Two independent uses: vocabulary work makes a term, name or rule boundary precise enough for acceptance examples, code and conversation; a standards lookup finds the language, data-format, risk or test-design standard for a change. Neither needs the other. Plan owns unified discovery and resumption; Domain resolves only the needed vocabulary or rule boundary and returns it to the existing intent.
Vocabulary work
- Cite the existing owner. Find the vocabulary owner in the caller's instructions, domain docs or contracts and read only the relevant terms. A lookup is read-only. With no owner, label each definition as observed in code or proposed.
- Keep one meaning per bounded context, the area where a term has one agreed meaning and an owner for its rules. When a word crosses contexts, name each meaning and the translation at the boundary instead of imposing one global definition.
- Report code that disagrees with intent. Identify the actor, state, operation and observable result the term denotes, then compare the intended meaning with callers, types and tests. A mismatch is a finding to resolve: renaming code does not add missing behavior, and redefining the term to match the code hides the defect.
- Price renames of shared names. Exported names, serialized fields, stored values and API payloads need compatibility work (migration, versioning, client updates), not a cosmetic replacement. Keep naming changes within authorized scope.
- Distinguish with an example. Separate competing meanings with a concrete case; express a branching boundary as Given/When/Then and reuse it in implementation and validation. Use the settled term in scenario names, operations, types and documentation. Ask only when an unresolved distinction would change behavior or ownership; a lookup needs no interview.
- Update the owner; add no glossary by default. When refinement is authorized, update the existing owner with the meaning, context and example, keeping useful aliases as explicit translations. Without an owner, return the proposal in the caller's intent or conversation rather than creating a new glossary file.
Return vocabulary work in this shape, then stop once the next change can be named and judged consistently:
| Term | Context | Meaning | Source | Distinguishing example | Open question |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <path:line, observed in code, or proposed> | <Given/When/Then or concrete case> | <caller decision, or none> |
After the table, list the translations between contexts, each located code-versus-intent disagreement, the compatibility cost of any proposed rename, and the owner updated or the text proposed for it. See caller vocabulary examples.
The synonym smuggling failure substitutes a word that changes a term's authority: calling a verdict a closure quietly assigns a tracker transition to judgment. Keep the original term when a substitute would move responsibility.
AgentOps terms
When AgentOps is the subject, its owners remain
docs/contracts/ubiquitous-language.md and, for responsibilities and ports,
docs/contracts/bounded-contexts.yaml. Return their exact definitions and
source paths. Do not apply AgentOps vocabulary to an unrelated caller domain.
The operations layer, federated integration graph, semantic work-and-proof
protocol and RPI traversal retain their distinct meanings in the live contract.
Queue, claim, lease, close, land, release and delivery remain caller-system
responsibilities. Vocabulary edits do not authorize those transitions.
Standards lookup
Load only the language or risk guidance needed for the current change, starting from the common standards. Repository contracts and the actual toolchain take precedence. These references do not create a second approval or validation lane.
- Languages: Go, Python, Rust, JavaScript, TypeScript, shell.
- Data and prose: JSON, YAML, Markdown.
- Relevant risk: concurrency, SQL, LLM trust.
- Test design: test pyramid; package form: skill structure.
Idea provenance: Matt Pocock's engineering skills (domain modeling), adapted for AgentOps.