Glossary

Code Terms#

These terms name the code shapes that fulfill the specification.

Aggregate Root#

The single type through which outside code changes an aggregate.

Source: DDD.

AppHost#

The local orchestrator that starts every application and its dependencies together for development.

Source: .NET Aspire.

Architecture Layer#

One role a backend type plays, whatever folder or project holds it: Domain, Application, Infrastructure, or WebApi.

Source: LiteSpec.

Authorization Policy#

One rule deciding whether an actor is allowed to perform an action on a target.

Source: RBAC.

Caller#

The party making the current call, distinct from the Actor record holding roles.

Source: LiteSpec.

Central Package Management#

One central file pinning every dependency version in the workspace.

Source: NuGet.

Child Entity#

One entity inside an aggregate, changed only through its root.

Source: DDD.

Domain Event#

One immutable record that describes a fact completed inside the bounded context.

Source: DDD.

Domain Repository#

One boundary interface that loads and stages complete aggregates.

Source: DDD.

Rejected: repository used alone, which hides whether the boundary loads a whole aggregate or a row.

Endpoint#

One class serving one route operation, converting HTTP input to an Application message and mapping the result back.

Source: web API practice.

Entity#

One object defined by its identity rather than by its values.

Source: DDD.

Input Validation#

Checks on the shape of a command or query, run before business behavior runs.

Source: LiteSpec.

Layer Projects#

The backend layout with one project per architecture layer, selected through the layer-projects extension.

Source: LiteSpec.

Lockfile#

The committed file recording the exact resolved dependency versions.

Source: the package managers.

Module Layout#

The default backend layout, with every module in the modules project beside the shared kernel project, layer folders at each node, one UseCases/ folder per aggregate and module, and one flat folder per use case inside it.

Source: LiteSpec.

Operation#

One route operation, carrying its stable operation id and served by one endpoint class.

Source: web API practice.

Page File#

The framework file that serves one address: +page.svelte with its +page.ts on Svelte, one route file on React. A page file renders one screen; the screen is the record, the route is the address, and the page file is the code.

Source: LiteSpec.

Persistence Constraint#

One rule enforced by durable storage, such as uniqueness.

Source: LiteSpec.

Projection#

One read model derived from authoritative facts.

Source: CQRS.

Read Model#

Data shaped for a query, served without loading an aggregate.

Source: CQRS.

Route#

One HTTP path with its method, resolving to the one endpoint class serving it.

Source: web API practice.

Trace Context#

The trace and span identifiers carried across logs and calls.

Source: W3C Trace Context.

Value Object#

One immutable type defined by its values rather than by identity.

Source: DDD.

Product and Domain Terms#

These terms name the records and domain concepts a specification is written in.

Access#

One risk value marking permissions that decide who may act.

Source: LiteSpec.

Actor#

One person or organization that acts in the product. An actor records whether it belongs to the team building and running the product. An external system is no actor, and internal machinery is no actor.

Layer: Intent.

Source: RBAC.

Aggregate#

One unit of business state that stays consistent and changes in one step. Its kind is entity, saga, or store.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: DDD.

Rejected: entity, which in DDD also names a child inside an aggregate.

Aggregate Data#

The named fields of an aggregate, each with a meaning, a data class, and a classification of public, internal, personal, or sensitive.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Anonymize#

One erasure position after which data can no longer identify anyone.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the GDPR.

Automation#

The work that runs without a request, stated as reactions and jobs.

Source: LiteSpec.

Behavior#

The record layer stating how the system keeps the promises Intent states.

Source: LiteSpec.

Rejected: behaviour, the British spelling.

Bounded Context#

The boundary inside which one domain model and one glossary hold.

Source: DDD.

Calculation#

One rule stating how a value is derived, proven by a scenario with an examples table.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the Business Rules Group.

Cites#

The reason link a record carries to the records behind it.

Layer: Intent or Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Command#

One use case kind that changes business state.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: CQRS.

Compensation#

The per-step undo of a saga: the use case that reverses one step, or none with its reason.

Layer: Behavior.

Aliases: undo.

Source: LiteSpec.

Conclusion#

The one sentence a research record concludes, stated as data so a decision can cite it.

