# GOAT Flow Glossary

Domain-specific terms for new contributors. Standard programming terms are excluded.

| Term | Definition | Canonical File | Aliases |
|------|-----------|----------------|---------|
| Active Plan Marker | One-line hidden advisory file at `.goat-flow/tasks/.active` naming the current task-plan subdir. `/goat-plan` reads this to avoid scanning the whole task workspace when it is current; `/goat` stays a router and does not read task-state markers. Missing marker, or a marker naming a missing subdir, is normal local churn after completed plans, project switches, or bug-only work; skills fall back by listing top-level task dirs and asking which is current. A referenced task path alone does not switch `.active`; skills may report the mismatch and ask before changing the marker. Sibling-version subdirs are reference/archive unless selected by the user. | `.goat-flow/decisions/ADR-017-active-plan-marker.md` | `.active` |
| Anti-Pattern Deduction | Removed in v1.1.0. Was a scored penalty system (AP1-AP23) applied by the scanner/rubric engine. Replaced by deterministic pass/fail harness completeness checks in `src/cli/audit/harness/`. | - | - |
| Ask First | The middle autonomy tier requiring the agent to pause and confirm with the human before touching high-risk boundaries. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | Micro-checklist |
| Audit | Deterministic structural integrity/completeness check surfaced by the CLI (setup-scope, agent-scope, harness tiers). Distinct from Quality (agent judgment) by definition and by storage. Never conflated with scores or quality ratings. | `src/cli/audit/types.ts` (search: `audit = deterministic integrity/completeness`) | -- |
| Autonomy Tiers | Three-level permission system (Always / Ask First / Never) controlling what the agent can do without human approval. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | -- |
| Blast Radius | The declared maximum scope of files and systems a task is allowed to touch before the agent must stop and re-scope. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | -- |
| Category Bucket | A markdown file grouping multiple related entries (lessons or footguns) by theme instead of one file per incident. | `.goat-flow/skill-reference/skill-preamble.md` | Bucket file |
| Ceremony | The amount of planning process required for a task, ranging from Minimal (hotfix) to Full (system change/infrastructure). | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | -- |
| Cold Path | Documentation loaded on demand (skills, templates) rather than every session. | `workflow/setup/01-system-overview.md` | -- |
| Concern | A grouping of related harness checks. Currently 5 concerns: context, constraints, verification, recovery, feedback-loop. Each concern's checks live in a matching file under `src/cli/audit/harness/`. | `docs/harness-audit.md` | Harness concern |
| CSO | Context Search Optimization. A skill's `description` field must be trigger-only ("when to use this skill"), never workflow-summary ("what it does / how it works"). Workflow-summary descriptions cause agents to shortcut past the full skill body. | `workflow/skills/reference/skill-conventions.md` | Trigger-only description rule |
| Definition of Done | Six explicit gates that must all pass before a task is considered complete. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | DoD |
| Doer-Verifier | Principle that real verification requires a context boundary - different agent, fresh invocation, or human. Single-agent self-verification is theater (ADR-005). | `.goat-flow/lessons/design-decisions.md` (search: `Doer-verifier is theater`) | -- |
| Enforcement Gradient | Three-layer enforcement stack: permissions deny (hardest) > hooks > instruction-file rules (softest). | `workflow/hooks/README.md` | -- |
| Evidence Standard | The requirement that findings include file evidence with grep-friendly semantic anchors wherever possible. Line numbers are session-local navigation hints, not durable evidence. Findings must be tagged OBSERVED or INFERRED. | `workflow/skills/reference/skill-preamble.md` (search: `semantic anchors`) | -- |
| Execution Loop | The four-step agent workflow: READ, SCOPE, ACT, VERIFY. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | Default loop |
| Footgun | A documented architectural trap with file-path + semantic-anchor evidence (per ADR-024) stored in category bucket files under `.goat-flow/footguns/`. | `workflow/setup/05-customise-to-project.md` | Architectural landmine |
| Guide Mode | Deprecated. Was a rendering mode that turned the CLI into an interactive setup assistant. Replaced by the dashboard setup view. | Removed in v1.1.0 | -- |
| Handoff | Deprecated in v1.1.0. Replaced by milestone files with ticked checkboxes as the continuity mechanism. See Task Tracking in `.goat-flow/skill-reference/skill-conventions.md`. | `.goat-flow/skill-reference/skill-conventions.md` | -- |
