WorldOfTaxanomy

The world's most comprehensive open taxonomy knowledge graph.

WorldOfTaxanomy federates 36 classification systems - industry, geography, product, trade, occupation, education, health, regulation, and domain deep-dives - into a single queryable knowledge graph. Every code in every system can be translated to its equivalents in every other system through crosswalk edges.

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What is this?

Every country, industry body, and international organization has its own classification system. A truck driver in the US is NAICS 484, SOC 53-3032, ISCO-08 8332, ESCO occ/transport-worker - four different codes in four different systems that all mean the same thing.

WorldOfTaxanomy is the Rosetta Stone that connects them all.

36 systems. ~395,000 codes. ~57,000 crosswalk edges.

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Systems

Industry Classification

System	Region	Codes	Description
NAICS 2022	North America	2,125	North American Industry Classification System
ISIC Rev 4	Global (UN)	766	International Standard Industrial Classification
NACE Rev 2	European Union	996	EU statistical classification of economic activities
SIC 1987	USA/UK	1,176	Standard Industrial Classification
ANZSIC 2006	Australia/NZ	825	Australian and NZ Standard Industrial Classification
NIC 2008	India	2,070	National Industrial Classification
WZ 2008	Germany	996	Klassifikation der Wirtschaftszweige
ONACE 2008	Austria	996	Osterreichische Systematik der Wirtschaftstatigkeiten
NOGA 2008	Switzerland	996	Nomenclature generale des activites economiques
JSIC 2013	Japan	20	Japan Standard Industrial Classification

Geography

System	Region	Codes	Description
ISO 3166-1	Global	271	Countries with UN M.49 regional hierarchy
ISO 3166-2	Global	5,246	Country subdivisions (states, provinces, regions)
UN M.49	Global	272	UN geographic regions and sub-regions

Product and Trade

System	Region	Codes	Description
HS 2022	Global (WCO)	6,960	Harmonized System for international trade
CPC v2.1	Global (UN)	4,596	Central Product Classification
UNSPSC v24	Global (GS1 US)	77,337	Universal Standard Products and Services Code

Occupational

System	Region	Codes	Description
SOC 2018	United States	1,447	Standard Occupational Classification
ISCO-08	Global (ILO)	619	International Standard Classification of Occupations
ESCO Occupations	Europe / Global	~2,942	European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations
O*NET-SOC	United States	~867	Occupational Information Network

Education

System	Region	Codes	Description
CIP 2020	United States	2,848	Classification of Instructional Programs
ISCED-F 2013	Global (UNESCO)	122	International Standard Classification of Education (Fields)

Health and Pharmaceutical

System	Region	Codes	Description
ATC WHO 2021	Global (WHO)	6,440	Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification
ESCO Skills	Europe / Global	~13,890	ESCO skills and competences taxonomy

Financial and Environmental

System	Region	Codes	Description
COFOG	Global (UN)	188	Classification of Functions of Government
GICS Bridge	Global (MSCI/S&P)	11	Global Industry Classification Standard (11 public sectors)
GHG Protocol	Global (WRI/WBCSD)	20	Greenhouse Gas Protocol scope 1/2/3 categories

Regulatory

System	Region	Codes	Description
Patent CPC	Global (EPO/USPTO)	~260,000	Cooperative Patent Classification
CFR Title 49	United States	104	Code of Federal Regulations (Transportation)
FMCSA Regulations	United States	80	Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules
GDPR Articles	European Union	110	General Data Protection Regulation articles
ISO 31000	Global (ISO)	47	Risk Management Guidelines

Domain Deep-Dives (Truck Transportation)

System	Region	Codes	Description
Domain: Truck Freight Types	United States	44	Freight mode, equipment, service level, cargo type
Domain: Truck Vehicle Classes	United States	23	DOT GVWR weight classes 1-8, body types
Domain: Truck Cargo Classification	United States	46	Commodity groups, DOT hazmat classes 1-9, handling
Domain: Truck Carrier Operations	United States	27	Carrier type, fleet size, business model, route pattern

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Quickstart

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/colaberry/WorldOfTaxanomy.git
cd WorldOfTaxanomy
pip install -e .

