---
title: "Agentic Semantic Web"
description: "Semantic HTML, data-* attributes, and CSS-only styling for the agentic era."
date: 2026-04-10
tags: ["asw", "semantic-web", "html"]

---

# Agentic Semantic Web

**ASW** is a vocabulary and design system for the agentic era — semantic HTML with `data-*` attributes, CSS-only styling, no JavaScript required where a browser element already does the job.

Built for sites generated by agents and read by agents. Navigable by humans.

## What this is

- [Docs](/docs/) — the ASW HTML vocabulary, layout system, and components
- [Vault](/vault/) — live ASW notation: task lists, sessions, diffs, wikilinks
- [Posts](/posts/) — writing and vocabulary reference
- [Papers](/papers/) — longer-form thinking on the semantic web

## The design principle

No invented CSS classes. Every style target is either a semantic HTML element or a `data-*` attribute:

```html
<aside data-callout="note">This is a note.</aside>
<section data-layout="grid">...</section>
<a data-wikilink href="/vault/session/">session log</a>
```

Agents read the attributes. Humans read the content. The CSS connects them.

## Try the shortcodes

{{< callout note >}}
This is a **note callout** rendered via the `callout` shortcode. Output: `<aside data-callout="note">`.
{{< /callout >}}

{{< callout tip >}}
See the [Getting Started](/posts/getting-started/) post to wire ASW into your Hugo project.
{{< /callout >}}