FactBase & Entities
What this is
FactBase and TableBase together hold the wiki's structured data:
- FactBase — typed facts with temporal anchors and source provenance, stored as YAML in
packages/factbase/data/fb-entities/. Used by<FBF>components and Calc expressions in MDX pages. - TableBase — relational entities (people, orgs, grants, divisions, funding programs) stored in PostgreSQL and mirrored from
data/entities/*.yaml. - ID system — every wiki entity gets an
E####numeric ID and asid_stable ID, allocated centrally by the wiki-server.
When to start here
If you're trying to add a new entity, read facts about an org, discover untracked people, or understand the data model, this is the hub.
Live dashboards
| Dashboard | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Entities & Pages | All entities with type, aliases, KB fact counts |
| Entity Profile | Per-entity card: facts, related pages, usage tracking |
| Data Quality | Field completeness and fact staleness per entity type |
| Data Sources | Provenance tracking (Wikidata, manual, inferred) |
| People Coverage | Person entity coverage across pages |
| Grants / Divisions / Funding Programs | PG-primary table dashboards |
CLI playbook
# FactBase: read structured facts
pnpm crux fb show anthropic # Entity + all facts (resolved)
pnpm crux fb list --type=person # List by type
pnpm crux fb search "anthropic" # Find entities by name
pnpm crux fb fact f_dW5cR9mJ8q # Show one fact's details
pnpm crux fb stale 90 # Facts older than 90 days
pnpm crux fb needs-update anthropic # What's missing
pnpm crux fb coverage --type=organization # Property coverage report
# FactBase: write
pnpm crux fb add-fact anthropic revenue 5e9 \
--asOf=2025-06 --source=https://example.com # Add a single fact
pnpm crux fb import-990 cais --dry-run # Preview 990 import
pnpm crux fb sync-sources # Sync source URLs to wiki-server resources
# Query (cross-cutting wiki-server queries)
pnpm crux query entity anthropic # Structured entity data
pnpm crux query facts anthropic --measure=employees
pnpm crux query related scheming # Related entities
pnpm crux query backlinks rlhf # Pages linking to an entity
pnpm crux query stats # Wiki-wide statistics
# TableBase: ID allocation (wiki entities)
pnpm crux tb ids allocate my-new-entity --description="..."
pnpm crux tb ids check anthropic # Look up existing ID
pnpm crux tb ids list --limit=100 # Browse all IDs
# TableBase: lightweight entity discovery
pnpm crux tb people discover # Find untracked people
pnpm crux tb ensure-entities --type=person # Stable IDs only, no wiki page
When to use what
| I want to... | Run | Or check |
|---|---|---|
| Read all facts about an org | pnpm crux fb show <slug> | Entity Profile dashboard |
| See what's missing for an entity | pnpm crux fb needs-update <slug> | Data Quality dashboard |
| Add a new structured fact | pnpm crux fb add-fact <entity> <prop> <value> --asOf=YYYY-MM --source=URL | Canonical Facts & Calc |
| Allocate an ID for a new wiki entity | pnpm crux tb ids allocate <slug> --description="..." | — |
| Find people who appear in data but lack entities | pnpm crux tb people discover | People Coverage dashboard |
| Find stale facts (>90 days) | pnpm crux fb stale 90 | — |
| Understand the three-bases model | — | Data Architecture |
Wiki entities vs. lightweight entities
| Type | Has wiki page? | Has numericId (E#)? | Allocate via | Use for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiki entity | Yes (/wiki/E#) | Yes | pnpm crux tb ids allocate <slug> | Orgs, concepts, important people (≈200-300 total) |
| TableBase reference | No | No (only sid_ stable ID) | pnpm crux tb ensure-entities or crux tb create-entity | Paper authors, personnel, minor people |
Both use the sid_ prefix; use isSid() from @longterm-wiki/id-utils to detect them. Never manually invent IDs.
Architecture & deep dives
- Data Architecture — the three-bases model (TableBase, FactBase, WikiBase) and PG mapping
- Fact System Strategy — KB as canonical facts system;
<FBF>component design - Content Database — storage layers: PG wiki-server, KB YAML, resources YAML, database.json
packages/factbase/— graph, types, validation, formatcrux/lib/factbase-loader.ts/factbase-writer.ts— load and appenddata/entities/*.yaml— entity definitions (orgs, persons, concepts)packages/factbase/data/fb-entities/*.yaml— fact storage (e.g.,anthropic.yaml)