Glossary

This glossary defines the public Touba vocabulary. It focuses on the terms that matter for understanding and using the language.

Core Terms

Term	Meaning
Agents as Code	Public Touba framing: agentic authority, capabilities, manifests, locks, run plans, reviews, and traces are handled as versioned, reviewed, and auditable artifacts.
AIR	Compiled intermediate representation. It is the contract between .tb source, runtime, CLI, traces, and Touba surfaces.
enumeration (enum)	Nominal type with qualified members; JSON member names are checked against the expected type.
Optional of T	Typed presence or absence, constructed with some/none and unwrapped with if present, never implicit null.
limits run	Run-wide source ceilings shared by calls and branches, preserved on resume and combined by minimum across imports.
parallel	Bounded distribution of a list over a typed target, with isolated data and preserved authority per invocation.
ordered join	Returns all results in input order regardless of completion order; no implicit partial success.
checkpoint	Private continuation state whose mechanism defines its recovery scope; not a public trace or signed proof.
agent	Bounded unit of responsibility. An agent can choose authorized capabilities inside its declared scope, but it cannot invoke arbitrary resources.
AI SDK provider	Touba JavaScript SDK adapter that connects a decision provider to a model through the project's configured AI SDK.
answer_directly	Provider action that returns an answer without requesting or calling a capability.
bounded autonomy	Autonomy exercised inside a declared perimeter: capabilities, secrets, memories, callers, budgets, approvals, and traces.
bind	Immutable local value created in an executable block from a pure expression.
binding fragment	Explicit wiring fragment that can feed an assembled manifest. A fragment alone grants no runtime authority.
autonomy budget	Runtime limit such as maximum duration, steps, tool calls, agent invocations, decision-provider calls, or trigger quotas.
capability	Requirement declared by a tool, for example network or secret_read. A requested capability must be granted by the manifest before dispatch is authorized.
agentic capability	Resource declared in uses that an agent can select: function, tool, skill, agent, or strategy, depending on the program.
capability catalog	Structured list of authorized capabilities that the runtime can present to a decision provider.
callable_by	Rule that declares which strategy or agent may invoke an agent. Invocation outside this rule is refused.
cancel	Cooperative cancellation of an active or suspended run. It is distinct from runtime failure and abrupt system stop.
define	Immutable, non-sensitive, literal module constant.
defineTool	Touba JavaScript SDK API for writing a tool handler without directly manipulating the process protocol.
grant	Manifest authorization that satisfies a required capability. It is not a system sandbox.
handler	Host code that performs the external effect of a tool. The handler executes domain logic; Touba Engine remains the authority over AIR, manifest, grants, secrets, limits, and traces.
secret handle	Opaque secret name. The secret value must not appear in .tb source, AIR, manifest, traces, or model prompts.
human.approve	Human validation required by the program. The runtime suspends and resumes only after an explicit decision.
manifest	Explicit artifact that connects tools, handlers, grants, secrets, limits, triggers, resources, and execution profiles as applicable.
memory	Logical agentic context resource with explicit scopes. A memory is not a database by itself.
memory backend	Real host system, for example PostgreSQL, that can be used by an authorized handler to perform memory reads or writes.
model input	Structured input sent to the decision provider. It separates instructions, user data, resources, observations, and runtime context.
module	Logical identity declared in a .tb file. In a structured project, it follows the source path convention.
maxAgentSteps	Limit on the number of steps in a provider-driven agentic loop.
runtime observation	Intermediate result returned to the decision provider so an agentic loop can continue, without exposing raw sensitive content in traces.
OpenAI decision provider	Decision provider using OpenAI through the SDK. It depends on a key, model, and quota configured by the project.
ownership	Responsibility and review metadata for a multi-team project. Ownership grants no runtime grant, secret, scope, caller, or handler.
Probabilistic Agentic Programming	Probabilistic Agentic Programming: a paradigm that treats agentic uncertainty as a governed programming reality.
payload constraint	Manifest-declared constraint, for example maximum length, numeric bounds, or allowed values. The runtime can refuse before handler execution or before publishing a result.
decision provider	Host-configured function that receives a structured request and proposes a direct answer, a catalog request, a capability call, or human review.
custom provider	Project-provided decision provider that does not use the SDK model adapter.
Touba registry	Index for distributing and verifying Touba packages.
resource interface	Part of model input that states whether the capability catalog is absent, available on request, or already presented.
resource binding	Explicit binding between a logical resource and host configuration, notably for controlled backend scenarios.
request_capabilities	Provider action that asks the runtime to present the authorized catalog.
request_human_review	Provider action that asks for governed human review during an agentic decision.
agent-requested human review	Dynamic request for human help or validation proposed by the agent through the provider and mediated by the runtime.
review gate	Multi-team control point tied to ownership. It expresses a review requirement without granting runtime authority.
run plan	Explicit project execution plan. It gathers expected inputs, artifacts, and profiles without containing sensitive payloads or being discovered implicitly by the runtime.
runtime	Component that executes AIR and applies observable refusals before external effects.
handler sandbox	Process isolation required by a binding and enforced by an OS backend. Without an available backend compatible with the policy, execution is refused. See the hardened execution profile.
Touba SDK	JavaScript (@touba/sdk) or Python (touba_sdk) integration library: handlers, ToubaEngine, providers, and tests.
select_capability	Provider action that chooses an authorized capability and supplies its arguments.
skill	Executable, typed, and bounded Touba capability. It orchestrates functions, tools, skills, interactions, or human validations.
skill pack	Runtime event name for a package context: procedure, resources, and examples declared in touba.package.json. It is not a separate distribution format.
Touba package	One reusable distribution unit with typed exports and/or contextual procedures, declared in touba.package.json.
SKILL.md	A package’s contextual procedure. It guides the model within the program’s permissions.
strategy	High-level executable orchestration entry point.
tool	Touba declaration of an external effect. A tool describes the contract; the handler performs the effect.
tool binding	Contract connecting an AirTool.id to a host handler with grants, secrets, limits, and authority traces.
Touba	Thinking Orchestration Using Bounded Agency: language and runtime built as the first implementation of Probabilistic Agentic Programming.
ToubaEngine	JavaScript or Python interface for compiling and running Touba from a host application.
touba prepare	Project command that prepares AIR, manifest, run plan, and handler skeletons according to options, without executing handlers.
trigger	Entry contract that turns an admissible event into a governed Touba execution. The documented forms cover schedule -> strategy with a foreground runner and request -> strategy with a webhook service, durable queue, and payload contract.
trace	Structural execution log: decisions, refusals, calls, budgets, approvals, secret handles, and source/AIR links.