# Set environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and set DATABASE_URL (Neon PostgreSQL) and JWT_SECRET

# Initialize the database schema
python3 -m world_of_taxanomy init

# Ingest a classification system
python3 -m world_of_taxanomy ingest naics
python3 -m world_of_taxanomy ingest isic

# Start the API server
python3 -m uvicorn world_of_taxanomy.api.app:create_app --factory --port 8000

# Start the MCP server (for Claude Desktop)
python3 -m world_of_taxanomy mcp

# Start the frontend (requires Node.js)
cd frontend && npx next dev --port 3000

Try the API

# Search across all systems
curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/search?q=truck+transportation"

# Translate a NAICS code to all equivalent systems
curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/systems/naics_2022/nodes/4841/translations"

# Get children of an ISIC division
curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/systems/isic_rev4/nodes/H/children"

# System stats
curl "http://localhost:8000/api/v1/systems/stats"

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Architecture

WorldOfTaxanomy/
├── world_of_taxanomy/
│   ├── api/              # FastAPI REST API
│   │   ├── app.py        # App factory with lifespan pool management
│   │   ├── routers/      # systems, nodes, search, equivalences, auth
│   │   └── schemas.py    # Pydantic response models
│   ├── mcp/              # MCP server (stdio transport, 20 tools)
│   │   └── server.py
│   ├── ingest/           # One ingester per classification system (40+ files)
│   │   ├── base.py       # ensure_data_file() download utility
│   │   ├── naics.py      # NAICS 2022
│   │   ├── isic.py       # ISIC Rev 4
│   │   └── ...           # one file per system
│   ├── db.py             # asyncpg pool (Neon PostgreSQL)
│   ├── schema.sql        # classification_system, classification_node, equivalence
│   └── schema_auth.sql   # app_user, api_key, usage_log
├── frontend/             # Next.js 15 + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
│   └── src/app/          # Home, Explore, System detail, Dashboard, Node detail
├── tests/                # 830 tests, pytest, test_wot schema isolation
└── data/                 # Downloaded source files (gitignored, re-downloadable)

Database schema

Three core tables shared by all 36 systems:

classification_system  -- one row per taxonomy
classification_node    -- all codes across all systems (~395K rows)
equivalence            -- crosswalk edges between codes (~57K rows)

Plus the domain deep-dive tables:

domain_taxonomy        -- registers domain sub-taxonomies
node_taxonomy_link     -- links industry nodes to domain concepts

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REST API

Base URL: http://localhost:8000/api/v1

GET /systems                                    List all 36 classification systems
GET /systems/{id}                               System details with root codes
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}                  Get a specific code
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}/children         Child codes
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}/ancestors        Parent chain to root
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}/equivalences     Cross-system mappings
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}/translations     All equivalences in one call
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}/siblings         Sibling codes at same level
GET /systems/{id}/nodes/{code}/subtree          Summary stats for subtree
GET /search?q={query}                           Full-text search across all systems
GET /search?q={query}&grouped=true              Search results grouped by system
GET /compare?a={sys}&b={sys}                    Side-by-side sector comparison
GET /diff?a={sys}&b={sys}                       Codes in A with no mapping to B
GET /systems/stats                              Code counts per system
GET /equivalences/stats                         Crosswalk edge statistics

Authentication: Authorization: Bearer wot_<your_key> (optional, higher rate limits)

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MCP Server (Claude Desktop)

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "world-of-taxanomy": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": ["-m", "world_of_taxanomy", "mcp"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "your-neon-database-url"
      }
    }
  }
}

20 MCP tools available: list_systems, get_industry, browse_children, get_ancestors, search_classifications, get_equivalences, translate_code, get_sector_overview, translate_across_all_systems, compare_sector, find_by_keyword_all_systems, get_crosswalk_coverage, get_system_diff, get_siblings, get_subtree_summary, resolve_ambiguous_code, get_leaf_count, get_region_mapping, describe_match_types, explore_industry_tree

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Running Tests

# Full suite (830 tests)
python3 -m pytest tests/ -v

# Specific system
python3 -m pytest tests/test_ingest_naics.py -v

# With coverage
python3 -m pytest tests/ --cov=world_of_taxanomy

Tests use a test_wot PostgreSQL schema isolated from production data.

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Adding a New Classification System

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.

Short version:

1. Write failing tests first (tests/test_ingest_<system>.py) - TDD is mandatory
2. Create world_of_taxanomy/ingest/<system>.py with async def ingest_<system>(conn) -> int
3. Register in world_of_taxanomy/__main__.py
4. Update CLAUDE.md, DATA_SOURCES.md, CHANGELOG.md

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Domain Deep-Dive Pattern

Phase 9 introduced a new pattern: sub-industry taxonomies that attach below a single classification node to model the internal structure of a specific industry.

-- Query: all truck domain concepts linked to a NAICS 484 node
SELECT n.code, n.title, tl.taxonomy_id
FROM classification_node n
JOIN node_taxonomy_link tl
  ON tl.node_code = n.code AND tl.system_id = n.system_id
WHERE n.system_id = 'naics_2022' AND n.code LIKE '484%'
ORDER BY n.code;

This pattern can be replicated for any industry: healthcare, construction, agriculture, finance, etc.

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Data Sources

See DATA_SOURCES.md for full attribution and license information.

WorldOfTaxanomy does not redistribute raw data files. Each ingester downloads data directly from the authoritative source at ingest time.

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License

MIT License. See LICENSE.

Classification data is sourced from public domain and open license sources. See DATA_SOURCES.md for per-system licensing.