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Glossary

This is the canonical glossary for ASF50 terminology. Definitions are derived from the current implementation (scripts/goal-runner/*.py).

Acceptance gate​

A criterion that must be satisfied before a goal transitions to a terminal state. Declared in the goal contract's acceptance_gates field.

Adapter​

A concrete implementation of an invoke(request) -> result function. Adapters include deterministic, deterministic-cli, claude_cli, codex_cli, cursor_cli, fake_agent.

Allowed paths​

A glob list that constrains what files a goal or task may modify. Enforced by the orchestrator at write time.

Allowed signers​

The plain-text file agent-harness/governance/allowed_signers containing one ssh-ed25519 line per principal. The orchestrator verifies signed tickets against this file.

Approved​

A gate status. Indicates the gate has been approved but not yet consumed.

Approver​

The non-agent human display name that approved a gate. Agent-role identity strings are rejected at write time.

Architecture decision​

A binding architectural commitment recorded in goals/<GOAL_ID>/ARCHITECTURE_DECISION.yaml. Revision requires a new goal.

ASF50​

The platform described by this documentation portal.

Audit subject​

The exact commit SHA that an audit is bound to. Recorded in audit_subject_sha. The auditor refuses to operate against a different HEAD.

Audit verdict schema​

The canonical schema for audit verdicts. Defined in scripts/goal-runner/audit_integrity.py as AUDIT_VERDICT_SCHEMA and COMPACT_AUDIT_VERDICT_SCHEMA.

Blocked​

An adapter outcome. The adapter is blocked on an external resource.

Bounded repair​

A goal_type: REPAIR_GOAL that modifies a frozen surface within an explicit allowed_paths scope.

Branch protection​

A GitHub-side rule that rejects direct pushes to main. The only path to land on main is a governed merge of an approved PR.

Builder​

A role that implements the bounded scope. Cannot review, audit, or release its own work.

Cancelled​

A goal state. Owner-initiated cancel; terminal.

Child goal​

A goal dispatched under a parent program goal. For ASF50_PROGRAM_COMPLETION_001, child goals are the IMP-00..11 contracts.

CI​

Continuous Integration. The GitHub Actions workflows under .github/workflows/.

Concurrency limit​

The maximum number of concurrent AI agents. Stage-1 default is 1.

Consumed​

A gate status. The gate has been approved and used by a run.

Context​

The goals/<GOAL_ID>/CONTEXT.yaml file. Human-readable metadata.

Contract​

The goals/<GOAL_ID>/GOAL_RECORD.yaml file. The canonical durable state of a goal.

Crosswalk​

goals/ASF50_PROGRAM_COMPLETION_001/PHASE_EXECUTION_CROSSWALK.yaml. The PHASE → IMP mapping.

Current state​

The state recorded in the goals table for a goal. Read by goal-status.ps1.

Cursor adapter​

The cursor_cli adapter. A paid-model adapter; requires PAID_MODEL_DISPATCH_APPROVAL.

Determinate adapter​

The deterministic adapter. Always returns PASS; used for bootstrap and tests.

Deviation​

A recorded non-blocking event. Forward-only; cannot be retroactively authorized.

Dispatch​

A single attempt to execute a task. Recorded in the runs table.

Dispatch consumption​

The act of using a gate to authorize a step. Recorded in owner_gates.dispatches_used.

Documentation portal​

The Docusaurus 3 site at docs-site/.

Documentation portal goal​

A goal of goal_type: DOCUMENTATION_PORTAL. The canonical example is ASF50_DOCS_PORTAL_001.

DRAFT​

The initial state of a freshly committed goal. Not yet materialized.

Evidence​

A Git-tracked file in evidence/<GOAL_ID>/ that proves an assertion. Indexed by evidence_records with a SHA-256 digest.

Execution layer​

The IMP-00..11 executable phases. Distinct from the program-roadmap layer.

Executor​

The orchestrator process that runs a dispatch.

External human source​

A gate source controlled by a human outside ASF50: github-review-approval, owner-cli, signed-ticket.

FAIL​

An adapter outcome. The orchestrator retries per next_action_policy.on_fail.

Forbidden paths​

A glob list that the goal or task must not touch. Enforced at write time.

Forking​

Allowed in local dev only. Production deployments branch off main only.

Frozen pass​

The terminal state for a normal goal. FROZEN_PASS.

Gate​

A scoped owner decision. Persisted in owner_gates. Consumes dispatches_used.

Gate replay​

A second submission of a consumed gate. Rejected.

Gate scope​

The kind of decision a gate represents. One of VALID_SCOPES.

Gate source​

Where the approval came from. One of EXTERNAL_HUMAN_SOURCES.

GitHub review approval​

A gh pr review --approve (or UI equivalent) at the exact PR head. Ingested by ingest-github-review.ps1 and materialized as a MERGE_APPROVAL gate.

Goal​

The durable unit of work in ASF50. Git-tracked.

Goal Runner​

The deterministic backend. Python + PowerShell entrypoints under scripts/goal-runner/.

Goal type​

The goal_type field. One of PROGRAM, IMPLEMENTATION_PHASE, INDEPENDENT_CODE_AUDIT, INDEPENDENT_REAUDIT, REPAIR_GOAL, DOCUMENTATION_PORTAL.

Governance​

The set of rules in agent-harness/governance/.

IMP​

Implementation phase. IMP-00 through IMP-11.

Independent auditor​

A goal of goal_type: INDEPENDENT_CODE_AUDIT (or INDEPENDENT_REAUDIT) with required_role: INDEPENDENT_AUDIT_HIGH.

Independent auditor worktree​

A detached worktree pinned at the audit subject SHA. Required for two-root contracts.