Technical identifiers

Slice Codes

Slice codes connect documentation, specifications, tests, and delivery history. In guides, the readable name should remain the primary reference.

Code	Readable Name	Key Point
BF-1	Binding fragments	Composition of explicit fragments into an assembled manifest.
BQ-1	Autonomy budgets	Limits on duration, steps, tool calls, agent invocations, and trigger quotas.
D/I-1	Data/instruction separation	External content does not automatically become an agentic instruction.
IM-1	Pure imports	Imports of type, non-sensitive define, and pure function.
IM-2 / IM-2A	Effectful imports	Imports of components such as tool, skill, agent, strategy, or memory, without implicit authority; IM-2A covers the tool case.
PC-1 / PC-2	Payload constraints	Portable non-empty, length, numeric-bound, and allowed-value constraints.
PC-3A	List cardinality	min_items and max_items constraints on lists already validated by AIR.
PI-1	Memory provenance and integrity	Provenance metadata and integrity evidence, without concluding Verified.
PKG-1	Explicit packages	Project packages resolved explicitly; registry metadata grants no runtime authority.
RB-1 / RB-2	Resource bindings	Binding validation, then transmission to handlers of only the authorized and used resources.
RP-1	Run plan	Explicit plan generated or verified by touba prepare, then consumed by touba run.
SC-1	Supply-chain lock	Digests for AIR, manifest, handlers, SDK metadata, and handler package identity.
SC-2	Dependency artifacts	Declared handler package files and dependency artifacts, verified by digest.
SC-3	Provenance and review	Provenance, declared review, and evidence controlled by digest.
SKILL-V1	Package context	Creation, validation, discovery, progressive activation, resources, non-executable scripts, and refusal of implicit authority.
TA-1	Trace audit	Audit manifest, digests, redaction, bounded export, and consistency validation.
TD-1	Durable trigger state	Explicit trigger state for event_id, acceptances, refusals, and replay rejection.
TEAM-1	Multi-team responsibility	Owners, reviewers, review gates, and responsibility graphs.