Canonical keys
How CognaOne recognises that two pieces of information describe the same thing.
A canonical key names the thing a fact is about, such as claim.amount or project.budget. Keys let CognaOne recognise that two pieces of information describe the same thing, even when they were phrased differently.
What keys do#
| Use | How the key helps |
|---|---|
| Deduplication | New information updates the existing key instead of creating a duplicate |
| Conflict detection | Two different values for the same key are a conflict |
| Gate requirements | Policies name the keys an action needs |
| Audit linking | The full history of a concept is traced across conversations |
Conservative by design#
Key matching prefers to create a new key rather than wrongly merge two concepts. A false split is easy to fix; a false merge could let an agent act on the wrong fact.
Naming keys yourself#
When you record state through the API, use lower-case dotted names from general to specific: customer.address.postcode, invoice.total, approval.payments.approver. Use the same keys in your gate policies.
Last reviewed October 2026Suggest a change