Glossary

Canonical terminology for the Ontic platform. Source of truth for lint enforcement and documentation.

Version 1.0

Jump to section

Environments

Deployment environments and their assurance posture.

Authority Stack

Core components that enforce authority at runtime.

Governance Concepts

Principles and mechanics used throughout the protocol.

Failure Modes

How each environment behaves under uncertainty.

Gate Types

Different enforcement modes across environments.

Platform Terms

Canonical language for Ontic products and artifacts.

Environments

Deployment environments and their assurance posture.

The Studio

Post-hoc governance environment. Assists judgment, fails soft. Labels uncertainty without blocking output.

Context: Always use article 'The' when referring to the product. 'Studio' alone is acceptable in compound references (e.g., 'Studio tier').

Deprecated forms

Label & Audit — Pre-launch working title, replaced Q1 2026
Label and Audit — Pre-launch working title, replaced Q1 2026
the studio — Product names are title-cased

The Refinery

Pre-emission governance environment. Enforces authority, fails closed. Claims checked against evidence before emission.

Context: Always use article 'The' when referring to the product.

Deprecated forms

Check Before It Speaks — Pre-launch working title, replaced Q1 2026
the refinery — Product names are title-cased

The Clean Room

Enclosed governance environment. Enforces defensibility, fails hard. Full chain of custody, verified execution.

Context: Always two words: 'Clean Room', never 'Cleanroom'. Always use article 'The'.

Deprecated forms

Full Proof — Pre-launch working title, replaced Q1 2026
FullProof — Pre-launch working title
Cleanroom — Always two words: 'Clean Room'
cleanroom — Always two words and title-cased: 'Clean Room'
the clean room — Product names are title-cased

Authority Stack

Core components that enforce authority at runtime.

Client

Where the prompt originates. Ranges from any browser/script (Studio) to cryptographically bound, non-repudiable (Clean Room).

Oracle

The model's required knowledge base for a domain. A source of ground truth that the AI must respect.

Context: Not a database. Not an API. The authoritative data source the Gate consults.

Preferred terminology

data source — Use 'Oracle' for the governed knowledge base; 'data source connector' for the integration layer
knowledge base — Use 'Oracle' in governance context; 'knowledge base' is acceptable in general AI context

Ontology

The governance contract: rules derived from the Oracle that define what an AI can say in a domain.

Context: Not a prompt, not a schema, not training data. A declarative contract.

Deprecated forms

governance rules — Use 'Ontology' — it is the governance contract
policy file — Use 'Ontology'
rule set — Use 'Ontology'

Prompt Contract

The system prompt, generated from the Ontology. Not hand-written — compiled.

Preferred terminology

system prompt — Use 'Prompt Contract' in governance context; 'system prompt' is acceptable when discussing LLM mechanics

Gate

The enforcement mechanism that evaluates model output against the Ontology and Oracle. Decides AUTHORIZED or BLOCKED.

Context: The Gate is separate from the model. It is not a filter, not a post-processor.

Preferred terminology

filter — In governance context, prefer 'Gate' — the Gate evaluates against evidence, not just filters
content filter — The Gate is not a content filter — it enforces authority. 'content filter' is acceptable when describing industry alternatives.
guardrail — Guardrails are probabilistic. The Gate is deterministic enforcement. 'guardrail(s)' is acceptable when describing industry approaches.
guardrails — Guardrails are probabilistic. The Gate is deterministic enforcement. 'guardrail(s)' is acceptable when describing industry approaches.

Execution Environment

The runtime context in which governance operates. Ranges from standard cloud (Studio) to hardware-attested enclave (Clean Room).

Audit Trail

The record of what happened. Ranges from append-only log (Studio) to non-repudiable, hash-chained (Clean Room).

Preferred terminology

audit log — Use 'Audit Trail' in governance context — the record includes provenance, not just log entries

Governance Concepts

Principles and mechanics used throughout the protocol.

Authorization Envelope

Wrapper around AI output containing kind (measurement, classification, action, narrative, refusal), provenance, and evidence.

Context: No output without a valid envelope.

Opaque Boundary

The principle that users never see enforcement rules, thresholds, or decision logic. Prevents gaming.

Context: From RFC-0008.

Enforcement Locus

Where in the request lifecycle governance happens: post-hoc (Studio), pre-emission (Refinery), or enclosed (Clean Room).

Deprecated forms

enforcement point — Use 'Enforcement Locus'

Governed Endpoint

An AI-powered endpoint wrapped in Ontic's governance layer.

Deprecated forms

managed endpoint — Use 'Governed Endpoint'
protected endpoint — Use 'Governed Endpoint'

Data Source Connector

The integration layer that connects an Oracle to external data. Advisory (Studio) or authoritative (Refinery/Clean Room).

Preferred terminology

integration — Use 'Data Source Connector' when referring to Oracle integrations

Deprecated forms

data connector — Use 'Data Source Connector'

Prompt Compiler

Generates the Prompt Contract from the Ontology. The system prompt is compiled, not hand-written.

Deprecated forms

prompt generator — Use 'Prompt Compiler'

Failure Modes

How each environment behaves under uncertainty.

Fails soft

Uncertainty is allowed. Missing authority is labeled, not blocked. The Studio failure mode.

Fails closed

Uncertainty does not pass. Missing authority results in refusal. The Refinery failure mode.

Fails hard

Uncertainty is not allowed. Authority is mandatory. Bypass is structurally impossible. The Clean Room failure mode.

Gate Types

Different enforcement modes across environments.

Label gate

Advisory-only gate used in the Studio. Labels claims but does not block.

Authorize gate

Pre-emission gate used in the Refinery. Blocks unauthorized claims.

Mechanical gate

Hardware-enforced gate used in the Clean Room. Physically cannot be bypassed.

Deprecated forms

hardware gate — Use 'Mechanical gate'

Platform Terms

Canonical language for Ontic products and artifacts.

Ontic

The platform. Not 'ONTIC', not 'ontic' in prose.

Context: Lowercase 'ontic' is acceptable in code identifiers, CLI commands (ontic init), and URLs.

Deprecated forms

ONTIC — Not an acronym. Use 'Ontic'.

Builder

The visual ontology authoring tool. Separate from the Prompt Compiler.

Governance Matrix

The structured dataset mapping industries, segments, and categories to governance requirements across the three environments.