Glossary

Canonical definitions for all SYRIS concepts, schemas, and terms.

Shared vocabulary for SYRIS concepts, components, and data contracts.

SYRIS stays maintainable by using consistent language. This page is the canonical dictionary.

Core concepts

TermMeaning
StimulusAny inbound input: user message, webhook, device event, schedule tick, rule trigger, etc.
MessageEventThe unified, versioned internal schema representing a stimulus after normalisation. Every stimulus becomes one.
SystemEventA system-emitted event (scheduler/watchers/rules/health) that enters the pipeline as a MessageEvent.
Normalize > Route > ExecuteThe three stages every event passes through. See architecture/pipeline.
RouterChooses deterministic fast paths first; uses LLM fallback only when no deterministic match exists. Produces a RoutingDecision.
RoutingDecisionThe schema produced by the router: execution mode, intent, risk level, required scopes, and any gate specs.
ExecutionModeOne of fast, task, gated, or sandbox. Determines which branch of the executor handles the event.
Fast laneImmediate, single-tool execution via tools/executor.py. Designed for near-real-time latency.
Task laneMulti-step, checkpointed workflows managed by the task engine. Used when execution is too complex for a single tool call.
Gated laneExecution blocked pending an operator Approval. Triggered when the gate matrix returns CONFIRM or HARD BLOCK.
TaskA persisted, long-lived workflow created by the router or rules engine. Has a state machine: pending → running → succeeded/failed/canceled.
StepSmallest resumable unit of work inside a Task. A registered Python callable with idempotency enforcement.
StepOutcomeThe result returned by a step function: one of succeeded, retry, failed, waiting, or paused.
ToolAn executable capability conforming to the BaseTool interface.
IntegrationA configured connector instance (e.g., Home Assistant, Gmail) providing tools or events or both.
InboundAdapterConverts raw events from external systems into MessageEvents.
BaseToolThe abstract base class all tool adapters implement. Defines execute() and preview() contracts.
CapabilityA declarative string describing what a tool can do. Declared by the tool; stored in RegisteredTool.
ScopeA permission boundary for tool invocations (least-privilege). Checked before every tool call.
trace_idA UUID generated once at normalisation. Propagated unchanged through every subsequent operation. Enables end-to-end tracing across audit events.
idempotency_keyA stable, deterministic key attached to every effectful tool call. Prevents duplicate side effects on retries or restarts.
dedupe_keyA hash computed by the normaliser. If the same key appears within the dedup window, the event is discarded and event.deduped is emitted.
AuditEventAn append-only record of a pipeline decision or action. Never updated or deleted. Queryable by trace_id.
payload_refA reference to a redacted, encrypted payload stored in the artifact store. Avoids embedding sensitive data inline in AuditEvent.
ApprovalA persisted gate decision request. Contains the exact payload to execute, the reason for gating, and how to approve via API.
GateActionThe outcome of the gate matrix lookup: ALLOW, CONFIRM, PREVIEW, or HARD BLOCK.
RiskLevelClassification of an action's potential impact: low, medium, high, or critical. Set in the tool registry and adjusted by the risk classifier.
AutonomyLevelSystem operating mode (A0A4). Combined with RiskLevel to determine GateAction via the gate matrix.
FastPathIntentA registered intent in the fast-path DSL. Has patterns, required scopes, risk level, and an extractor function.
WatcherStatePer-watcher persistence record: last tick time, last outcome, dedupe window, suppression count, and consecutive error count.
catch_up_policyDetermines scheduler behaviour when missed firings are detected at startup or after downtime. One of skip, run_once, or run_all_capped.
artifact storeEncrypted file store for redacted tool request/response payloads. Referenced by payload_ref on AuditEvent.
ProjectionA query-optimised read model derived from audit and event records. Updated synchronously in the same DB transaction as the record that triggers it.
TrustPolicyPer-MCP-server policy defining risk override, scope mapping, idempotency contract, and preview support.
compensationAn optional compensate() function on a StepDefinition. Called on task cancellation if the step's fn() already ran in the current attempt.
Control planeThe always-on core process: ingestion loops, scheduler, watcher loop, task engine loop, and API server.
WorkerOptional isolated runtime for heavy or long-running jobs. Gated behind an explicit sandbox execution mode.
ArtifactOutput produced by a job or task (reports, patches, files). Linked to a trace, task, or job ID.
SystemHealthA record written every 30 seconds by HeartbeatWatcher containing status, uptime, version, and next expected heartbeat.