Layer: Intent.

Source: LiteSpec.

Consistency#

The declared write shape of a use case: atomic, per-record, or compensated.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Constraint#

One outside rule the product obeys, such as a law or provider terms, with its authority, its kind, and the date it was read.

Layer: Intent.

Source: plain English.

Cross-Aggregate Rule#

One rule spanning more than one aggregate.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Data Class#

One named group of aggregate fields sharing one classification, one purpose, and one erasure position.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Decision#

One dated choice with options weighed and evidence cited.

Layer: Intent.

Source: decision records.

Domain#

The real-world knowledge, language, rules, state, and behavior the software models.

Source: DDD.

Effect#

One declared edge from a use case, a reaction, or a job to a command, a notification, an integration event, or an outside call.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Entry Point#

One door from outside through which people or systems reach the product.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Event#

One immutable statement that a relevant fact completed. The domain event stays inside the bounded context; a published fact is an integration event.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: DDD.

Evidence#

One dated claim behind a problem, with its source and its kind: observed, reported or assumed. The strongest kind present is computed and never written.

Layer: Intent.

Source: LiteSpec.

Example#

One narrative showing behavior on a real occasion, drawn from the example cast.

Source: plain English.

Example Cast#

The people, place, dates, and amounts every example draws on.

Source: plain English.

Examples Table#

One table of rows a scenario walks through, holding the values the parts argue about.

Source: BDD.

Exception#

One recorded departure from a provision or one check held red, with its reason and expiry date.

Layer: Intent or Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Rejected: deviation and known gap, which named two records where one holds both.

External System#

One outside system the product exchanges messages with. It stands alone and names no actor; a system calling the product reaches it through an API entry point.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Failure Policy#

The onFailure handling a reaction, job, or effect declares, with a mode of retry, skip-and-log, or discard and the retry, dead-letter, surface, and runbook its mode states.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Feature#

One answer to a problem under a module, advancing a goal and solving a problem.

Layer: Intent.

Source: plain English.

Freshness#

How current a query group is: immediate, snapshot, bounded by a duration, or advisory.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Functional Requirement#

One requirement stating what the product does.

Layer: Intent.

Source: BABOK and IREB.

Generic Refusal#

One refusal the builder derives from access and input instead of a written result: forbidden or invalid input.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Glossary#

The project glossary: each term, its meaning, and its rejected synonyms, held as data in glossary.yaml.

Source: arc42; DDD's ubiquitous language.

Goal#

One measurable outcome a feature advances and a journey serves or a quality requirement confirms, carrying no authority.

Layer: Intent.

Source: Volere and product practice.

Idempotency#

The declared way a repeated call collapses to one effect, stated as a mode of key, state, not-pending, or none with the key, scope, or reason its mode needs.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Implementation#

The record layer holding code and technical decisions.

Source: LiteSpec.

Integration Event#

One published fact crossing the bounded context, with its direction, payload, and trust.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: DDD.

Intent#

The record layer stating why the product exists and what it promises.

Source: LiteSpec.

Invariant#

One rule that holds at every observable moment.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: DDD.

Job#

One record stating work that runs on a schedule, once, or by hand.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Journey#

The ordered steps by which one actor reaches one goal, with a description of who walks, what starts it, what good looks like and why it matters. A step is performed by an actor, or by a named external system, job or reaction when no person acts. Steps name no use case; each serving use case points up with serves.

Layer: Intent.

Source: plain English.

Measured Requirement#

One quality requirement carrying a measure, a target, and a check that confirms them.

Layer: Intent.

Source: Volere.

Module#

One business area organizing language, records, and use cases.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: DDD.

Money#

One risk value marking permissions that move, hold, or decide money.

Source: LiteSpec.

Notification#

One person-facing message with its addresses, channel, consent, and claims.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Outcome#

One named success or failure kind at the API boundary, answered with the status the outcome table assigns it.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Permission#

One allowed action from the shared closed list.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: RBAC.

Personal Data#

One risk value marking permissions that keep personal or sensitive data.

Source: LiteSpec.

Physical Access#

One risk value marking permissions that control who passes a physical boundary.

