From 5227ada13b62c6d17b75e2cec4b2f3ea4002fb23 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kris McGinnes <kmcginnes@me.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:30:45 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] docs: rewrite BlazeGraph connection guide with practical
 instructions

---
 docs/guides/connecting-to-blazegraph.md | 54 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 52 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/guides/connecting-to-blazegraph.md b/docs/guides/connecting-to-blazegraph.md
index 5caeba8ed..d56187ec9 100644
--- a/docs/guides/connecting-to-blazegraph.md
+++ b/docs/guides/connecting-to-blazegraph.md
@@ -2,5 +2,55 @@
 
 # Connecting to BlazeGraph
 
-- Build and run the Docker container as normal and connect Graph Explorer to BlazeGraph through the proxy server.
-- If using Docker, ensure that the container running Graph Explorer can properly access the container running BlazeGraph. You can find documentation on how to connect containers via [Docker networks](https://docs.docker.com/network/).
+[BlazeGraph](https://blazegraph.com/) is an open-source RDF graph database that supports the SPARQL query language. Graph Explorer connects to BlazeGraph through its SPARQL endpoint.
+
+## Running BlazeGraph with Docker
+
+Pull and run the BlazeGraph Docker image:
+
+```
+docker run -d -p 9999:9999 --name blazegraph lyrasis/blazegraph:2.1.5
+```
+
+You can verify BlazeGraph is running by visiting `http://localhost:9999/blazegraph/` in your browser.
+
+## Connecting Graph Explorer
+
+Open Graph Explorer and add a new connection with the following settings:
+
+- Name: `BlazeGraph`
+- Query Language: `SPARQL`
+- Public or Proxy Endpoint: `https://localhost`
+- Using Proxy Server: `true`
+- Graph Connection URL: `http://localhost:9999/blazegraph/namespace/kb/sparql`
+
+> [!NOTE]
+>
+> The default namespace in BlazeGraph is `kb`. If you created a custom namespace, replace `kb` with your namespace name in the Graph Connection URL.
+
+## Docker Networking
+
+If both Graph Explorer and BlazeGraph are running as Docker containers, they need to communicate over a shared Docker network. The default `localhost` address won't work between containers.
+
+1. Create a Docker network:
+   ```
+   docker network create graph-net
+   ```
+2. Run BlazeGraph on the network:
+   ```
+   docker run -d -p 9999:9999 --name blazegraph --network graph-net lyrasis/blazegraph:2.1.5
+   ```
+3. Run Graph Explorer on the same network:
+   ```
+   docker run -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
+     --name graph-explorer \
+     --network graph-net \
+     --env HOST=localhost \
+     public.ecr.aws/neptune/graph-explorer
+   ```
+4. Use the container name as the hostname in the Graph Connection URL:
+   ```
+   http://blazegraph:9999/blazegraph/namespace/kb/sparql
+   ```
+
+For more details on container networking, see the [Docker networks documentation](https://docs.docker.com/network/).