semantica/docs/reference/conflicts.md

title, description, icon

title	description	icon
Conflicts Module	Multi-source conflict detection and resolution — value, type, temporal, and logical conflicts with investigation guides.	triangle-exclamation

semantica.conflicts detects and resolves contradictions when multiple sources disagree on the same fact. It surfaces five conflict types, seven resolution strategies, and generates investigation guides for manual review — so conflicts never silently corrupt your knowledge graph.

Why Detect Conflicts?

When you ingest data from multiple sources, contradictions are inevitable. One annual report says Apple's revenue was $391B; a financial newswire says $383B. Without conflict detection, both values land in your graph and queries silently return inconsistent answers.

Semantica's conflict detection makes disagreements explicit and actionable:

• Value conflicts — SEC says revenue is $391B; Reuters says $383B
• Type conflicts — "Python" is a ProgrammingLanguage in one source, a Snake species in another
• Temporal conflicts — a CEO had two different employers during overlapping date ranges
• Logical conflicts — an entity simultaneously holds two mutually exclusive properties
• Relationship conflicts — the same relationship has inconsistent cardinality or properties across sources

Exported Classes

Class	Role
ConflictDetector	Detects value, type, and relationship conflicts across entity lists
ConflictResolver	Resolves conflicts with configurable strategy: voting, credibility_weighted, most_recent, first_seen, highest_confidence, manual_review, expert_review
ConflictType	Enum: VALUE_CONFLICT, TYPE_CONFLICT, TEMPORAL_CONFLICT, LOGICAL_CONFLICT, RELATIONSHIP_CONFLICT
ResolutionStrategy	Enum of available resolution strategies passed to ConflictResolver
ResolutionResult	Dataclass returned by resolve_conflict / resolve_conflicts
SourceTracker	Tracks which source contributed each property value on each entity
SourceReference	Source document reference with document, page, section, confidence
PropertySource	Aggregated property-level provenance: value + list of SourceReference objects
ConflictAnalyzer	Analyzes conflict patterns, severity distribution, and per-source statistics
ConflictPattern	Dataclass describing a detected conflict pattern
InvestigationGuideGenerator	Generates step-by-step investigation guides for conflicts requiring manual review
InvestigationGuide	Guide dataclass: conflict_id, conflict_summary, severity, investigation_steps, recommended_actions
InvestigationStep	Step dataclass: step_number, description, action, expected_outcome

What You Get

Value, type, and relationship conflict detection across entity and relationship lists. 7 resolution strategies including voting, credibility-weighted, and temporal preference. Track which source each conflicting fact came from, with per-source credibility scores. Pattern analysis, severity grouping, source-level statistics, and trend identification. Auto-generate step-by-step investigation checklists for human and expert review. `detect_conflicts()` and `resolve_conflicts()` for one-call workflows.

Quick Start

```python from semantica.conflicts import SourceTracker

tracker = SourceTracker()
tracker.set_source_credibility("sec_filings",   0.95)
tracker.set_source_credibility("pubmed",        0.92)
tracker.set_source_credibility("wikipedia",     0.80)
tracker.set_source_credibility("news_articles", 0.65)
```

```python from semantica.conflicts import ConflictDetector

detector = ConflictDetector()

# Detect value conflicts on a specific property
conflicts = detector.detect_value_conflicts(entities, "revenue")
print("Found %d conflicts" % len(conflicts))

for conflict in conflicts:
    print("[%s] entity='%s'  attr='%s'" % (
        conflict.conflict_type, conflict.entity_id, conflict.property_name))
    print("  Values: %s  Severity: %s" % (
        conflict.conflicting_values, conflict.severity))
```

```python from semantica.conflicts import ConflictAnalyzer

analyzer  = ConflictAnalyzer()
analysis  = analyzer.analyze_conflicts(conflicts)
severity_counts = analysis["by_severity"]["counts"]
severity_details = analysis["by_severity"]["details"]
print("Critical: %d" % severity_counts.get("critical", 0))
print("High:     %d" % severity_counts.get("high", 0))
print("Low:      %d" % severity_counts.get("low", 0))
```

```python from semantica.conflicts import ConflictResolver, InvestigationGuideGenerator, ResolutionStrategy

resolver = ConflictResolver(source_tracker=tracker)

# Auto-resolve low-severity conflicts
low_conflicts = severity_details.get("low", [])
# Re-fetch full Conflict objects if needed — severity_details contains dicts
auto_resolved = resolver.resolve_conflicts(
    conflicts,
    strategy=ResolutionStrategy.CREDIBILITY_WEIGHTED,
)

# Generate investigation guides for critical conflicts
critical_ids = {d["conflict_id"] for d in severity_details.get("critical", [])}
critical_conflicts = [c for c in conflicts if c.conflict_id in critical_ids]

generator = InvestigationGuideGenerator()
for conflict in critical_conflicts:
    guide = generator.generate_guide(conflict)
    print("\n%s" % guide.title)
    for step in guide.investigation_steps:
        print("  [%d] %s" % (step.step_number, step.description))
        print("       Action: %s" % step.action)
```

