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IOU Architecture Documentation

Welcome to the comprehensive documentation for the IOU Architecture Framework and the RONL ecosystem.

What is this?

What is IOU Architecture?

The Information Architecture Framework for IOU integrates semantic web technologies, decision models, and Dutch government standards into a unified system for managing regulatory compliance and spatial planning.

IOU Architecture — interactive overview of the ecosystem components and their relationships

Architecture Overview

graph TB
    subgraph "IOU Architecture Ecosystem"
        A[Municipality Portal<br/>React] -->|OIDC/JWT| B[Keycloak IAM]
        B -->|Validated Token| C[Business API<br/>Node.js]
        C -->|REST| D[Operaton BPMN<br/>Business Rules]

        E[CPSV Editor<br/>React] -->|TTL| F[TriplyDB<br/>Knowledge Graph]
        E -->|DMN Files| D

        F -->|SPARQL| G[Orchestration Service<br/>Node.js]
        G -->|Deploy BPMN+DMN| D
        G -->|asset storage| K[PostgreSQL<br/>lde_assets]

        H[Linked Data Explorer<br/>React] -->|API Calls| G
        H -->|Direct SPARQL| F

        I[CPRMV API<br/>Python/FastAPI] -->|XML download| J[BWB / CVDR / CELLAR]
        I -->|cprmv-json / RDF| F
        I -->|cprmv-json / RDF| H
    end

Ecosystem Components

⚙️ RONL Business API

The core business API layer that provides secure authentication and process orchestration for Dutch government services.

Live App: mijn.open-regels.nl

View Documentation →

🖍️ Norm Editor

Vue/Quasar application for creating FLINT interpretations of legal sources: load a normative text, annotate fragments, and build Fact, Act, and Claim-duty frames that export to RDF in TriplyDB. Backed by NLP, unwrap, and wrap-up services.

View Documentation →

✏️ CPSV Editor

React-based application for creating CPSV-AP 3.2.0 compliant RDF/Turtle files for Dutch government services.

Live App: cpsv-editor.open-regels.nl

View Documentation →

🔍 Linked Data Explorer

Web application for SPARQL queries and BPMN & DMN orchestration with TriplyDB integration.

Live App: linkeddata.open-regels.nl

View Documentation →

📜 CPRMV API

Python/FastAPI service that fetches individual rules from Dutch and European legal publications on the fly, transforming them to CPRMV-structured RDF. Implements the Core Public Rule Management Vocabulary standard and hosts the CPRMV specification.

Live App: cprmv.open-regels.nl/docs

View Documentation →

Technology Stack

The IOU Architecture ecosystem is - apart from TriplyDB and eDOCS - built entirely on open source technologies:

Component Technology License
IAM Keycloak Apache 2.0
BPMN Engine Operaton Apache 2.0
Backend Node.js + Express MIT
Frontend React MIT
Database PostgreSQL PostgreSQL License
Cache Redis BSD 3-Clause
Reverse Proxy Caddy Apache 2.0
Knowledge Graph TriplyDB -
Document Mngmnt eDOCS -
Rule API Python / FastAPI EUPL-1.2

Standards Compliance

  • CPSV-AP 3.2.0 - EU Public Service Vocabulary
  • CPRMV - Core Public Rule Management Vocabulary
  • RONL - Dutch Rules Vocabulary
  • BIO - Baseline Informatiebeveiliging Overheid
  • NEN 7510 - Healthcare information security
  • AVG/GDPR - Data protection

What is the state of it?

Documentation Status

Loading documentation status…

🆕 What's New

  • ⚙️ RONL Business API — v2026.09.12 · September 2026

    The API describes itself, and one rule decides every tenant

    The backend now publishes an OpenAPI 3.1 description at /v1/openapi.json — 113 of its 131 operations, each checked against a running service, with only the machine-to-machine group still to come — and a test fails whenever a served route is neither described nor listed as pending. Browse it on the new API Specification page. Tenant access now has a single source of truth: every process and task check reads the case's own organisation label, refuses when there is none, and answers one code, 403 TENANT_MISMATCH. Staff can no longer start another organisation's process, a citizen's case goes to the organisation that runs it and stays readable to them, and a task completion can no longer relabel a case. On the supply chain, every release now carries an SBOM, dependencies are audited daily on both branches, and an unused Keycloak adapter that pulled 48 packages into production is gone. Local development is rewritten from the code, including how the Operaton engine starts and why a bash shell is required.

    Full changelog

  • 🖍️ Norm Editor — v2026.09.1 · September 2026

    A choice of NLP model, and a test suite to go with it

    Role detection is no longer fixed to one model at deploy time: nlp-api carries a registry of selectable models and the Act frame form gained a dropdown to pick one, with the response echoing the model actually used so a caller can tell a fallback from a hit. Model files moved out of the service image onto mounted storage, so adding one no longer means rebuilding. July filled the other gap: automated tests across all five services and a GitLab CI pipeline that blocks the image build when they fail — this component had none before.

