Documentation

Card type

Knowledge card API

One named person, place or chemical element: a photo, a summary, key facts, a fun fact and a panel for its kind (a locator map, a timeline, its place in the periodic table). data.focus says what was asked; other things of the same name come as alternatives.

Card type entity · version 1 · schema entity.v1.schema.json

Layouts

Every card type has full. Pick a layout with the element's layout attribute, render.layout, or a theme.

Fields

The fields of card.data. Values a source doesn't provide are null; new optional fields can appear within version 1.

FieldTypeRequiredNotes
kindenumyesWhat the thing is. It decides which blocks are filled. Entity cards cover person, place and element; the other kinds are reserved for later and use the same common fields. person · place · element · species · celestial_body · landmark · work · organization · event
focusenumyesWhat the question asked about: the thing in general, where it is, when it lived or happened, or one fact about it. overview · location · dates · fact
idstringyesWikidata item id. A refine with {card: "entity", id} answers with this item.
namestringyes
descriptionstring | nullyesOne line saying what the thing is, in the answer's locale.
summarystring | nullyesThe opening of the Wikipedia article in the answer's locale; null when that Wikipedia has no article.
imageimage | nullyes
image.urlurlyesWebKnox media URL: https://webknox.com/media/v1/<host>/<path>. Treat it as opaque.
image.widthinteger | null
image.heightinteger | null
image.creditstringyes
image.licensestringyes
image.source_urlurlyes
datesobject | nullyes
dates.startdate | nullyesBorn, founded or begun.
dates.start.yearintegeryesHistorical numbering: -428 is 428 BC, never 0. Dates before 1582 may be Julian, as the source gives them.
dates.start.monthinteger | nullyes
dates.start.dayinteger | nullyes
dates.start.precisionenumyesday · month · year · decade · century
dates.start.circabooleanyes
dates.start.displaystringyesReady to show in the answer's locale, e.g. "c. 428 BC".
dates.enddate | nullyesDied, dissolved or ended; null while it lasts.
dates.end.yearintegeryesHistorical numbering: -428 is 428 BC, never 0. Dates before 1582 may be Julian, as the source gives them.
dates.end.monthinteger | nullyes
dates.end.dayinteger | nullyes
dates.end.precisionenumyesday · month · year · decade · century
dates.end.circabooleanyes
dates.end.displaystringyesReady to show in the answer's locale, e.g. "c. 428 BC".
facts[]object[]yesKey facts, ready to display, most telling first.
facts[].labelstringyes
facts[].valuestringyes
related[]object[]yesThings one refine away, in reading order (a teacher before the person, a student after).
related[].relationstringyesHow it relates, e.g. Teacher, Student, Spouse.
related[].idstringyes
related[].namestringyes
locationobject | nullyes
location.latnumberyes
location.lonnumberyes
location.countrystring | nullyesISO 3166-1 alpha-2; null when not one country.
location.relative[]string[]yesWhere it is in words, e.g. "165 km south of Berlin".
location.mapobject | nullyes
location.map.srcstringyesA WebKnox map image: https://webknox.com/geo/v1/<ISO 3166-1 alpha-2>.svg for a country, world.svg for the world.
location.map.widthintegeryes
location.map.heightintegeryes
location.map.points[]object[]yes
location.map.insetobject | nullyesA small world map that shows where the main map is.
elementobject | nullyes
element.symbolstringyes
element.numberintegeryes
element.massnumber | nullyesStandard atomic weight in daltons.
element.periodintegeryes
element.groupinteger | nullyesNull for the lanthanides and actinides.
element.blockenumyess · p · d · f
element.categorystring | nullyese.g. actinide, noble gas, in the answer's locale.
scaleobject | nullyesThe thing measured against familiar ones, drawn as bars from zero.
scale.labelstringyesWhat is compared, with its unit, e.g. "Density, g/cm³".
scale.items[]object[]yes
scale.items[].namestringyes
scale.items[].vnumberyes
scale.items[].displaystringyes
scale.items[].highlightbooleanyestrue for the thing itself.
timeline[]object[]yesPoints on one proportional time axis, oldest first; the last is usually today.
timeline[].yearintegeryesHistorical numbering: -428 is 428 BC; there is no year 0, so the span from 1 BC to AD 1 is one year.
timeline[].labelstringyes
timeline[].highlightbooleanyestrue for the thing itself.
fun_factobject | nullyes
fun_fact.textstringyes
fun_fact.kindenumyescomputed: worked out from the card's own data; article: taken from the Wikipedia article. computed · article
fun_fact.source_urlurl | nullyes
alternatives[]object[]yesOther things with the same name, of a kind entity cards cover, one refine away; the card shows the one most people look up.
alternatives[].idstringyes
alternatives[].namestringyes
alternatives[].descriptionstring | nullyes
source_urlurlyesThe Wikipedia article, or the Wikidata item when there is none.