ConflictDetector

from semantica.conflicts import ConflictDetector

detector = ConflictDetector()

# Detect value conflicts on a specific property
conflicts = detector.detect_value_conflicts(entities, "revenue")

Detection Types

Type	What It Detects	Example
VALUE	Same entity, same property, different values across sources	Revenue $391B vs $383B
TYPE	Same entity classified as different types	"Python" as Language vs Snake
TEMPORAL	Conflicting timestamps or validity windows	CEO at two companies simultaneously
LOGICAL	Logically inconsistent property combinations	is_alive=True but death_date set
RELATIONSHIP	Inconsistent relationship properties across sources	Edge weight 0.9 vs 0.3 from two sources

Run targeted detection by type:

# Detect value conflicts for a specific property
value_conflicts = detector.detect_value_conflicts(entities, "revenue")

# Detect type classification conflicts
type_conflicts = detector.detect_type_conflicts(entities)

# Detect relationship property conflicts (takes a list of relationship dicts)
relation_conflicts = detector.detect_relationship_conflicts(relationships)

# Detect conflicts across all properties of a set of entities
all_conflicts = detector.detect_entity_conflicts(entities)

ConflictDetector Methods

Method	Returns	Description
detect_value_conflicts(entities, property_name, entity_type=None)	List[Conflict]	Detect value disagreements on a specific property across entity instances
detect_type_conflicts(entities)	List[Conflict]	Detect type classification conflicts
detect_relationship_conflicts(relationships)	List[Conflict]	Detect relationship property conflicts (takes a list of relationship dicts)
detect_entity_conflicts(entities, entity_type=None)	List[Conflict]	Detect conflicts across all monitored properties for a set of entities
get_conflict_report()	Dict[str, Any]	Generate a summary report of all detected conflicts

ConflictResolver

from semantica.conflicts import ConflictResolver, ResolutionStrategy

resolver = ConflictResolver()
results  = resolver.resolve_conflicts(conflicts, strategy=ResolutionStrategy.VOTING)

for result in results:
    print("Resolved '%s' -> %s" % (result.conflict_id, result.resolved_value))
    print("  Strategy: %s  Confidence: %.2f" % (result.resolution_strategy, result.confidence))

Choosing a Resolution Strategy

Weights each source's value by its assigned credibility score — favors authoritative sources automatically:

```python
from semantica.conflicts import ConflictResolver, SourceTracker, ResolutionStrategy

tracker = SourceTracker()
tracker.set_source_credibility("sec_filings",   0.92)
tracker.set_source_credibility("wikipedia",     0.80)
tracker.set_source_credibility("news_articles", 0.65)

resolver = ConflictResolver(source_tracker=tracker)
results  = resolver.resolve_conflicts(
    conflicts,
    strategy=ResolutionStrategy.CREDIBILITY_WEIGHTED,
)
```

Best for: sources with known reliability rankings (SEC > blog).

