A Python hypergraph library with provenance and SQLite persistence.
Hypabase
A Python hypergraph library with provenance and SQLite persistence.
Install
uv add hypabase
Quick example
from hypabase import Hypabase
hb = Hypabase("my.db")
# One edge connecting five entities
hb.edge(
["dr_smith", "patient_123", "aspirin", "headache", "mercy_hospital"],
type="treatment",
source="clinical_records",
confidence=0.95,
)
# Query edges involving a node
hb.edges(containing=["patient_123"])
# Find paths between entities
hb.paths("dr_smith", "mercy_hospital")
Features
- Hyperedges — an edge connects 2+ nodes in a single relationship
- Provenance — every edge carries
sourceandconfidence - SQLite persistence — data persists to a local file automatically
- O(1) vertex-set lookup — find edges by their exact node set
- Namespace isolation —
.database("name")for scoped views in a single file - Provenance queries — filter by
sourceandmin_confidence, summarize withsources() - Memory MCP server — 7 tools for AI agent persistent memory (remember, recall, forget, consolidate, connections, who_knows_what, resolve_contradiction)
- CLI —
hypabase init,hypabase node,hypabase edge,hypabase query
Provenance
Every edge carries source and confidence:
hb.edge(
["patient_123", "aspirin", "ibuprofen"],
type="drug_interaction",
source="clinical_decision_support_v3",
confidence=0.92,
)
# Bulk provenance via context manager
with hb.context(source="schema_analysis", confidence=0.9):
hb.edge(["a", "b"], type="fk")
hb.edge(["b", "c"], type="fk")
# Query by provenance
hb.edges(source="clinical_decision_support_v3")
hb.edges(min_confidence=0.9)
# Overview of all sources
hb.sources()
Namespace isolation
Isolate data into separate namespaces within a single file:
hb = Hypabase("knowledge.db")
drugs = hb.database("drugs")
sessions = hb.database("sessions")
drugs.node("aspirin", type="drug")
sessions.node("s1", type="session")
drugs.nodes() # -> [aspirin]
sessions.nodes() # -> [s1]
What is a hypergraph?
In a regular graph, an edge connects exactly two nodes. In a hypergraph, a single edge — called a hyperedge — can connect any number of nodes at once.
Consider a medical event: Dr. Smith prescribes aspirin to Patient 123 for a headache at Mercy Hospital. In a traditional graph, you'd split this into binary edges — doctor-patient, doctor-drug, patient-hospital — and the fact that they belong to one event becomes an inference, not a structure. A hypergraph stores this natively: one edge connecting all five entities.
This matters because real-world relationships often involve more than two things. A paper has three or four authors, not one. A transaction involves a buyer, a seller, a product, and a payment method. A chemical reaction has reagents and products on both sides. Forcing these into pairs means the grouping becomes implicit.
Why provenance?
When relationships come from different sources — manual entry, LLM extraction, sensor data, clinical records — you need to know where each one came from and how much you trust it. Hypabase tracks this with two fields on every edge: source (a string identifying the origin) and confidence (a float from 0 to 1). You can filter queries by these fields and get a summary of all sources in your graph with hb.sources().
Where hypergraphs show up
- Knowledge graphs — representing complex real-world relationships without decomposition
- Agent memory — structured, queryable memory for AI agents that persists across sessions
- Biomedical data — drug interactions, clinical events, molecular pathways
- RAG pipelines — storing extracted relationships for retrieval-augmented generation
- Supply chains, collaboration networks, and anywhere relationships involve more than two things
The broader idea has roots in AI research going back to OpenCog's AtomSpace, which uses hypergraph-like structures to represent knowledge for AGI. More recent work applies hypergraphs specifically to retrieval and reasoning:
- HyperGraphRAG — n-ary knowledge retrieval across medicine, agriculture, CS, and law
- Cog-RAG — dual-hypergraph retrieval with theme-level and entity-level recall
- Hypergraph Memory for Multi-step RAG — hype
Tools (7)
rememberStore a new fact or relationship in the hypergraph memory.recallRetrieve edges or nodes based on search criteria.forgetRemove specific information from the memory.consolidatePerform maintenance or optimization on the hypergraph database.connectionsFind paths or relationships between entities.who_knows_whatQuery information based on provenance sources.resolve_contradictionIdentify and resolve conflicting information in the graph.Configuration
{"mcpServers": {"hypabase": {"command": "python", "args": ["-m", "hypabase.mcp"]}}}