---
title: "Canonical"
type: "glossary-term"
category: "Knowledge graph"
canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/glossary/knowledge-graph/canonical"
updated: "2026-07-09"
---

# Canonical

**The canonical version is the single official form of something - one URL, one name, one record - that all variants and duplicates resolve to.**

**Canonical** means "the one true version". When the same thing can be expressed many ways (aliases, duplicate slugs, alternate URLs), the canonical form is the authoritative one everything else points to.

Choosing a canonical avoids duplicate records and split signals, and on the web a canonical URL tells search engines which page to index.

## In GraphCanon

GraphCanon uses a locked, canonical category taxonomy and canonical tool slugs, and emits a canonical URL on every page so duplicate or localized variants consolidate to one.

## Related terms

- [Taxonomy](/glossary/knowledge-graph/taxonomy.md)
- [Entity](/glossary/knowledge-graph/entity.md)

[Knowledge graph](/glossary/knowledge-graph.md) · [All glossary terms](/glossary.md)

---

**Machine-readable endpoints**

- JSON: [`/api/graphcanon`](/api/graphcanon)
- LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)
- Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt)

_GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_