{"id":"linked-art/api/shared-activities","relativePath":"linked-art/api/shared-activities.md","title":"Linked Art API: Shared Activities","markdown":"# Linked Art API: Shared Activities\n\n**Last refreshed:** 2026-07-06\n\nSource: [Activities shared structure](https://linked.art/api/1.0/shared/activity/), part of Linked Art API 1.0, published under [CC BY 4.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is a project summary; the upstream page is authoritative.\n\n## Purpose\n\nLinked Art is activity-centric, but many activity descriptions are most useful when embedded inside the record for the entity that was created, destroyed, modified, encountered, or used. Shared activity structures cover beginnings, endings, lifecycle changes, and professional or use activities without requiring every event to be a top-level endpoint record.\n\n## Required Shape\n\nAn embedded activity structure includes:\n\n- `type`: required activity class. The value must come from the allowed activity class set for the endpoint or pattern.\n- `id`: optional URI identifying the activity. If present, the URI can be dereferenced when a representation is available.\n- `_complete`: optional non-semantic completeness signal. If an `id` URI has more information available at that URI, `_complete: false` must be present.\n\n## Common Fields\n\n- `_label`: developer-facing label.\n- `identified_by`: `Name` and/or `Identifier` structures for the activity.\n- `classified_as`: further activity classifications.\n- `referred_to_by`: embedded statements about the activity.\n- `took_place_at`: places where the activity occurred.\n- `timespan`: embedded `TimeSpan` for when the activity occurred.\n- `during`, `before`, `after`, `caused_by`: temporal and causal relationships to other periods, events, or activities.\n- `carried_out_by`: people or groups that carried out the activity.\n- `influenced_by`: entities that influenced or motivated the activity.\n- `used_specific_object`: entities instrumental in carrying out the activity.\n- `technique`: techniques used in the activity.\n- `part`: nested activity parts of the same event type.\n- `diminished`: physical object from which a part was removed, only for `PartRemoval`.\n\n## Activity Classes By Pattern\n\n- Abstract Work: beginning `Creation`.\n- Concept: beginning `Creation`.\n- Digital Object: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.\n- Group: beginning `Formation`; ending `Dissolution`; other `Activity`.\n- Person: beginning `Birth`; ending `Death`; other `Activity`.\n- Physical Object: beginning `Production` or `PartRemoval`; ending `Destruction`; other `Encounter`, `Modification`, or `Activity`.\n- Set: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.\n- Textual Work: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.\n- Visual Work: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.\n- Statement: beginning `Creation`.\n\nImportant constraint: `Birth` and `Death` do not use `carried_out_by`, `influenced_by`, `used_specific_object`, `technique`, or `part`.\n\n## Common Incoming Relationships\n\n- `created_by`: `Creation` for the beginning of conceptual or digital things.\n- `formed_by`: `Formation` for the beginning of a group.\n- `dissolved_by`: `Dissolution` for the end of a group.\n- `born`: `Birth` for the beginning of a person.\n- `died`: `Death` for the end of a person.\n- `produced_by`: `Production` for the beginning of a physical thing.\n- `removed_by`: `PartRemoval` for a physical thing removed from another thing.\n- `modified_by`: `Modification` for modification of a physical thing.\n- `destroyed_by`: `Destruction` for the ending of a physical thing.\n- `encountered_by`: `Encounter` for discovery or interaction with a physical thing.\n- `used_for`: `Activity` for use of a thing, often publication.\n- `participated_in`: `Activity` that a person or group participated in.\n- `carried_out`: `Activity` carried out directly by a person or group.\n\n## Meta Museum Notes\n\nMeta Museum already preserves embedded activity structures in records and feed projections for production, creation, publication, formation/dissolution, birth/death, acquisition, payment, custody, encounter, movement, transfer, and modification-style evidence. Existing ActivityStreams work also treats reviewed Update and tombstone Delete evidence separately from Linked Art event semantics. Record normalization and ActivityStreams semantic projections now automatically emit `_complete: false` for partial dereferenceable embedded activity IDs such as `Production`, `Modification`, `PartRemoval`, `Destruction`, `Encounter`, `Formation`, `Dissolution`, `Birth`, `Death`, `Acquisition`, `TransferOfCustody`, `Move`, `RightAcquisition`, `Payment`, and wrapper `Activity` nodes; the remaining conformance target is broader fixture proof for every shared activity class.\n\n## Test Ideas\n\n- Preserve `Production` with `technique`, `timespan`, `took_place_at`, `carried_out_by`, and `influenced_by`.\n- Preserve `Birth` and `Death` without actor/influence/object/technique/part properties.\n- Preserve `PartRemoval` with `diminished`.\n- Preserve `Modification`, `Destruction`, `Encounter`, `Formation`, `Dissolution`, `Creation`, and generic `Activity` in fixtures.\n- Extend dereferenceable embedded-activity fixture coverage beyond the automatic projection case.\n","sections":[{"level":2,"heading":"Purpose","anchor":"purpose"},{"level":2,"heading":"Required Shape","anchor":"required-shape"},{"level":2,"heading":"Common Fields","anchor":"common-fields"},{"level":2,"heading":"Activity Classes By Pattern","anchor":"activity-classes-by-pattern"},{"level":2,"heading":"Common Incoming Relationships","anchor":"common-incoming-relationships"},{"level":2,"heading":"Meta Museum Notes","anchor":"meta-museum-notes"},{"level":2,"heading":"Test Ideas","anchor":"test-ideas"}],"html":"<h1 id=\"linked-art-api-shared-activities\">Linked Art API: Shared Activities</h1>\n<p><strong>Last refreshed:</strong> 2026-07-06</p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https://linked.art/api/1.0/shared/activity/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"doc-link\">Activities shared structure</a>, part of Linked Art API 1.0, published under <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"doc-link\">CC BY 4.0</a>. This is a project summary; the upstream page is authoritative.