Glossary

Definitions of terms used throughout OctoMY™ documentation.

Pro Tip

New to OctoMY™? Start with the key terms: Agent (the robot), Remote (the controller), Delivery (first-time setup), Pairing (connecting nodes), and Skeptron (control authority). Understanding these five concepts will make the rest of the documentation click into place.

A

Agent : A node type that runs on a robot. Receives commands from Remote nodes and controls actuators.

Associate : A paired node stored in the AddressBook. Contains identity, addresses, and trust level.

B

Birth : See Delivery. When the node is an Agent, delivery is often referred to as the "birth" of the node.

C

Channel layout : The number of audio channels a device or a buffer has, and what each channel is: a speaker position such as front left, or a numbered output with no position. See Channel layouts.

Configuration : The process of setting up the hardware on which a node runs. Most important for Agents because they interface with controller circuits that run a robot.

Courier : A typed message handler in the communication system. Each courier handles specific message types.

D

Delivery : The creation of a new node, such as an Agent or Remote. Includes identity generation, key creation, and initial setup.

Discovery : The process of finding other nodes that are candidates for pairing. Nodes broadcast their status as "discoverable" on local network and via Zoo discovery service. When two nodes see each other, they become available for pairing.

E

Edition : One brand identity a build ships under: names, one seed color per application, the viewport background pair, and the logo and watermark. Defined by a directory holding edition.json; see the edition schema. The default edition is OctoMY.

Evaluator : The part that computes a Construct scene's geometry when exporting a mesh — it answers "how far is this point from the surface?", millions of times. Chosen in the export dialog's Backend group: Native (compiled, the default), GPU, or Interpreter. Distinct from the renderer, which draws the scene on screen and has its own separate modes; see Construct Rendering Modes.

H

Hub : A node type that facilitates connections between multiple Agents and Remotes.

L

Lab (identity lab) : Developer / curation surface for iterating on the identity-derived asset renderers (face, identicon, iris) across arbitrary IDs. Reached from the Identity assets activity's toolbar.

Lobby : Menu activity scoped to one identity axis (hive / sentient / node). Lobbies surface every action that applies to the active identity on that axis in one place, before the user drills into a specific detail or passport view.

Lobe : A modular component that provides specific functionality (sensors, actuators, etc.).

N

Node : Any OctoMY™ application instance (Agent, Remote, Hub, or Zoo).

O

OPAL : OctoMY™ Plan Automation Language. The command language for LLM integration.

Output route : Where an application's audio channels land on a device with separate outputs, for example outputs 3 and 4 of a 14-output interface. See Choose an audio output in Singularity.

P

Pairing : The process of establishing trust between two nodes.

Passport : Passive surface that displays an identity's public-facing data (display name, ID, derived assets, QR). Distinct from a detail / edit surface, which mutates identity data. The codebase has two: NodeIdentityActivity (node axis) and SentientIdentityActivity (sentient axis).

Personality : A node's unique identity, including its key pair and generated name.

Plan : A behavior configuration that defines how an Agent responds to events.

PortableNodeID : Portable string form of a node identity (display name, gender, NID, birth date, node type). Wire format pnid:1:<base64url(json)>. Encoded into QR codes and exchanged during pairing. Replaces the legacy PortableID name.

PortableSentientID : Portable string form of a sentient identity (display name, SID, creation timestamp). Wire format psid:1:<base64url(json)>. Sibling of PortableNodeID on the sentient axis. Local-only state (shadow vs. full) is not part of the portable form.

R

Remote : A node type that controls Agents. Typically runs on a phone or computer.

S

Seed : The one color an application's whole palette is computed from — window shades, text shades and the selection highlight all derive from it. Supplied per application by the edition.

Session : An active communication channel between two nodes.

Skeptron : The authority that validates and signs Plans. A node marked as skeptron becomes the full master of the target node and is allowed to make any change available, including security settings.

Stanza : A logical constellation of lobes, actuators, and sensors that makes an agent act in a certain way. Switching stanzas allows quick mode changes without physical reconfiguration.

T

Trust : In the pairing process, the user assigns trust to a discovered node. Untrusted nodes are hidden while trusted nodes are made available for communications. If trust cannot yet be determined, the decision can be deferred by selecting "ignore".

Trust Level : Permission level granted to an Associate (Block, Ignore, Meet, Handshake, Trust, Depend).

U

Unboxing : The process of integrating a new node into OctoMY™. After installation of the node software (Agent, Remote, or Hub), it includes: Delivery, Configuration, Discovery, and Pairing.

Z

Zoo : A discovery service node that helps nodes find each other across NAT boundaries. This is also a social media platform for OctoMY™ agents to get to know each other, communicate, and collaborate.