> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.helix-db.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Helix Foundry?

> Helix Foundry connects your company's data, drafts an ontology across it, and loads it into a Helix database you can explore

<div className="flex flex-wrap gap-2"><Badge color="purple" size="sm">Concept</Badge></div>

Helix Foundry turns the tools your company runs on into one connected graph. Connect
sources such as Stripe or your PostgreSQL database, let Foundry's agent draft an
ontology across them, then load it into a Helix database and explore it as a graph or
as records.

Foundry runs at [foundry.helix-db.com](https://foundry.helix-db.com). Sign in with the
account you use for Helix Cloud; your workspaces come with it.

<Frame caption="The whole path in two minutes: synced data, a generated draft, a load, and the Explorer.">
  <video controls muted playsInline preload="none" poster="https://assets.helix-db.com/docs/foundry/start-here/tour-poster.png" className="w-full" src="https://assets.helix-db.com/docs/foundry/start-here/tour.webm" />
</Frame>

## How it fits together

| Concept | What it is |
| - | - |
| **Workspace** | Your team's space, shared with Helix Cloud. It holds connections, ontologies, members and the Foundry plan. |
| **Connection** | A source Foundry reads, with its credential. Each **sync** copies its tables into a snapshot Foundry keeps. |
| **Ontology** | The types, links and rules that describe your data, bound to one Helix database. |
| **Generation** | A request to Foundry's agent to draft a new version of the ontology from your synced tables and documents. |
| **Version** | One draft of the ontology. Versions never change; you choose which one is current. |
| **Document** | A Markdown or text file, such as a contract, that a load reads for the names and facts it holds. |
| **Load** | One write of the current version into the ontology's database: your tables, then your documents. |
| **Explorer** | The graph and records view of a load, read from the database with your session. |

The work flows in one direction:

```mermaid theme={"languages":{"custom":["languages/helixql.json"]}}
flowchart LR
  A[Connect and sync data] --> B[Generate a draft]
  B --> C[Review and make it current]
  C --> D[Load into the database]
  D --> E[Explore and ask]
```

## What Foundry does not do

* It never writes to your sources. Connections only read, and database users need
  `SELECT` only.
* It never deletes a Helix database. Deleting an ontology removes what its loads wrote
  and leaves the database's other data in place.
* It does not manage roles, member removal or single sign-on. Those stay in the
  [Helix dashboard](https://helix-db.com/login).

## How Foundry uses AI models

A generation sends your synced tables to Foundry's agent, which drafts the version. A
load sends your documents' text to Anthropic and OpenAI models, which find the names
and facts they hold and check them. Reading tables into a load uses no models.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/foundry/start-here/quickstart">
    Go from sign-in to an explored graph in about ten minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect data" icon="plug" href="/foundry/data/connect-data">
    Add a source, test it and sync its tables.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Generate an ontology" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="/foundry/ontologies/generate-and-version">
    Draft types, links and mappings from your tables.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ask questions" icon="comments" href="/foundry/ask/ask-questions">
    Ask your data questions in plain language. Coming soon.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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