Example

A recorded answer to “Who is Plato?”. Open it in the Answer Lab to see every layout and style.

Response
{
  "v": 2,
  "id": "ans_8ouw2gxlc6ub6j63",
  "matched": true,
  "locale": "en",
  "skill": "facts",
  "confidence": 0.9,
  "text": "Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher of Classical Athens who is most commonly considered the foundational thinker of the Western philosophical tradition.",
  "speech": "Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher of Classical Athens who is most commonly considered the foundational thinker of the Western philosophical tradition.",
  "card": {
    "type": "entity",
    "version": 1,
    "data": {
      "kind": "person",
      "focus": "overview",
      "id": "Q859",
      "name": "Plato",
      "description": "4th-century BCE Greek philosopher",
      "summary": "Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher of Classical Athens who is most commonly considered the foundational thinker of the Western philosophical tradition.",
      "image": {
        "url": "https://webknox.com/media/v1/thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Plato_Silanion_Musei_Capitolini_MC1377.jpg/960px-Plato_Silanion_Musei_Capitolini_MC1377.jpg",
        "width": 960,
        "height": 1440,
        "credit": "Marie-Lan Nguyen",
        "license": "CC BY 2.5",
        "source_url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plato_Silanion_Musei_Capitolini_MC1377.jpg"
      },
      "dates": {
        "start": {
          "year": -428,
          "precision": "year",
          "circa": true,
          "display": "c. 428 BC",
          "month": null,
          "day": null
        },
        "end": {
          "year": -348,
          "precision": "year",
          "circa": true,
          "display": "c. 348 BC",
          "month": null,
          "day": null
        }
      },
      "facts": [
        {
          "label": "Born",
          "value": "c. 428 BC, Athens"
        },
        {
          "label": "Died",
          "value": "c. 348 BC, Athens (aged about 80)"
        },
        {
          "label": "Occupation",
          "value": "Philosopher, epigrammatist, poet"
        },
        {
          "label": "Notable works",
          "value": "Apology, Crito"
        }
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "relation": "Teacher",
          "id": "Q913",
          "name": "Socrates"
        },
        {
          "relation": "Teacher",
          "id": "Q712328",
          "name": "Theodoros of Cyrene"
        },
        {
          "relation": "Student",
          "id": "Q868",
          "name": "Aristotle"
        },
        {
          "relation": "Student",
          "id": "Q185150",
          "name": "Eudoxus of Cnidus"
        },
        {
          "relation": "Student",
          "id": "Q214121",
          "name": "Xenocrates"
        }
      ],
      "location": null,
      "element": null,
      "scale": null,
      "timeline": [
        {
          "year": -2670,
          "label": "Pyramid of Djoser",
          "highlight": false
        },
        {
          "year": -428,
          "label": "Plato",
          "highlight": true
        },
        {
          "year": 2026,
          "label": "Today",
          "highlight": false
        }
      ],
      "fun_fact": {
        "text": "Plato was born closer in time to the building of the Pyramid of Djoser (about 2,240 years earlier) than to today (about 2,450 years later).",
        "kind": "computed",
        "source_url": null
      },
      "alternatives": [],
      "source_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato"
    }
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "Wikipedia",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato",
      "license": "CC BY-SA 4.0"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wikidata",
      "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q859",
      "license": "CC0"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wikimedia Commons",
      "url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org",
      "license": "per image"
    }
  ],
  "follow_ups": [
    "Who is Socrates?",
    "Who is Aristotle?"
  ],
  "actions": [],
  "usage": {
    "billable": true
  }
}