Source: LiteSpec.

Policy Requirement#

One requirement stating a policy the business holds, with effective dates where the value changes over time.

Layer: Intent.

Source: LiteSpec.

Precondition#

One rule that holds before a use case runs.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: Design by Contract.

Problem#

One pain a person or organization outside the team building the product has today, with its primary sufferer, its cost today, its workaround today and its graded evidence.

Layer: Intent.

Source: plain English.

Product#

The software capability offered to users, with its boundary.

Layer: Intent.

Source: plain English.

Pseudonymize#

One erasure position that keeps personal data personal while replacing direct identifiers.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the GDPR.

Rejected: pseudonymise, the British spelling.

Purpose#

The reason personal data is kept, stated on each data class and retention row.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the GDPR.

Qualified Identifier#

The display form of a record identifier with its placement, built from the identifier's segments plus placement. Links never use it.

Source: LiteSpec.

Quality Requirement#

One requirement stating how well the product performs, with a measure and a target.

Layer: Intent.

Source: BABOK and IREB.

Query#

One use case kind that reads a read model without changing business state.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: CQRS.

Reaction#

One record stating work that runs when a domain or integration event arrives.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Record#

One written unit of the specification, of a fixed type with fixed links.

Source: LiteSpec.

Refusal#

One named way a use case ends without its effect, listed in precedence order with first match winning.

Layer: Behavior.

Aliases: rejection, error.

Source: LiteSpec.

Refusal Code#

The stable identifier of one refusal, in identifier form.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Requirement#

One behavior the product shows or one guarantee it keeps. An exception names its fallback requirement; a tenant-set value is not an exception. Its cites names the goals, problems, features, constraints, research, and decisions behind it.

Layer: Intent.

Source: BABOK and IREB.

Rejected: product rule, which clashes with the rule record.

Research#

One outside fact informing a choice.

Layer: Intent.

Source: plain English.

Rejected: decision evidence, which states where the fact is used instead of what it is.

Result#

One way a use case ends: success or a named refusal. Refusals read in precedence order; a success may carry codes for recorded outcomes inside it. Its identifier is result/<use-case>.<name>.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the Result pattern.

Retention Schedule#

The one page mapping each data class to its basis, purpose, period, enforcement, and cites.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the GDPR.

Role#

One named set of permissions granted to an actor at a scope.

Layer: Intent.

Source: RBAC.

Rule#

One testable commitment stating what holds.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: the Business Rules Group.

Runbook#

The steps to run or recover the product.

Layer: Implementation.

Source: the SRE book.

Saga#

One coordinating aggregate whose steps run use cases on other aggregates, each with its compensation.

Layer: Behavior.

Aliases: process manager.

Source: LiteSpec.

Scenario#

One testable example proving one result, stated as given, when, then. A scenario may point at a derived result. Its identifier is scenario/<use-case>.<name>.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: BDD and Gherkin.

Rejected: acceptance criterion, which names the review use instead of the example.

Screen#

One page a person sees through a browser or device entry point, which serves a journey step only through a use case it offers.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Setting#

One named bound or default the product runs within, with its setter and its behavior at the bound. The use cases that read it name it in reads.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Specification#

The whole set of records describing one product.

Source: LiteSpec.

State#

One named stage in an aggregate lifecycle, with its meaning.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Store#

One aggregate kind holding state no invariant guards.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Team Actor#

One actor that belongs to the team building and running the product, marked on its record. A problem never names a team actor as its primary sufferer.

Layer: Intent.

Source: LiteSpec.

Tenant Scope#

The declared reach of a use case grant across tenants: own, cross, public, or none.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Term#

One word with one meaning, labels in each language, and rejected synonyms. Each term carries its layer and its established aliases.

Layer: Intent or Behavior.

Source: arc42; DDD's ubiquitous language.

Transition#

One declared move between aggregate states, made by a use case.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Trigger#

The event that starts a reaction, or the schedule or manual run that starts a job.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Ubiquitous Language#

The shared domain words the team and the model use alike.

Source: DDD.

Use Case#

One command or query with its access, results, and scenarios.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: Cockburn.

