00 Glossary

Status: draft M0, integrated after the feedback of all chapters. Binding for all specifications. The terms from the planning basis (section 3) are adopted and extended by all further terms of chapters 03, 04 and 05. Sorted by term. Code names are English and apply in API, database and code.

Term	Code name	Definition
Access token	access token	Short-lived, DPoP-bound token of a person with session ID sid.
Ack	ack	Report of an agent adapter up to which global sequence it has durably processed events.
Acting-for binding	acting_for	Rule that an agent, within a run, has at most the permissions of the triggering person (SR9).
Action	action	Named operation in dot notation (for example message.create) that authorize checks.
Action catalogue	action catalogue	Closed, normative list of all actions in docs/spec/05-actions.md.
Agent	agent	Principal for a bot account that an adapter runs outside the server; at most level write and at most upload as a capability; never triggers agents itself.
Agent adapter	adapter	Program outside the server that connects an agent to its runtime through the public API (for example the reference adapter for Hermes Agent).
Agent runtime	runtime	Software that actually executes an agent turn; never runs in the server process (B6, B10).
Agent session	agent_session	Mapping of a thread to an external session of an agent; older rows of the same thread are the earlier session references.
API token	api_token	Long-lived access token for agents, apps or personal tools in the format bothy_<kind>_<random>_<checksum> (ADR 0061); stored only as a hash.
App	app	Principal of an installed integration with a manifest; acts only through the public API, at most level write and capability upload.
App installation	app_installation	Installation of an app in the instance with granted scopes and event subscriptions.
App manifest	manifest	Versioned description of an app: scopes, event subscriptions, slash commands, components, webhook targets.
Attachment	message_attachment	Assignment of a file to a message in a fixed order.
Audit checkpoint	audit_checkpoint	Signed state of the hash chain of the audit log, additionally stored outside the database.
Audit log	audit_event	Append-only, hash-chained log of security-relevant decisions, separate from telemetry.
authorize	authorize	The single authorization function authorize(principal, action, resource) -> Decision in the module authz (B7).
Backend policy	billing_mode	Setting per agent of what it runs on: personal (subscription of exactly one person) or organization (organization API key).
Backup run	backup_run	Run of a backup or of an automatic restore test, with a result per check.
Branding	branding	Display name, logo and colors of the instance as a setting (branding.*).
Capability	capability	Permission besides the level: approve_actions, upload, export, manage; on hosts only terminal.
Catch-up	catch-up	Fetch of all visible durable events after a cursor, filtered by authorize.
Channel	channel	Place for conversations; kinds text, forum, dm. text and forum are in exactly one space, dm in none (space_id NULL, 03); optionally read-only (read_only).
Channel prompt	prompt	Instruction text of the channel for the operator; readable only with manage, never in events.
Check without a request	recheck principal	Evaluation of the permissions of a person that the server performs without a request of this person: agent.invoke before every delivery to an agent, at run.token.renew and for the run from deferred follow-ups, command.invoke and interaction.create before handing over to an app, the permissions of the trigger in the acting-for binding; the person counts as a principal without session, device and token, with blocks only from their status and the owner status from the current owner list (05 section 5, R-AZ-29).
Client interaction ID	client_interaction_id	UUIDv7 of the client per interaction; unique per principal, makes clicks repeatable.
Client message ID	client_msg_id	UUIDv7 of the client per message; unique per author, a repetition returns the original.
Close code	close code	Code with which the server ends a WebSocket connection, with a defined client reaction.
Commit order	commit order	Order in which transactions become visible; the global sequence follows it exactly.
Component	component	Interactive element on a message: button, select or form.
Configuration value	config key	Named value for a limit, a window or an interval; its default is in exactly one table.
Consumer	consumer	Named reader of the event log with a durable cursor: per agent in agent_consumer_cursors, in the worker (push, webhooks) in event_consumer_cursors.
Control command	control command	Command such as stop or status that never goes to the model as a prompt and never becomes a follow-up.
Cost entry	cost_entry	Booking of the costs of a run, as an estimate or reconciled, with the reported mode.
Counter row	sequence_counters	Table row whose lock in the writing transaction enforces the commit order of the numbers.
Credential holder	credential_holder_id	Person on whose personal subscription an agent with billing_mode = personal runs.
Cursor	cursor	Highest global sequence that the server has checked for a receiver; starting point for catch-up.
Delivery	delivery	Handover of an event to a connection, a push service or a webhook; checked by authorize every time.
Delivery field	delivery field	Field in the envelope that is created per delivery and never stands in the log: invocation_token, redelivered, sync_epoch (only in webhook deliveries; 04 section 2.2).
Dev environment	dev_environment	Isolated work environment of a person for a runner agent (milestone multi-user dev environment).