Ingest​

The act of converting an external approval into a gate. Performed by ingest_github_review.py or by the signed-ticket verifier.

Materialization​

The act of reconciling a goal contract into the runtime store. Performed by GoalRegistry.materialize.

Merge approval​

The MERGE_APPROVAL gate scope.

Model class​

The semantic class of model that a goal needs. One of MODEL_CLASSES.

Namespace​

The OpenSSH signer namespace. Recorded in the signed ticket.

Next action​

A record in next_actions describing the next dispatch for a goal.

Next-action router​

scripts/goal-runner/next_action_router.py. Computes the next dispatch.

Open​

A gate status. Awaiting decision.

OpenSSH signed ticket​

An OpenSSH-signed authorization payload. Verified by signed_ticket_verifier.py.

Operator quick reference​

A one-screen operator decision aid. See Operator Quick Reference.

Orchestrator​

scripts/goal-runner/orchestrator.py. The per-step dispatch engine.

Owner​

The human principal that owns the ASF50 deployment.

Owner authorization​

The provenance channel for an approval.

Owner CLI​

A gate source. Allowed only for PAID_MODEL_DISPATCH_APPROVAL.

Owner gate​

A gate that requires a real human owner decision.

A gate scope. Authorizes a dispatch to a paid provider.

Pass​

An adapter outcome. The adapter succeeded.

Pause​

A goal state. Owner-initiated; resumes with goal-resume.ps1.

Phase​

Either a PHASE-XX program-roadmap phase or an IMP-XX execution phase.

PHASE_EXECUTION_CROSSWALK.yaml​

The bridge between program-roadmap and execution layers. Lives under goals/ASF50_PROGRAM_COMPLETION_001/.

Phase registry​

ASF50_BLUEPRINT_KIT_V3/06_PHASES/PHASE_REGISTRY.yaml. The canonical PHASE-XX list.

Planner​

The role that produces the bounded child task graph.

Playbook​

A step-by-step guide for a recurring scenario. See Playbooks.

PR​

Pull Request. The canonical reviewable unit of work.

Production promotion​

A PRODUCTION_PROMOTION gate. Authorizes a production release.

Production subject​

The exact subject_sha a release is bound to.

Program Controller​

scripts/goal-runner/program_controller.py. Coordinates IMPs.

Program Goal​

A goal of goal_type: PROGRAM. The ASF50 example is ASF50_PROGRAM_COMPLETION_001.

Program layer​

The PHASE-00..20 program-roadmap layer. Distinct from the execution layer.

Program roadmap​

goals/ASF50_PROGRAM_COMPLETION_001/PROGRAM_ROADMAP.yaml.

Program terminal acceptance​

The set of conditions that must be met before the program transitions to PROGRAM_PRODUCTION_CERTIFIED.

PROGRAM_PRODUCTION_CERTIFIED​

The program-level terminal state.

Prompt​

goals/<GOAL_ID>/PROMPT.md. The master-goal prompt.

Pull request​

A GitHub-side reviewable change. Persisted in pull_requests.

Receipt​

A durable artifact written when a task transitions. Persisted in <worktree>/.goal-runner/receipts/.

Reject​

A gate action. The owner refuses the approval.

Repair goal​

A goal of goal_type: REPAIR_GOAL. Modifies a frozen surface within scope.

Repair required​

A goal state. The orchestrator routes to a bounded repair.

Replay protection​

The mechanism that prevents a consumed gate from being reused.

Required role​

The role required for the next dispatch. Declared in the goal contract.

Reserved​

A gate that has been allocated to a specific run. Recorded in owner_gates.reservation_run_id.

Resolution​

A decision on a gate.

Resume​

Owner action. Restarts a paused goal.

Revert​

A bounded rollback. Performed via a REPAIR_GOAL, not via git reset.

Role​

The named capability set for a run. Enforced by allowed_paths/forbidden_paths.

Rollback​

See Revert.

Run​

A single dispatched attempt to complete a task. Recorded in runs.

Runtime DB​

The SQLite database at <runtime_root>/goal-state.sqlite3.

Runtime root​

The directory containing the runtime DB.

Runtime state​

The runtime DB.

RuntimeStore​

scripts/goal-runner/runtime_store.py. The canonical state API.

Schema migration​

A versioned change to the runtime DB schema. Recorded in schema_migrations.

Scoped owner gate manager​

scripts/goal-runner/scoped_owner_gate.py. The gate state machine.

Sign​

The act of producing an OpenSSH signature over a ticket payload.

Signed ticket​

An OpenSSH-signed authorization payload.

Single agent sequential​

The default ASF50 execution model. One AI agent at a time.

Source​

The provenance channel for a gate approval.

Stage-1​

The current ASF50 governance stage. Single-agent sequential.

State machine​

scripts/goal-runner/state_machine.py. The transition validator.

Subject binding​

The exact commit SHA that a gate authorizes against.

Subject SHA​

The 40-character commit SHA used for subject binding.

Tag approval​

The TAG_APPROVAL gate scope.

Task​

A declared unit of work inside a goal. Persisted in tasks.

Terminal state​

A goal state that cannot transition further without a repair. FROZEN_PASS, PROGRAM_PRODUCTION_CERTIFIED, CANCELED.

Test engineer​

A role. Runs the test suite and writes evidence.

Timeout​

An adapter outcome. The orchestrator retries.

Two-root provenance​

The pattern where a contract requires both a dispatch root and an audit root pinned at the audit subject SHA.

UI model label​

A non-authoritative model identifier in the IDE. Not runtime authority.

Verification-before-approval​

The orchestrator verifies a signed ticket before marking the gate approved.

Worktree​

A detached Git working tree used to isolate a dispatch. Persisted in worktrees.

Worktree manager​

scripts/goal-runner/worktree_manager.py.