Standard Terms#

These terms name the parts of the LiteSpec standard itself.

Agent#

Software that reads task context, plans bounded work, changes the files it is allowed to change, and runs verification.

Source: LiteSpec.

Agent-Driven Engineering#

The operating model where agents do engineering work and people keep decision authority.

Source: LiteSpec.

Alert Inventory#

The list of alerts a product can fire, with the runbook each alert names.

Source: the SRE book.

Audit Record#

One entry stating actor, action, target, outcome, time, origin, and reason.

Source: NIST SP 800-53, control AU-3.

Audit Trail#

The append-only store that holds audit records, kept separate from logs and domain events.

Source: NIST SP 800-53.

Background Caller#

The reaction or job whose runs edge names a background-only use case.

Source: LiteSpec.

Background-Only#

The computed state of a use case a reaction or job runs, needing no journey to walk it.

Source: LiteSpec.

Check Level#

One of the three check levels: G reads records only and always blocks, S reads code through a stack reader, A reports and never blocks.

Source: LiteSpec.

Checkable#

One provision a tool checks, carrying a Checked by verification line.

Source: LiteSpec.

Closed Specification#

The specification with every record decided and every required link holding.

Source: LiteSpec.

Command Page#

One page that documents one shipped command: its arguments, options, exit codes, and what it runs underneath.

Source: LiteSpec.

Component Inventory#

The list of shipped components published with each release artifact.

Source: supply-chain practice.

Rejected: SBOM, which names one format where the inventory names the content.

Configuration Page#

One page holding every setting a reader can change.

Source: LiteSpec.

Conformance#

The claim that a project meets the LiteSpec contract it pins.

Source: the W3C QA Framework.

Conformance Level#

The part of the LiteSpec contract a project claims: records, traced or full, each level including the one below it.

Source: LiteSpec.

Consumer#

One project built against a pinned LiteSpec release.

Source: LiteSpec.

Contract#

One named set of obligations or shapes holding between parts, such as a page, a provision, a pattern, a release, or an API.

Source: LiteSpec.

Controlled Technical Prose#

The fixed writing profile that sets the allowed structures, prose bounds, exact terms, and testable provisions.

Source: LiteSpec.

Convention#

One replaceable default for a name, location, file shape, or pattern.

Source: LiteSpec.

CORS#

The browser rule that decides which origins can call the API.

Source: the Fetch standard.

Current Standards Material#

The pinned release taken on its own, without transition or history material.

Source: LiteSpec.

Derived Artifact#

One committed file produced from an authored source, such as generated types.

Source: LiteSpec.

Diagnostic#

One issue litespec-maintain validate reports about standards material.

Source: LiteSpec.

Document#

One Markdown page under a record root that holds no record.

Source: LiteSpec.

Documentation Layer#

One depth of documentation, from a first working result down to the mechanism a command runs.

Source: Diataxis.

Engineering System#

One connected set of decisions, specifications, standards, verification, and release practices.

Source: LiteSpec.

Exercised#

The computed state of a journey step with a passing proof of a use case serving it.

Source: LiteSpec.

Explanation#

One page that builds understanding of what LiteSpec is and why it works the way it does.

Source: Diataxis.

Explanation File#

One Markdown file beside a record file that explains the record for people and agents.

Source: LiteSpec.

Extension#

One conditional standards bundle a project selects when its criterion holds.

Source: LiteSpec.

Finding#

One issue litespec model check reports, with its level, code, message, path, and line.

Source: LiteSpec.

Flaky#

The computed state of a proof whose test both passed and failed within the runs read.

Source: LiteSpec.

Frontmatter#

The opening block of a document stating its page style.

Source: LiteSpec.

Governance#

The group of records beside the four record layers, holding exceptions.

Source: LiteSpec.

Guidance#

One provision a person judges, carrying a Reviewed for verification line.

Source: LiteSpec.

How-To Page#

One page that solves one stated problem for a reader who already has a working result.

Source: Diataxis.

Implemented#

The computed state of a use case, rule, event, or aggregate state the stack's builder finds code for.

Source: LiteSpec.

Index#

One page routing readers to the pages of its section.

Source: LiteSpec.

