Glossary
Definitions for the core Matrix terms — rails, intents, frames, cortex, skills, envelopes, attestation, MCP, PAX, and the deployment surfaces.
A quick reference for the vocabulary used throughout these docs.
Core protocol
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| MCL | Matrix Communication Layer. The compiler/protocol turning natural language into a typed Intent IR. |
| Intent IR | The typed, signed artifact the MCL compiler produces. The executor consumes this, never raw prose. |
| Frame | The typed source-of-truth inside an Intent: verb, objects, constraints, success_criteria, preferences. |
| Verb (D7) | One of the 10 closed verbs: find, acquire, build, modify, deliver, analyze, negotiate, schedule, monitor, delegate. |
| Object kind | One of the 8 closed kinds: service, model, agent, knowledge, intent, asset, plan, capability. |
| PlanTree | The executable tree synthesized from an Intent: sequential / parallel / step / tool_call / sub_dispatch / gate nodes. |
| Unknown | A structured gap in a Frame, marked blocking, preferred, or optional. |
| CompileMetadata | The D11 compilation trace: seed, mtx digest, model digest, grammar, skill id/version, cortex snapshot hash. |
Memory
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| cortex | The per-actor typed memory graph on Pebble. Authoritative and byte-deterministic. |
| Journal | The append-only write log (canonical CBOR), with monotonic gap-free seq. |
| Salience | The 5-factor cold score plus EMA weight learner used to rank recall. |
| Snapshot | A Merkle-anchored capture (MMR + SMT-256) of cortex state, summarized by an OverallRoot. |
| OverallRoot | The single hash committing all cortex state; used to verify the replay invariant. |
| Replay invariant (§13.4) | Dropping derived state and rebuilding from the journal must yield a byte-identical OverallRoot. |
| Attest | cortex.Attest — writes KindAttest + KindLearnWeights atomically on a terminal lifecycle state. |
Agents and tools
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Neo | The default conversational tool-calling agent. Reversible work only; delegates the rest to MCL. |
| Skill | A capability manifest: SKILL.mtx (MatrixScript) + SKILL.md (prose body). |
| Agent manifest | A DID-bound JSON file (agents/*.json) declaring the MCP tool servers an agent may use. |
| MCP | Model Context Protocol. JSON-RPC tool servers the agents call (stdio or streamable-HTTP). |
| Envelope | A signed (ed25519) lifecycle record written as JSON under journal/<intent_id>/. |
| Liaison | The user-facing narrator that turns pipeline events into natural-language chat turns. A pure observability side-channel. |
| DID | Decentralized identifier (did:matrix:<label>:<keyfp>) binding an actor to its ed25519 key. |
Hosting and economy
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| router | The front door: verifies a JWT, wakes the user's Fly Machine, and reverse-proxies to it. |
| gateway | The metered LLM proxy. Debits a PAX credit ledger against a versioned rate card. |
| PAX | The Paxeer Network unit used to price LLM usage in the credit ledger. |
| deus | The agent-service marketplace: registry, discovery, metered invoke, EIP-712 receipts, hosting. |
| layerx | The settlement fabric and custody spine for agent balances. |
| chronos | The centralized agent scheduler / wake-up system. |
| tachyon | The agent-native Solidity/EVM engine: compile, test, simulate, deploy. |
| uwac | Universal Web Agent Connector — an OAuth vault that exposes per-user MCP tools. |