Documentation

The Cascade Protocol provides a modular ontology framework for representing personal health and wellness data using Linked Data standards. This documentation covers the semantic vocabularies and SDK.

Three-Layer Ontology Architecture

The Cascade Protocol organizes health data into three layers, each serving a distinct purpose:

1

Established Standards

Canonical clinical codes from FHIR, SNOMED CT, and LOINC. These are the universal language of healthcare systems.

2

Cascade Domain Vocabulary

Domain-specific properties (health:, clinical:, pots:) that link to Layer 1 codes and add context for wellness devices, EHR data, and screening protocols.

3

Patient-Facing Summary

Patient-meaning properties (checkup:) — aggregated summaries, trend insights, and visit-prep documents designed for people, not systems.

Semantic Vocabularies

The Cascade Protocol uses modular RDF vocabularies built on W3C standards. Each vocabulary can be versioned independently while maintaining interoperability.

Core Vocabulary v1.0 Stable

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/core/v1#
Prefix: cascade:

Cross-application vocabulary for schema versioning, data provenance, and user identity. Used by all Cascade Protocol applications.

View Documentation Download TTL

Clinical Vocabulary v1.4 Stable

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/clinical/v1#
Prefix: clinical:

Vocabulary for clinical documents and structured health records imported from EHR systems via Apple HealthKit. Supports medications, allergies, lab results, conditions, immunizations, procedures, vital signs, medication use episodes, supplements, and longitudinal lab tracking with FHIR alignment.

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Health Vocabulary v1.4 Stable

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/health/v1#
Prefix: health:

Consumer wellness and device-generated health data — vital signs, activity, sleep, with SNOMED CT and LOINC standard code mappings for all metrics.

View Documentation Download TTL

POTS Vocabulary v1.2 Stable

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/pots/v1#
Prefix: pots:

Domain-specific vocabulary for POTS home screening checks using the NASA Lean Test protocol. Supports age-adjusted thresholds, symptom logging, and blood pressure analysis.

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Checkup Vocabulary v1.4 Stable

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/checkup/v1#
Prefix: checkup:

Vocabulary for patient intake forms and pre-visit health data aggregation. Combines EHR-imported data, HealthKit wellness data, supplements, and manually entered information into comprehensive patient profiles.

View Documentation Download TTL

Diabetes Vocabulary Draft

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/diabetes/v1#
Prefix: diabetes:

Unified vocabulary for diabetes and pre-diabetes management. Aggregates data from CGMs, glucose meters, insulin pumps, and lifestyle tracking devices into a coherent format with Time-in-Range metrics and pattern detection.

View Documentation Download TTL

ECG Vocabulary Coming Soon

Namespace: https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/ecg/v1#
Prefix: ecg:

Electrocardiogram data from Apple Watch and medical devices. Planned for v2.0.

Interactive Guide

Explore the Cascade Protocol documentation interactively. Ask questions, get explanations, and learn about the vocabularies through conversation.

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Quick Start

Here's a minimal example showing how the vocabularies work together:

@prefix cascade: <https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/core/v1#> .
@prefix pots: <https://ns.cascadeprotocol.org/pots/v1#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

<#pots-check-abc123> a pots:POTSCheckResult ;
    # Core vocabulary properties
    cascade:schemaVersion "1.2" ;
    cascade:dataProvenance cascade:ConsumerGenerated ;

    # POTS-specific properties
    pots:date "2025-12-05T14:30:00Z"^^xsd:dateTime ;
    pots:protocol "nasaLean" ;
    pots:potsThresholdMet "true"^^xsd:boolean ;

    # Provenance tracking
    prov:wasAttributedTo <https://id.cascadeprotocol.org/users/abc123> .

Guiding Principles

  1. Established vocabularies first. Reference FHIR, LOINC, SNOMED CT, PROV-O, and other established standards before creating Cascade-specific terms. We only invent vocabulary when no standard exists.
  2. Three-layer ontology architecture. Every data type follows the Layer 1 (standards) → Layer 2 (domain) → Layer 3 (patient) pattern described above.
  3. SNOMED CT and LOINC mappings required. All clinical and wellness metrics must map to standard codes unless no code exists — in which case the gap is documented explicitly.
  4. Clear vocabulary separation. clinical: for EHR-derived facts, health: for consumer device data, checkup: for patient-facing summaries, core: for cross-cutting primitives, and domain prefixes (e.g. pots:) for specialized protocols.
  5. Privacy-first, local-first. Data stored in Solid Pods with AES-256-GCM encryption at rest. No external API calls for core functionality.
  6. Provenance tracking. W3C PROV-O metadata on all data — distinguishing consumer-generated (device/user) from clinical-generated (EHR/provider) sources.

Ontology Objectives

  1. Interoperability: Any domain property should be traceable to established standard codes (SNOMED CT, LOINC, FHIR) so that Cascade data can round-trip with clinical systems.
  2. Completeness: Every data type serialized to Turtle has a corresponding vocabulary definition. No undefined terms.
  3. Consistency: All vocabularies follow the same structural patterns — OWL ontology headers, version info, changelogs, and SHACL shapes where appropriate.
  4. Discoverability: Every vocabulary has both a machine-readable .ttl file and a human-readable documentation page, linked from this index.
  5. Accuracy: Version numbers in documentation match the actual .ttl file versions. Changelogs reflect all changes.

SDK (Coming Soon)

The Cascade Protocol SDK for Swift is currently in development. It provides:

  • Local encrypted Pod storage with AES-256-GCM
  • Automatic RDF/Turtle serialization and deserialization
  • HealthKit integration for Apple Watch data
  • WebID-based identity and access control
  • Audit logging and provenance tracking

Contact us for early access to the SDK.

Resources