License#

One SPDX identifier naming the terms a shipped package carries.

Source: SPDX.

Rejected: licence and licences, the British spellings.

LiteSpec#

The standards contract for specifying, building, verifying, releasing, and operating software with agents.

Source: LiteSpec.

LiteSpec Release#

One published, pinned, complete standards contract.

Source: LiteSpec.

Mark#

One written link from a code element or a test, of kind implements naming the record it serves or follows naming the provision, decision, or exception shaping it, holding the identifier in the project mark style.

Source: LiteSpec.

Rejected: anchor and tag, which name the link by one of its forms.

Met#

The computed state of a requirement everything fulfilling it verifies, with its measure's check passing.

Source: LiteSpec.

Normative#

Required of a conforming consumer through an identified provision.

Source: standards practice, as the W3C QA Framework and ISO Directives use it.

Page#

One authored record file or document under the documentation root.

Source: LiteSpec.

Page Segment#

The part of a provision ID naming its owning page.

Source: LiteSpec.

Page Style#

One page template for prose or record lists.

Source: LiteSpec.

Rejected: page class, which reads as a code type.

Pattern#

One named answer to a recurring interface question, with its options and wireframes.

Source: LiteSpec.

Preset#

One ready-made selection of shape, stacks, and frontends for a new project.

Source: LiteSpec.

Project#

One bounded-context business application built with LiteSpec.

Source: LiteSpec.

Proof Hash#

The hash of a scenario or of its test body recorded in .litespec/proof/proofs.json at the last passing run.

Source: LiteSpec.

Provision#

One rule, default, or piece of advice on a standards page, carrying an identifier, a strength, and a verification line.

Source: LiteSpec.

Rate Limit#

One bound on request frequency at an exposed endpoint.

Source: web API practice.

Reachable#

The computed state of an aggregate state a transition leads into.

Source: LiteSpec.

Reads As#

The phrase stating how one link reads from its record, with its pair stating how it reads back.

Layer: Behavior.

Source: LiteSpec.

Record File#

One YAML file holding one record page with its entries.

Source: LiteSpec.

Record Layer#

One of the four homes of records: Intent, Behavior, Implementation, or Proof.

Source: LiteSpec.

Record-Driven Delivery#

Delivery where records select work and define completion.

Source: LiteSpec.

Recovery Objectives#

The accepted time and data loss bounds for a restore.

Source: the SRE book.

Reference Page#

One page of exact values a reader looks up.

Source: Diataxis.

Roll-Forward#

Recovery by deploying a newer version rather than restoring the old one.

Source: release practice.

Scope#

The part of a project a provision applies to, stated in Applies to when narrower than the page.

Source: LiteSpec.

Secret Inventory#

The list of production secrets, each with its location and rotation date.

Source: security practice.

Shape#

One deployment boundary of a project: server or client-only.

Source: LiteSpec.

Size#

One of the required-record sets of a project: small or large.

Source: LiteSpec.

Source Material#

Research kept outside the documentation, which carries no authority on its own.

Source: LiteSpec.

Stack#

One technology binding of the specification, held in one folder.

Source: LiteSpec.

Stale#

The computed state of a proof whose scenario or test body changed after its test last passed.

Source: LiteSpec.

Standard#

One identified provision stating a required boundary for consumers.

Source: LiteSpec.

Statement#

The one sentence in a provision carrying its obligation.

Source: LiteSpec.

Strength#

One of the three provision strengths: rule, default, or advice.

Source: LiteSpec.

Sub-Processor#

One provider processing personal data for the product.

Source: the GDPR.

Task Authorizer#

The person who gave the agent its task.

Source: LiteSpec.

Tested#

The computed state of a record with a passing test that asserts something linking to it.

Source: LiteSpec.

Tutorial#

One page that takes a reader to a first working result.

Source: Diataxis.

Underneath#

The command page section stating what the command runs.

Source: LiteSpec.

Verified#

The computed state of a use case whose every scenario has a passing proof through the public boundary that is not stale.

Source: LiteSpec.

Workspace#

The repository that holds a consumer application or the standards.

Source: LiteSpec.

Rejected: repo, which shortens the word every path already shortens.