ORKG Snapshots

Snapshots in the ORKG are immutable captures of a resource’s state at a specific point in time. They preserve the complete subgraph structure based on a template, and can optionally be assigned persistent Handle identifiers for long-term referencing. The snapshots component is added to the ORKG class to encapsulate these actions.

Having defined our entry point to the ORKG instance

from orkg import ORKG # import base class from package

orkg = ORKG(host="<host-address-is-here>", creds=('email-address', 'password')) # create the connector to the ORKG

We can access the snapshots manager directly to do the following:

Getting all snapshots of a resource

You can retrieve all snapshots that have been created for a specific resource. Optionally, you can filter by template ID.

### Fetch all snapshots of a resource
# resource_id: the ID of the resource
# template_id: (optional) filter by template used to create the snapshot
orkg.snapshots.all_of_resource(resource_id='R2146740')
>>> (Success)
[
   {
      "id":"52a7sti8",
      "created_by":"3f73b40d-4d9b-49bf-ae38-8fcf4e57cc4d",
      "created_at":"2025-11-20T10:43:22.66351+01:00",
      "data":{...},
      "resource_id":"R2146740",
      "template_id":"R2146171",
      "handle":None
   },
   {
      "id":"s93bn4fj",
      "created_by":"18a48c35-0a9d-4d35-b276-fe293f7d79c7",
      "created_at":"2025-11-21T10:58:49.02423+01:00",
      "data":{...},
      "resource_id":"R2146740",
      "template_id":"R2146171",
      "handle":"20.500.14488/s93bn4fj"
   },
   ...
]

Filter by template:

### Fetch all snapshots of a resource filtered by template
orkg.snapshots.all_of_resource(resource_id='R2146740', template_id='R2146171')

Getting a single snapshot

You can retrieve a specific snapshot by its ID and the resource ID it belongs to.

### Fetch a single snapshot by ID
# resource_id: the ID of the resource
# snapshot_id: the ID of the snapshot
orkg.snapshots.single_of_resource(resource_id='R2146740', snapshot_id='52a7sti8')
>>> (Success)
{
   "id":"52a7sti8",
   "created_by":"3f73b40d-4d9b-49bf-ae38-8fcf4e57cc4d",
   "created_at":"2025-11-20T10:43:22.66351+01:00",
   "data":{
      "root":{
         "id":"R2146740",
         "label":"Example Resource",
         ...
      },
      "predicates":{
         "P1":{
            "id":"P1",
            "label":"has property",
            ...
         }
      },
      "statements":{
         "S1":{
            "id":"S1",
            "subject":"R2146740",
            "predicate":"P1",
            "object":"L1",
            ...
         }
      }
   },
   "resource_id":"R2146740",
   "template_id":"R2146171",
   "handle":None
}

Creating a snapshot

You can create a new snapshot for a resource. The snapshot will capture the complete subgraph structure based on the specified template. Optionally, you can register a persistent Handle identifier for the snapshot.

Note: your credentials must be entered in the ORKG instance in order to use this functionality. All newly created snapshots will be credited to your user.

### Create a new snapshot
# resource_id: the ID of the resource to snapshot
# template_id: the ID of the template to use for subgraph exploration
# register_handle: (optional) whether to register a persistent Handle identifier (default: True)
orkg.snapshots.create_one(
    resource_id='R2146740',
    template_id='R2146171',
    register_handle=True
)
>>> (Success)
{
   "id":"52a7sti8",
   "created_by":"3f73b40d-4d9b-49bf-ae38-8fcf4e57cc4d",
   "created_at":"2025-11-20T10:43:22.66351+01:00",
   "data":{
      "root":{...},
      "predicates":{...},
      "statements":{...}
   },
   "resource_id":"R2146740",
   "template_id":"R2146171",
   "handle":"20.500.14488/52a7sti8"
}

Create a snapshot without registering a Handle:

### Create a snapshot without Handle registration
orkg.snapshots.create_one(
    resource_id='R2146740',
    template_id='R2146171',
    register_handle=False
)
>>> (Success)
{
   "id":"mj97hbh3",
   "created_by":"18a48c35-0a9d-4d35-b276-fe293f7d79c7",
   "created_at":"2025-11-21T11:25:28.369011+01:00",
   "data":{...},
   "resource_id":"R2146740",
   "template_id":"R2146171",
   "handle":None
}

Understanding Snapshots

Snapshots serve several important purposes in the ORKG:

Versioning: Capture the state of a resource at specific points in time
Persistence: Create immutable records that won’t change even if the original resource is modified
Citation: When a Handle is registered, the snapshot gets a persistent identifier suitable for academic citation
Preservation: Ensure long-term availability of research data structures

The snapshot data includes:

root: The main resource being snapshotted
predicates: All predicates used in the subgraph
statements: All statements connecting resources and literals in the subgraph

The subgraph exploration follows the structure defined by the template, ensuring consistency across snapshots of similar resources.