Device	device	Installed client of a person; a new device waits (pending) for approval and until then may only read itself.
Device key	device_key	Key pair in the secure storage of a device with purpose dpop (binds tokens) or step_up (signs only after biometrics or device PIN).
Direct message (DM)	dm	Channel kind for conversations between people without a space, without an agent and without grants; access only for participants.
Done	closed	Thread state after completion; a new message reopens the thread, a system line does not (03-data-model.md, messages).
DPoP	dpop	Proof-of-Possession according to RFC 9449: tokens are bound to the device key and worthless without it.
Draft	draft	Text of a person per thread or channel that has not been sent yet, versioned and across devices.
Durable event	durable event	Event in the event log with a global sequence; can be caught up until sync.event_retention.
Effective level	effective level	Highest level of all valid grants of a principal and its groups on the path from the target upward.
Effective operator	effective operator	Operator of a channel after resolving the inheritance from the space.
Enrollment code	enrollment_code	One-time code of the owner for the first device, for linking an identity or for recovery.
Ephemeral event	ephemeral event	Event without storage and without a sequence (typing, live box patch, presence, notification, autocomplete request); delivered at most once.
Event	event	Notice of a change with a uniform envelope; durable or ephemeral.
Event envelope	envelope	Common fields of every event (id, seq, type, scope, resource, payload and others), the same for gateway, REST catch-up and webhooks; without JSON null.
Event log	event_log	Table of the durable events, ordered by the global, commit-ordered sequence (B8).
Expiry reminder	access.expiring	Personal event before a grant or membership expires.
Feature flag	feature_flag	Switch for a feature, global or for people and groups.
File	file	Uploaded object in the object storage with purpose, checksum, virus scan, thumbnails, optional transcript and file text extract.
File purpose	files.purpose	Kind of a file: attachment, avatar, branding, gdpr_export; determines the read path.
File text extract	file_text_extract	Text extracted from a file, with its own search vector.
File ticket	file ticket	Short-lived, signed URL for media players that cannot send a DPoP proof; every fetch checks file.read again (ADR 0048).
Focus	focus	Set of threads that a client currently displays; only they get live box patches and typing.
Follow-up	followup	Message in a thread with an active run; delivered to the agent as a follow-up to the run.
Forum	forum	Channel kind as a list of posts; every post is a thread; with tags and a Done section.
Forum tag	forum_tag	Tag of a forum for filtering posts.
Fresh step-up	terminal.step_up_max_age	Step-up that is younger than terminal.step_up_max_age and is used up for exactly one terminal opening (08-identity.md, section 6.3).
Gateway	gateway	WebSocket interface of the server at /api/v1/gateway for events and ephemeral ops; its own module without tables.
Gateway session	gateway session	Server-side state of a WebSocket connection; resumable within sync.resume_window.
Global sequence	seq	Gapless, commit-ordered number of every durable event of the instance.
Grant	grant	Subject x target x level x capabilities x optional expiry date x reason; targets instance, space, channel and host (there without a level, only terminal); revocation sets revoked_at, the row stays.
Group	group	Named set of people as the subject of grants; not an acting principal.
Heartbeat	heartbeat	Regular sign of life of a client or agent; for agents with state and reported mode.
Host	host	Connected computer (macOS, Linux, Windows, also a dev VM) with the host service; target of grants with the capability terminal.
Host assignee	hosts.assigned_user_id	Person to whom a host is assigned; as a non-owner, only they get a terminal there (SR10).
Host fingerprint	key_fingerprint	Check value over the Noise key and the authentication key of a host; the owner types its beginning during pairing (24-terminal.md, section 4.3).
Host pairing code	host pairing code	One-time code bothy_hpc_... of the owner with which the host service registers its public keys with the server.
Host service	bothy-host	Separate program on a host that holds the keys of the host as a service user without administrator rights and talks to the server only outbound; for each person a PTY helper starts the PTYs as their session user.
Idempotency key	Idempotency-Key	UUIDv7 in the header of write requests without their own client ID; a repetition returns the stored response.
Identity	user_identity	Link of a person to a subject at an identity provider.
Identity provider	identity_provider	Login driver: OIDC, trusted proxy header or local account (passkey, enrollment code, device pairing, password with TOTP as a fallback) (B9).
Import source	import_source	Configured source of an import (for example a Discord server) with state and progress.
Imported item	import_item	One imported object with a unique origin key origin_key per source.
Incident	status_incident	Entry of the status page about an outage or a maintenance.
Incoming webhook	incoming_webhook	Secret URL through which an external system writes into a channel as an app; never triggers agents.
Instance	instance	One installation; one organization; one server in the Discord sense (B13).
Interaction	interaction	Use of a component by a principal; authorized like an agent invocation and effective at most once.
