open-standards/joule-code/vocab/LEXICON.md

Joule Code — Lexicon

The controlled vocabulary for the Joule Code standard. Terms are normative where ../SPEC.md uses them; this lexicon fixes their meaning so the spec, the reference library, and the conformance vectors agree. CC-BY-4.0.

Core

• Coding operation (CodingOp) — the unit of cargo: a signed transition moving a source tree from a prior state to a successor state via an ordered edit set. Defined by base + edits, not by a restated result.
• Operation id (op_id) — the content address (BLAKE3-256 over deterministic CBOR) of a CodingOp excluding its signature.
• Tree state / tree id — a content-addressed snapshot of the relevant source; tree_id is BLAKE3-256 over { path: blob_id }.
• Signed operation (SignedOp) — a CodingOp plus an Ed25519 signature over op_id ‖ prior, scoping authorization to one base.
• Anchor — where an edit applies: a byte range against the prior blob, or a content-addressed hunk (rename-stable).

Cascade

• Cascade — the ordered tier list a request resolves through; resolution stops at the first tier that closes the request.
• Tier — L0 Cache (picojoules) · L1 Lawful (nanojoules) · L2 Embed (sub-millijoules) · L3 Model (joules) · L4 Wire (tens of joules). Inherited from JouleClaw.
• Stage — the implementation of one tier; exposes try_resolve(req) -> Option<Resolution>.
• Close — a stage closing a request: returning Some(Resolution). The closing tier is recorded in the receipt.
• Wire / L4 / frontier agent — a remote coding agent (Claude Code, Gemini, Codex, ...) reached over ACP, with its credential held by the vendor's own client. The escape hatch, not the entry point.

Receipt and energy

• Receipt — the signed, two-part energy record carried in a JWP frame accounting for one operation.
• Energy — { measured_uj?, estimated_uj, provenance }, all integer microjoules.
• Provenance — the honesty tag on an energy reading: HwShunt (hardware-measured; requires measured_uj), ModelBased (calibrated model), Estimator (coarse constant).
• JWP — Joule Wire Protocol: the energy-aware framing that carries the receipt; cumulative energy is a first-class, signable frame field.
• Joules per accepted change — the standard's unit of merit; the substrate's falsifiable cost basis.

Doctrine

• Capability per joule — the doctrine: minimize energy per accepted change, not parameters per model.
• No capture — no protocol token; core operation never requires a single steward's servers; frontier credentials never enter the protocol.
• Ownerless — identity lives in content addressing and conformance vectors, not a brand; the spec and reference code are permissively licensed; anyone may fork.
• The offer — the commercial layer (managed nodes, drivers, certification) that a steward operates around the substrate, never inside it.

Collaboration (Research)

• Cluster — a known, signed-membership set of collaborators replicating operations by lockstep BFT.
• Federated collaboration — ownerless multi-endpoint editing: coding operations as Smart Byte envelopes, transported over WAI, shared via RemoteOS. Interface-level in v0.1.