Majority vote — most common value across sources wins:

```python
results = resolver.resolve_conflicts(conflicts, strategy=ResolutionStrategy.VOTING)
```

Best for: 3+ sources with roughly equal credibility. When all sources have identical credibility scores, `CREDIBILITY_WEIGHTED` behaves identically to `VOTING`.

```python # Most recent source wins — for fast-changing facts results = resolver.resolve_conflicts(conflicts, strategy=ResolutionStrategy.MOST_RECENT)

# First seen wins — for stable facts (founding date, original name)
results = resolver.resolve_conflicts(conflicts, strategy=ResolutionStrategy.FIRST_SEEN)
```

```python # Flag for human review — use with InvestigationGuideGenerator results = resolver.resolve_conflicts(conflicts, strategy=ResolutionStrategy.MANUAL_REVIEW) generator = InvestigationGuideGenerator()

for conflict in conflicts:
    guide = generator.generate_guide(conflict)
    print("%s" % guide.title)
    for step in guide.investigation_steps:
        print("  [%d] %s" % (step.step_number, step.description))
```

Best for: high-stakes decisions (`severity == "critical"`), regulated data (HIPAA/SOX), and domain-specific ambiguity.

| Strategy | Enum | When to Use |
| -------- | ---- | ----------- |
| Majority vote | `VOTING` | 3+ sources with roughly equal credibility |
| Credibility-weighted | `CREDIBILITY_WEIGHTED` | Sources have different authority levels |
| Most recent | `MOST_RECENT` | Fast-changing facts: stock price, headcount, status |
| First seen | `FIRST_SEEN` | Stable facts: founding date, original name |
| Highest confidence | `HIGHEST_CONFIDENCE` | Extraction pipeline outputs confidence scores |
| Manual review | `MANUAL_REVIEW` | High-stakes decisions, regulated data |
| Expert review | `EXPERT_REVIEW` | Domain-specific ambiguity — escalate to a specialist |

Use the convenience aliases for shorter code:

from semantica.conflicts import voting, credibility_weighted, most_recent, highest_confidence

results = resolver.resolve_conflicts(conflicts, strategy=voting)

SourceTracker

from semantica.conflicts import SourceTracker, SourceReference

tracker = SourceTracker()
tracker.set_source_credibility("sec_10k",   0.92)
tracker.set_source_credibility("wikipedia", 0.80)

source_ref = SourceReference(
    document="sec_10k_2023",
    page=12,
    confidence=0.95,
)
tracker.track_property_source(
    entity_id="apple_inc",
    property_name="revenue",
    value="$391B",
    source=source_ref,
)

# Returns a PropertySource object with .value and .sources (List[SourceReference])
prop_source = tracker.get_property_sources("apple_inc", "revenue")
if prop_source:
    print("Value: %s" % prop_source.value)
    for s in prop_source.sources:
        credibility = tracker.get_source_credibility(s.document)
        print("  %s (confidence: %.2f, credibility: %.2f)" % (
            s.document, s.confidence, credibility))

chain = tracker.get_traceability_chain("apple_inc")

Key behaviours:

• Credibility scores default to 0.50 for any source not explicitly set
• SourceTracker stores property-level provenance — so you can trace exactly which source contributed each value

ConflictAnalyzer

from semantica.conflicts import ConflictAnalyzer

analyzer = ConflictAnalyzer()

analysis     = analyzer.analyze_conflicts(conflicts)
patterns     = analysis["patterns"]
severity_counts = analysis["by_severity"]["counts"]
source_stats = analysis["by_source"]
trends       = analyzer.analyze_trends(conflicts)

# analyze_trends returns a list of dicts, one per time period
for t in trends:
    print("Period: %s  Count: %d  Trend: %s" % (
        t["period"], t["conflict_count"], t["trend"]))

Key behaviours:

• analyze_conflicts()["patterns"] returns a list of ConflictPattern objects — use pattern.pattern_type and pattern.frequency to find systemic data quality issues
• analyze_conflicts()["by_source"] includes counts and top_sources — sources appearing in many conflicts may have upstream data quality problems
• analyze_trends() returns a list of per-period dicts (period, conflict_count, trend, trend_direction) — trend is "increasing", "decreasing", or "stable"

InvestigationGuideGenerator

Auto-generate human-readable investigation checklists for conflicts requiring manual or expert review:

from semantica.conflicts import InvestigationGuideGenerator

generator = InvestigationGuideGenerator()
guide     = generator.generate_guide(conflict)

print("Title:   %s" % guide.title)
print("Summary: %s" % guide.conflict_summary)

for step in guide.investigation_steps:
    print("  [%d] %s" % (step.step_number, step.description))
    print("       Action: %s" % step.action)
    if step.expected_outcome:
        print("       Expected: %s" % step.expected_outcome)