Invariant I1	I1	With billing_mode = personal, exactly the credential_holder has effective trigger on the targets of the agent; checked transactionally.
Invariant I2	I2	Check immediately before every agent invocation that, with personal, the triggering person is the credential_holder; fail closed.
Invariant I3	I3	Signed invocation token; the adapter starts only if its reported mode matches the configured mode of the token.
Invariant I6	I6	With hosts.llm_credentials = personal, only the holder of the login opens a terminal on the host, not even another owner; checked transactionally and on every opening.
Invocation token	invocation token	Short-lived JWS (typ = agent-invocation+jwt) that the server signs with EdDSA per delivery, for exactly one agent invocation with trigger, target, level, run, backend policy and tool class (I3).
Key pinning	key pinning	A device remembers the Noise key of a host at the first opening and warns hard on a change.
Level	level	Ascending permission level of a grant: read < write < trigger.
Level trigger	trigger	Highest level: may trigger agents and use components.
Live box	live box	Live-updated representation of a run in the thread; collapses into one line at the end.
Live frame	stats.live	Ephemeral gateway event with the current state of the runs, agents and rates, every stats.live_interval to connections with the subscription stats.subscribe; filtered to the visible channels, without content and without persons.
LLM login of the host	llm_credentials	Declaration of the owner per host: none, personal (with holder) or organization; basis of I6.
Local credentials	local_credential	Password and TOTP of a local account as a fallback that can be turned off.
Login flow	auth_login_flow	State of an OIDC login or linking between start, redirect back and redemption of the server code.
Main thread	main thread	Thread with kind = main that carries the continuous history of a text or DM channel; without a fixed operator.
Mention	mention	Naming of a person or agent in a message; no roles, no @everyone, no @here.
Message	message	Entry in a thread with thread sequence, origin, kind and Markdown content.
Message revision	message_revision	Earlier version of an edited message.
Minute aggregate	stats_minutes	Row of the own measurement: count, sum and good events of a metric per minute, channel, agent and code; retention class stats.
Noise stream	noise stream	End-to-end encrypted terminal stream according to Noise_NK_25519_ChaChaPoly_SHA256 between device and host service; the server only forwards it.
Notification	notification	Push or ephemeral notification.created to a person; never carries content in the push.
Notification preference	notification_preference	Level all, mentions or mute of a person per space, channel or thread; without an own preference, the channel default, the personal default and the instance default apply.
Operator	operator	Exactly one agent or none per channel (inherited from the space, can be overridden); without an operator no agent answers. A thread keeps its operator from its creation, the main thread uses the effective operator.
Operator rule	operator rule	The effective operator of a channel and the fixed operator of a thread have at least write there, without a grant row.
Origin	origin	Source of a message: human, agent, app, import, system; only human triggers agents.
Outbox	outbox	Local queue of a client for write operations, each with its own client ID, strictly in order per thread.
Outgoing webhook	webhook_subscription	Subscription of an app or an agent to receive events, signed (v1a, optionally HMAC v1), at an allowed HTTPS address.
Own measurement	own measurement	Counting by the server itself through kernel/measure for live views and the SLO traffic light, as minute aggregates in stats_minutes; independent of the telemetry, with SLI thresholds from the Sloth files (docs/spec/25-visualization.md).
Owner	owner	Instance owner; may do everything except read other people's direct messages; owner permissions only in a session (exception: check without a request), never through a personal API token; at least one.
Passkey	passkey_credential	WebAuthn credentials of a person for local login and step-up.
Permission change preview	access.preview	Dry run of a permission action with differences, invariants and hints in plain language; without effect.
Permission version	permission_version	Counter that increases on every permission change and makes caches and open connections re-evaluate.
Person	user	Principal of a person.
Pin	pin	Marking of a message so that it can be found at the top of the thread.
Price table	price_table	Prices per provider, model and unit with source and fetch time.
Principal	principal	Who acts: person (user), agent (agent) or app (app); anonymous only for public actions; a host (host) only with host.connect through its authentication key, without a row in principals.
Privacy request	gdpr_request	Job for export, deletion or rectification of the personal data of a person.
Project binding	project_binding	Binding of a forum to a dev project that a runner agent works on as the operator.
PTY helper	bothy-host pty-helper	Part of the host service that runs once per session user as this user, starts and ends PTYs and knows no keys; a system service that no session user can change or replace.
Push registration	push_registration	Push target of a device at a provider; push never carries content.
Quiet hours	quiet_hours	Time window without push for a person.
Rate-limit class	rate-limit class	Named group of actions with a shared token bucket (for example rl.message).
Reaction	reaction	Free Unicode character on a message; not a status.
Read state	read_state	Highest read thread sequence of a person per thread; only increases, except through an explicit reset.
