerminusDB's declarative Datalog-based query language. Traverse document relationships without JOINs, branch-aware, with built-in unification.
The Write Path: Performance Internals
High-level overview of how TerminusDB handles document writes, the commit pipeline introduced in 12.1, and how to optimize for throughput.
Versioned Search
Semantic search with per-commit snapshots, branching, and hybrid retrieval for TerminusDB data products
Versioned Search Concepts
Core vocabulary for versioned search — domains, commits, branches, chunks, search modes, and distance
What is a Knowledge Graph Database?
What is a knowledge graph database? A plain answer, how it differs from a graph database, and how TerminusDB adds a schema, ACID and version control.
What is Datalog?
Datalog is a declarative logic language of facts and rules. Learn the syntax step by step, run recursive graph queries, and see how it compares to SQL.
What is Schema Weakening
An explanation about schema weakening and why you need it to change a schema which provides constraints and assurances of the shapes of your graph data
What is TerminusDB Cloud?
Learn about TerminusDB Cloud, the hosting options for TerminusDB — formerly known as DFRNT Hub and TerminusCMS.
What is TerminusDB?
TerminusDB is the open-source knowledge graph database with git-like version control for graphs and vectors. Branch, merge, diff and hybrid search any commit.
What is unification?
Understand unification of variables, a unique and powerful datalog concept included in TerminusDB
WOQL Architecture: AST Design & Security Model
How WOQL's AST-based architecture prevents injection attacks by construction, provides type safety across languages, and differs from string-based query approaches.