Schemas

@dataclass
class Conflict:
    conflict_id:        str
    conflict_type:      ConflictType        # VALUE_CONFLICT | TYPE_CONFLICT | ...
    entity_id:          Optional[str]       # entity involved (None for relationship conflicts)
    property_name:      Optional[str]       # the conflicting property name
    relationship_id:    Optional[str]       # relationship involved (for RELATIONSHIP_CONFLICT)
    conflicting_values: List[Any]           # conflicting values (one per source)
    sources:            List[Dict[str, Any]]# source dicts for each value
    confidence:         float               # detection confidence 0–1 (default: 1.0)
    severity:           str                 # "low" | "medium" | "high" | "critical"
    recommended_action: Optional[str]
    metadata:           Dict[str, Any]

@dataclass
class ResolutionResult:
    conflict_id:        str
    resolved:           bool
    resolved_value:     Any                 # None if unresolved or flagged for review
    resolution_strategy: Optional[str]      # e.g. "voting", "credibility_weighted"
    confidence:         float               # 0.0–1.0
    sources_used:       List[str]           # document IDs that contributed
    resolution_notes:   Optional[str]
    metadata:           Dict[str, Any]

from semantica.conflicts import ConflictType

ConflictType.VALUE_CONFLICT         # revenue is $391B in source A, $383B in source B
ConflictType.TYPE_CONFLICT          # "Apple" is ORGANIZATION in one source, PRODUCT in another
ConflictType.TEMPORAL_CONFLICT      # overlapping validity windows with contradictory states
ConflictType.LOGICAL_CONFLICT       # fact violates an ontology axiom or SHACL constraint
ConflictType.RELATIONSHIP_CONFLICT  # inconsistent relationship properties across sources

@dataclass
class InvestigationGuide:
    conflict_id:         str
    conflict_summary:    str                      # generated summary of the disagreement
    severity:            str                      # "low" | "medium" | "high" | "critical"
    conflicting_sources: List[Dict[str, Any]]
    investigation_steps: List[InvestigationStep]
    recommended_actions: List[str]
    context:             Dict[str, Any]
    generated_at:        str                      # ISO timestamp
    # title is a @property: "Investigation: <conflict_id>"

@dataclass
class InvestigationStep:
    step_number:      int
    description:      str   # what to do
    action:           str   # specific action to take
    expected_outcome: Optional[str]

Tips and Common Pitfalls

**Detect before you merge, not after.** Run conflict detection on raw entity data before deduplication and graph construction. Detecting conflicts in a live graph that already contains merged entities is harder — you lose the original source attribution. **Always set credibility scores.** The default credibility is 0.50 for all sources. Without explicit scores, `CREDIBILITY_WEIGHTED` behaves identically to `VOTING`. The power of this strategy is in the differentiation. **Don't auto-resolve everything.** Use `MANUAL_REVIEW` for conflicts with `severity == "critical"` or `severity == "high"` — high severity means the disagreement is large and the stakes of getting it wrong are high. **`TEMPORAL` and `LOGICAL` conflict detection is not implemented on `ConflictDetector` directly.** The `ConflictType` enum includes these types for use in custom pipelines, but the detector class only implements `detect_value_conflicts`, `detect_type_conflicts`, `detect_relationship_conflicts`, and `detect_entity_conflicts`. **Use `analyze_conflicts()["by_source"]["top_sources"]` to identify bad data feeds.** A single source appearing in many conflicts is a data quality problem upstream, not a conflict to resolve record by record. Flag it and investigate the source pipeline. **Severity is a string label, not a score.** `ConflictDetector` assigns `"critical"`, `"high"`, or `"medium"` based on property importance and value differences. Critical fields (`id`, `name`, `type`, `revenue`) always yield `"critical"`. Domain context determines what to prioritize. **Combine with provenance.** The `SourceTracker` feeds directly into the [Provenance](provenance) module's audit trail. If you need to explain how a resolved value was chosen, provenance records give you the full chain. Resolve duplicate entities before conflict detection. Logical conflicts use SHACL shapes and ontology axioms. Track which source each conflicting fact came from. The graph being checked for conflicts.