Read-only	read_only	State of a channel in which no principal, not even an owner, writes; only a running import writes (read mirror).
Receive action	receive_action	Action that a receiver needs on the resource of an event in order to get it.
Redaction	redaction	Removal of the payload of an event after deletion; the envelope stays.
Refresh token family	refresh_token_family	Chain of rotating refresh tokens of a session, bound to the DPoP key; a reuse outside the grace period auth.refresh_reuse_grace revokes the whole family.
Relay	relay	Part of the module terminal that connects the client and host data connections of a session in the memory of one node, without reading content.
Reply with quote	reply_to_message_id	Reference of a message to an earlier message of the same thread.
Reported mode	reported_billing_mode	Actual backend policy reported by the adapter, from the heartbeat and per run; missing for adapters that follow the configured mode per run (then billing_modes_supported).
Resync required	resync_required	Response of the server when catch-up is not possible; the client loads a snapshot.
Retention class	retention class	Name of a deletion rule (for example content, security); duration and method are in docs/spec/20-privacy.md.
Run	run	One agent turn with state, steps, metrics and costs; at the same time the live box.
Run context	run_context	Context of a run built by the server, with a trust mark per message; the adapter fetches it with run.context.read.
Run document	run_document	JSON representation of a run to which live box patches are applied.
Run graph	run graph	Tree of a run on a time axis: the agent as the root, subagents, workflows and background jobs as children with their tools; derived from the run document (09 5.6).
Run step	run_step	Ordered part of a run: tool call, status line, subagent, workflow or background job.
Running now	run overview	Overview of all active runs that a person may see, as live cards (the control room) or as a list.
Scope	scope	Access area granted to an app in addition to its grants.
Session	auth_session	Login session of a person on a device (app, extension as a child session, or console); its revocation takes effect immediately on all tokens.
Session user	host_service.session_users, host_session_users	Operating system user on a host under which the terminal sessions of exactly one person run; never shared, not even after the end of the assignment (ruling T12); no other session user reaches its places (home, work folder, CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR) (ruling T13); without read permission on the keys of the host service.
Sidebar state	user_space_state	Personally collapsed spaces and own order, across devices.
Signing key	server_signing_key	Key of the server for access tokens, invocation tokens, terminal session tokens, outgoing webhooks and audit checkpoints; private part only in the secret provider.
Skill binding	channel_skill_binding	Ordered skill reference that the operator loads in a channel.
Slash command	command	Command registered by agents or apps, with options and autocomplete.
Snapshot	snapshot	State that the server delivers on ready or on resync_required, without thread content.
Space	space	Top-level group of the sidebar with a global order and an optional default operator.
Status page	status page	Display of the operational state with components and incidents.
Step-up	step_up	Fresh confirmation by the person (passkey, step-up device key with biometrics or PIN, password with TOTP, or a new OIDC login) that administrative actions require.
Sync epoch	sync_epoch	Identifier of the timeline of the event log; new after every restore, clients store it with the cursor.
System action	system action	Action in the catalogue that only the server itself executes (job, server command), for example grant.expire.
Template	message_template	Stored text for frequent inputs, personal or per channel.
Terminal profile	terminal profile	Start of a session defined in the configuration of the host service (shell, claude, fixed commands); the server knows only name and kind.
Terminal session	terminal_session	One PTY on a host for a person, with state opening, active, detached or closed; only the device and the host know the content.
Terminal session token	terminal session token	Short-lived JWS (typ = terminal-session+jwt) signed by the server with EdDSA that allows exactly one terminal session on a host, exactly once.
Thread	thread	Unit of a conversation and of an agent session with a fixed ID, title, title source and state.
Thread sequence	thread_seq	Gapless number of every message in its thread; determines the display order.
Thumbnail	file_thumbnail	Reduced representation of a file in a fixed variant.
Title source	title_source	auto or manual; a manually set title is never overwritten automatically.
Tombstone	tombstone	Kept row of a deleted message without content; keeps the thread sequence gapless.
Tool class	tool_class	What the runtime of an agent may do: chat < scoped < host; configured on the agent, reported in the heartbeat.
Transcript	transcript	Text of a voice message, created by the agent or a transcription service.
Trigger kind	trigger_kind	Origin of a run or a token: message, followup, interaction, command, autocomplete.
Trigger state	trigger_state	State on the triggering message: received, queued, working, done, failed, cancelled, followup_delivered; replaces status emoji; the reason is in trigger_state_reason.
TV mode	tv mode	Full-screen display of the visualizations without controls, in the session of a person, costs hidden by default.
Typing indicator	typing	Ephemeral event that a person is writing in the thread.
Upload session	file_upload_session	Resumable upload of a file in parts, the same for both storage drivers.