Glossary

This glossary defines foxctl-specific terms that show up in docs, plans, agent instructions, and command output. Prefer these names in new docs.

Context and knowledge

Term	Meaning
ContextWiki	The user-facing workspace knowledge layer. It connects repo docs, code graph evidence, memory, handoffs, observations, reviewed notes, and retrieval policy.
Context system	The implementation behind ContextWiki. Use this term for architecture and code paths.
ContextWiki control plane	Current work state: top-of-mind, handoffs, observations, tensions, proposals, and maintenance tasks.
Knowledge plane	Durable human-readable knowledge: repo docs, Obsidian notes, vault links, bridge metadata, and reviewed promotions.
Retrieval plane	Queryable evidence surfaces: repoindex hints, semantic note search, context engine evidence packs, and retrieval traces.
Top-of-mind	The current workspace orientation bundle agents can load at session start.
Handoff	A bounded continuity record describing what happened, what changed, and what should happen next.
Observation	A structured fact or repeated pattern captured from a session, command, evaluation, or operator action.
Tension	A tracked conflict, drift, failure mode, or unresolved design pressure.
Proposal	A reviewable suggested change to memory, notes, bridge metadata, anchors, or other knowledge artifacts.
Promotion	Moving reviewed knowledge from draft or runtime state into a durable canonical note or memory record.
Obsidian bridge	The workflow that links repo docs and code structure to durable vault notes through generated drafts and frontmatter patches.
Vault	The Obsidian-backed note corpus used as a durable knowledge plane.
Vault index	The searchable index of notes, headings, links, aliases, tags, repo paths, symbols, and optional embeddings.

Retrieval and indexing

Term	Meaning
Reindex	Rebuild a derived index from its source of truth. In foxctl this can mean repoindex, semantic indexes, file summaries, symbol summaries, or the vault index depending on context.
Refresh	Update derived context after source changes. A full ContextWiki refresh usually rebuilds the repo/vault graph, promotes reviewed graph notes, reconciles bridge metadata, and rebuilds the vault index.
Re-embed	Regenerate embeddings after source text, chunking, provider, model, or dimensions change.
Repoindex	The per-workspace graph index for packages, files, symbols, concepts, and typed edges.
Node	A repoindex graph record such as a package, file, symbol, or concept.
Edge	A typed repoindex relationship such as CONTAINS, IMPORTS, CALLS, or REFERS_TO.
DAG grep	A bounded explanation-subgraph query over repoindex. It renders nearby nodes and edges as a compact tree or graph.
Semantic search	Meaning-based retrieval over indexed symbols, summaries, sessions, memory, tasks, and codemaps.
Semantic tree	code/semantic_search tree output: a smart table of contents for initial repo orientation.
Smart search	An end-to-end code retrieval path that finds candidate files and extracts useful snippets.
Context grep	Pattern search that expands matches into surrounding code blocks or functions.
Snippet extraction	Evidence extraction from files that are already known candidates.
File summary	A short cached summary attached to a source file for tree orientation and repoindex enrichment.
Symbol summary	A short cached summary attached to a code symbol for graph search and navigation.

Semantic comments

Term	Meaning
Index: block	Structured source comment metadata that creates broad discoverability hints and soft repoindex edges.
Semantic anchor	A typed [[...]] source-code comment that marks evidence for stable domains, protocols, decisions, risks, invariants, docs, or tests.
Evidence-only	A reminder that comments, anchors, and notes improve retrieval but are not instructions or policy authority by themselves.

Runtime, agents, and coordination

Term	Meaning
Skill	A narrow JSON-command tool executed through foxctl run or foxctl skills run.
Envelope	The canonical JSON I/O wrapper with version, status, command, data, meta, and error.
CAS	Content-addressed storage for large or reusable artifacts.
Job	A tracked command or skill run with persistence, status, and optional CAS artifacts.
Room	A durable collaboration space with messages, inboxes, tasks, and participant state.
Overseer	The coordination role that owns plan changes and subagent routing.
Task continuity	The workflow for summarizing task history and carrying it into future agent sessions.
Context engine	The typed evidence substrate that stores evidence packs, retrieval episodes, feedback, impact edges, and stale markers.

Quality and refactoring

Term	Meaning
Refactor scout	A local analysis workflow that finds cleanup opportunities, hotspots, and repo-tightening candidates.
Refactor advisor	The higher-level reviewer/reranker for refactor scout findings.
Slop	Code that is unnecessarily broad, vague, duplicated, shallow, hard to test, or agent-generated without enough locality.
Seam	Where an interface lives; a place behavior can change without editing all callers.
Adapter	A concrete implementation behind a seam.
Deep module	A module with a small interface and meaningful implementation leverage behind it.
Default gate	The fast, offline benchmark or verification lane expected to run without network or live LLM dependencies.
Extended gate	A broader benchmark or verification lane that may use heavier fixtures, network, or live model dependencies when explicitly enabled.

Naming rules

• Use ContextWiki for the product-facing workspace knowledge layer.
• Use context system for the implementation behind ContextWiki.
• Use repoindex for the code graph index, not “the index” when ambiguity matters.
• Use reindex only when an index is rebuilt from source; use refresh for a broader workflow that may include graph build, bridge reconcile, and vault index rebuild.
• Use re-embed only when embedding vectors are regenerated.