</p>\n<h2 id=\"purpose\">Purpose</h2>\n<p>Linked Art is activity-centric, but many activity descriptions are most useful when embedded inside the record for the entity that was created, destroyed, modified, encountered, or used. Shared activity structures cover beginnings, endings, lifecycle changes, and professional or use activities without requiring every event to be a top-level endpoint record.</p>\n<h2 id=\"required-shape\">Required Shape</h2>\n<p>An embedded activity structure includes:</p>\n<ul><li>`type`: required activity class. The value must come from the allowed activity class set for the endpoint or pattern.</li><li>`id`: optional URI identifying the activity. If present, the URI can be dereferenced when a representation is available.</li><li>`_complete`: optional non-semantic completeness signal. If an `id` URI has more information available at that URI, `_complete: false` must be present.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"common-fields\">Common Fields</h2>\n<ul><li>`_label`: developer-facing label.</li><li>`identified_by`: `Name` and/or `Identifier` structures for the activity.</li><li>`classified_as`: further activity classifications.</li><li>`referred_to_by`: embedded statements about the activity.</li><li>`took_place_at`: places where the activity occurred.</li><li>`timespan`: embedded `TimeSpan` for when the activity occurred.</li><li>`during`, `before`, `after`, `caused_by`: temporal and causal relationships to other periods, events, or activities.</li><li>`carried_out_by`: people or groups that carried out the activity.</li><li>`influenced_by`: entities that influenced or motivated the activity.</li><li>`used_specific_object`: entities instrumental in carrying out the activity.</li><li>`technique`: techniques used in the activity.</li><li>`part`: nested activity parts of the same event type.</li><li>`diminished`: physical object from which a part was removed, only for `PartRemoval`.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"activity-classes-by-pattern\">Activity Classes By Pattern</h2>\n<ul><li>Abstract Work: beginning `Creation`.</li><li>Concept: beginning `Creation`.</li><li>Digital Object: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.</li><li>Group: beginning `Formation`; ending `Dissolution`; other `Activity`.</li><li>Person: beginning `Birth`; ending `Death`; other `Activity`.</li><li>Physical Object: beginning `Production` or `PartRemoval`; ending `Destruction`; other `Encounter`, `Modification`, or `Activity`.</li><li>Set: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.</li><li>Textual Work: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.</li><li>Visual Work: beginning `Creation`; other `Activity`.</li><li>Statement: beginning `Creation`.</li></ul>\n<p>Important constraint: `Birth` and `Death` do not use `carried_out_by`, `influenced_by`, `used_specific_object`, `technique`, or `part`.</p>\n<h2 id=\"common-incoming-relationships\">Common Incoming Relationships</h2>\n<ul><li>`created_by`: `Creation` for the beginning of conceptual or digital things.</li><li>`formed_by`: `Formation` for the beginning of a group.</li><li>`dissolved_by`: `Dissolution` for the end of a group.</li><li>`born`: `Birth` for the beginning of a person.</li><li>`died`: `Death` for the end of a person.</li><li>`produced_by`: `Production` for the beginning of a physical thing.</li><li>`removed_by`: `PartRemoval` for a physical thing removed from another thing.</li><li>`modified_by`: `Modification` for modification of a physical thing.</li><li>`destroyed_by`: `Destruction` for the ending of a physical thing.</li><li>`encountered_by`: `Encounter` for discovery or interaction with a physical thing.</li><li>`used_for`: `Activity` for use of a thing, often publication.</li><li>`participated_in`: `Activity` that a person or group participated in.</li><li>`carried_out`: `Activity` carried out directly by a person or group.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"meta-museum-notes\">Meta Museum Notes</h2>\n<p>Meta Museum already preserves embedded activity structures in records and feed projections for production, creation, publication, formation/dissolution, birth/death, acquisition, payment, custody, encounter, movement, transfer, and modification-style evidence. Existing ActivityStreams work also treats reviewed Update and tombstone Delete evidence separately from Linked Art event semantics. Record normalization and ActivityStreams semantic projections now automatically emit `_complete: false` for partial dereferenceable embedded activity IDs such as `Production`, `Modification`, `PartRemoval`, `Destruction`, `Encounter`, `Formation`, `Dissolution`, `Birth`, `Death`, `Acquisition`, `TransferOfCustody`, `Move`, `RightAcquisition`, `Payment`, and wrapper `Activity` nodes; the remaining conformance target is broader fixture proof for every shared activity class.</p>\n<h2 id=\"test-ideas\">Test Ideas</h2>\n<ul><li>Preserve `Production` with `technique`, `timespan`, `took_place_at`, `carried_out_by`, and `influenced_by`.</li><li>Preserve `Birth` and `Death` without actor/influence/object/technique/part properties.</li><li>Preserve `PartRemoval` with `diminished`.</li><li>Preserve `Modification`, `Destruction`, `Encounter`, `Formation`, `Dissolution`, `Creation`, and generic `Activity` in fixtures.</li><li>Extend dereferenceable embedded-activity fixture coverage beyond the automatic projection case.</li></ul>","updatedAt":"2026-07-06T00:00:00.000Z","checksum":"de394280c8039f3fccdb71f1b97d7789b04b9b1502f6f9849795a77ddb96126a","checksumPrefix":"de394280c803","anchorCount":7,"lineCount":77,"rawUrl":"/api/docs/content?path=linked-art%2Fapi%2Fshared-activities.md","htmlUrl":"/docs?doc=linked-art%2Fapi%2Fshared-activities.md","apiUrl":"/api/docs/content?path=linked-art%2Fapi%2Fshared-activities.md"}