Action

Canonical URL: http://schema.org/Action

Thing > Action

An action performed by a direct agent and indirect participants upon a direct object. Optionally happens at a location with the help of an inanimate instrument. The execution of the action may produce a result. Specific action sub-type documentation specifies the exact expectation of each argument/role.

See also blog post and Actions overview document.


Usage: Between 100 and 1000 domains
PropertyExpected TypeDescription
Properties from Action
actionStatus ActionStatusType Indicates the current disposition of the Action.
agent Organization  or
Person 
The direct performer or driver of the action (animate or inanimate). e.g. John wrote a book.
endTime DateTime The endTime of something. For a reserved event or service (e.g. FoodEstablishmentReservation), the time that it is expected to end. For actions that span a period of time, when the action was performed. e.g. John wrote a book from January to December.

Note that Event uses startDate/endDate instead of startTime/endTime, even when describing dates with times. This situation may be clarified in future revisions.

error Thing For failed actions, more information on the cause of the failure.
instrument Thing The object that helped the agent perform the action. e.g. John wrote a book with a pen.
location Place  or
PostalAddress  or
Text 
The location of for example where the event is happening, an organization is located, or where an action takes place.
object Thing The object upon which the action is carried out, whose state is kept intact or changed. Also known as the semantic roles patient, affected or undergoer (which change their state) or theme (which doesn't). e.g. John read a book.
participant Organization  or
Person 
Other co-agents that participated in the action indirectly. e.g. John wrote a book with Steve.
result Thing The result produced in the action. e.g. John wrote a book.
startTime DateTime The startTime of something. For a reserved event or service (e.g. FoodEstablishmentReservation), the time that it is expected to start. For actions that span a period of time, when the action was performed. e.g. John wrote a book from January to December.

Note that Event uses startDate/endDate instead of startTime/endTime, even when describing dates with times. This situation may be clarified in future revisions.

target EntryPoint Indicates a target EntryPoint for an Action.
Properties from Thing
additionalType URL An additional type for the item, typically used for adding more specific types from external vocabularies in microdata syntax. This is a relationship between something and a class that the thing is in. In RDFa syntax, it is better to use the native RDFa syntax - the 'typeof' attribute - for multiple types. Schema.org tools may have only weaker understanding of extra types, in particular those defined externally.
alternateName Text An alias for the item.
description Text A description of the item.
disambiguatingDescription Text A sub property of description. A short description of the item used to disambiguate from other, similar items. Information from other properties (in particular, name) may be necessary for the description to be useful for disambiguation.
identifier PropertyValue  or
Text  or
URL 
The identifier property represents any kind of identifier for any kind of Thing, such as ISBNs, GTIN codes, UUIDs etc. Schema.org provides dedicated properties for representing many of these, either as textual strings or as URL (URI) links. See background notes for more details.
image ImageObject  or
URL 
An image of the item. This can be a URL or a fully described ImageObject.
mainEntityOfPage CreativeWork  or
URL 
Indicates a page (or other CreativeWork) for which this thing is the main entity being described. See background notes for details.
Inverse property: mainEntity.
name Text The name of the item.
potentialAction Action Indicates a potential Action, which describes an idealized action in which this thing would play an 'object' role.
sameAs URL URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity. E.g. the URL of the item's Wikipedia page, Wikidata entry, or official website.
url URL URL of the item.


Instances of Action may appear as values for the following properties

PropertyOn TypesDescription
interactionType InteractionCounter The Action representing the type of interaction. For up votes, +1s, etc. use LikeAction. For down votes use DislikeAction. Otherwise, use the most specific Action.
potentialAction Thing Indicates a potential Action, which describes an idealized action in which this thing would play an 'object' role.

More specific Types

Acknowledgement

The schema.org Actions mechanism benefited from extensive discussions across the Web standards community around W3C, in particular from the Hydra project's community group.



Examples

Example 1
John listened to Pink with Steve at Anna's apartment on his iPod.
This example is JSON only.
This example is JSON only.
<!--  John listened to Pink with Steve at Anna's apartment on his iPod. -->
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "http://schema.org",
  "@type": "ListenAction",
  "agent": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "John"
  },
  "object": {
    "@type": "MusicGroup",
    "name": "Pink!"
  },
  "participant": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Steve"
  },
  "location": {
    "@type": "Residence",
    "name": "Ann's apartment"
  },
  "instrument": {
    "@type": "Product",
    "name": "iPod"
  }
}
</script>
Example 2
John created an exercise plan with Steve.
This example is JSON only.
This example is JSON only.
<!--  John created an exercise plan with Steve. -->
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "http://schema.org",
  "@type": "CreateAction",
  "agent": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "John"
  },
  "result": {
    "@type": "ExercisePlan",
    "name": "John's weight loss plan"
  },
  "participant": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Steve"
  }
}
</script>

Schema Version 3.2