    Full changelog

  • ✏️ CPSV Editor — v2026.09.7 · September 2026

    What ships is what was tested, and each release keeps its bill of materials

    The production bundle is now built on the runner, from the tree npm ci installed and on the Node the tests ran on, and uploaded with skip_app_build — until now Oryx rebuilt it inside a floating container, so the code that passed the tests and the code that shipped were different builds. Node is one exact version, 24.20.0 from .nvmrc, and production moved up from 22.22.0 (Deployment). Every release now commits a CycloneDX SBOM of its production dependencies, a daily audit reads the lockfiles of both acc and main, and npm itself observes the 14-day cooldown Renovate already kept. Renovate never offers a major's X.0.0, ubuntu 26.04 is deferred on record, a lockfile out of step with package.json fails under its own name, and the build check is now required on acc. The editor itself is unchanged; the suite still stands at 763 tests, all passing.

    Full changelog

  • 🔍 Linked Data Explorer — v2026.09.8 · September 2026

    A promotion deploys in order, and every release carries its own SBOM

    A push to main used to start three production deploys at once, and on the v2026.09.6 promotion the ROPA site finished before the backend had even begun building. One promotion workflow now decides what changed, deploys the backend first and releases the two sites only once it has succeeded; its path rules live in a tested script, and a promotion pull request still previews the real production site, by decision. Every deploy check now runs instead of the first failure hiding the rest, and build-info.json is read at start-up, closing a false pass in the very gate that proves a new build is serving. Each release now commits a CycloneDX SBOM, dependencies are audited daily on both acc and main, a lockfile that disagrees with package.json fails under its own name, and Renovate never offers a major's X.0.0. In the Modeler, both Thuisbatterij processes gain swimlanes and Dutch names, and "Aanvullende gegevens opvragen" finally has a form that can be deployed. The suites stand at 3083 tests, all passing.

    Full changelog

  • 📜 CPRMV API — v0.4.1 · June 2026

    CPRMV 0.4.1 conformance & reference resolution

    RuleSets are now FRBR Works (frbroo:F1_Work); /ref auto-detects Juriconnect, ELI (to EU CELLAR), and CPRMV-API references; new /cellar-by-celex and /cellar-by-eli redirects; unformat works across all output formats; and the API now exposes a basic MCP server at /mcp.

    Full changelog

🎞️ Slide decks

Four topics also exist as slide decks. Each has a page showing every slide with its text, next to the prose it summarises, and the PDF to download.

Deck Where Slides What it covers As of PDF
IOU Architecture Site-wide 25 The whole ecosystem, from quoted legal text to the decision the citizen sees — the four boards and the public knowledge base, then how it is built and safeguarded. Slides in Dutch 30 Aug 2026 1.0 MB
DMN to Linked Data Workflow CPSV Editor · User Guide 9 From a legal body's DMN export to a tested decision service published as linked data — Amsterdam, SZW and Den Haag — and three questions for a standardisation body 18 Sep 2026 261 KB
DSO Viewer APIs Linked Data Explorer · Features 13 How the DSO Viewer talks to the Digitaal Stelsel Omgevingswet — the proxy, the six upstream APIs, what each tab calls, and how an activity's dossier is assembled 24 Sep 2026 184 KB
CI Posture Across Repos Contributing 5 The four CI controls on the CPSV Editor and the Linked Data Explorer, and the delivery decision they lead to 11 Sep 2026 127 KB

A deck is a snapshot of its date, and each page states what it was checked against.

How do I work on it?

Development Workflow

  • Design — for features where the UX is substantial, work starts in Claude Design; small changes skip straight to implementation.
  • Handoff — a finished design leaves as a briefing package for the next stage, not as code.
  • Implementation — happens in Claude Code, following red/green TDD: a failing test first, then the minimum code needed to pass it.
  • Release — each of the application repositories cuts its own release with a versioning command tailored to its changelog.
  • Documentation — once a component ships, these docs are brought back into sync with it.

Development Workflow →

Not part of the core team? Start from the Contributing Guide instead.

Contributing

We welcome contributions! See the Contributing Guide for details.

Resource Link
CPSV Editor cpsv-editor.open-regels.nl
Linked Data Explorer linkeddata.open-regels.nl
Backend API backend.linkeddata.open-regels.nl
Keycloak IAM keycloak.open-regels.nl
Custom Business API api.open-regels.nl
Operaton operaton.open-regels.nl
CPRMV API cprmv.open-regels.nl/docs

Documentation Version: 1.0
Last Updated: February 2026
License: EUPL v1.2