| Harness | The AI Harness audit tier. Validates agent governance installation via 17 checks across 5 concerns (context, constraints, verification, recovery, feedback-loop). Separate from setup-scope (15 checks) and agent-scope (4 checks). Invoked via `goat-flow audit --harness`. | `docs/harness-audit.md` | AI Harness |
| Hot Path | Instruction content loaded every session (`CLAUDE.md`, `AGENTS.md`, `GEMINI.md`, `.github/copilot-instructions.md`, plus any local instruction files) with a strict line budget. | `workflow/setup/01-system-overview.md` | -- |
| Instruction Budget | The practical limit (~100-150 instructions) an agent can follow reliably; exceeding it degrades all instructions uniformly. | `.goat-flow/decisions/ADR-008-instruction-budget-constraint.md` | Line budget |
| Integrity / Advisory / Metric | The three harness check types introduced by M01. **Integrity** = drift from install state that must be fixed (scored). **Advisory** = best practice; most projects should adopt but may acknowledge-out via `harness.acknowledge` in config (scored unless acknowledged). **Metric** = workflow maturity count; score-only, so it can lower concern/dashboard scores but never fails audit status. | `docs/harness-audit.md` | Check types |
| Three Layers | The current setup model: instruction file (hot path), skills (on demand), and the `.goat-flow/` learning loop with optional local instruction files. | `workflow/setup/01-system-overview.md` | Layer model |
| Learning Loop | The feedback cycle where agent mistakes become permanent project knowledge via lesson and footgun entries. | `workflow/setup/05-customise-to-project.md` | -- |
| Lesson | A documented behavioural mistake stored in category bucket files under `.goat-flow/lessons/`. | `workflow/setup/05-customise-to-project.md` | -- |
| Mob Elaboration | Deprecated in v1.1.0. Was a planning phase where a feature brief was stress-tested from multiple perspectives. Replaced by goat-critique for multi-perspective critique and the dispatcher's Planning Route for brief intake. | - | - |
| Quality | Agent-judgment rating of a project's goat-flow setup + system (Setup 0-100, System 0-100). `goat-flow quality . --agent <id>` composes a prompt that instructs the agent to write its JSON report directly to `.goat-flow/logs/quality/` (gitignored). `quality history` and `quality diff` read those saved reports to compare runs. Distinct from Audit by definition and scope: audit is deterministic and mechanical; quality is subjective and prompted. Not comparable with Audit's structural pass-rate. | `src/cli/cli.ts` (search: `handleQualityCommand`) | -- |
| Rationalization Table | Two-column table (Excuse / Reality) in a skill listing verbatim rationalizations captured during pressure testing, each paired with a one-sentence counter-argument. Forecloses known workarounds in the skill's own text. Built iteratively via RED-GREEN-REFACTOR skill TDD. | `workflow/skills/reference/skill-conventions.md` | Counter-rationalization table |
| Revert-and-Rescope | A recovery tactic used when two corrections fail on the same approach: rewind changes, re-scope the task, and restart with a fresh approach. | `workflow/skills/reference/skill-conventions.md` | -- |
| Router Table | An index at the end of the hot-path instruction file pointing to the project's key resources; tools listed here get disproportionately more agent usage. | The active agent's instruction file (see `workflow/manifest.json → agents[].instruction_file` for the per-agent path). | -- |
| Rubber-Stamp | A review that approves without evidence. A zero-findings review without explicit justification ("I checked boundary conditions, error paths, and integration points and found nothing") is rubber-stamping. Forbidden by goat-review's investigation-before-approval gate. | `workflow/skills/goat-review/SKILL.md` | -- |
| SBAO | Methodology name for the multi-perspective critique approach; operationalized by `goat-critique`. Renamed to `goat-critique` in v1.2.0; the mechanism (2-3 sub-agents using core trio + 1 fresh-context control group) is unchanged. | `workflow/skills/goat-critique/SKILL.md` | Signal-Based Adaptive Orchestration |
| Core Trio | The three adversarial perspectives used by /goat-critique sub-agents: **SKEPTIC** (what could go wrong?), **ANALYST** (what does evidence say about cost/benefit?), **STRATEGIST** (what's the fastest path to shipping?). | `workflow/skills/goat-critique/SKILL.md` | SKEPTIC/ANALYST/STRATEGIST, triangular tension |
| Severity Scale | The fixed priority order for findings: SECURITY > CORRECTNESS > INTEGRATION > PERFORMANCE > STYLE. | `workflow/skills/reference/skill-preamble.md` | -- |
| Skill | A slash-command-invoked capability (6 specialized: goat-security, goat-debug, goat-review, goat-plan, goat-qa, goat-critique + 1 dispatcher: goat = 7 total) loaded on demand. | `docs/skills.md` | goat-* skills |
| Skill Justification Test | The gate requiring each skill to meet at least one of: distinct artefact, hard workflow gate, special failure mode, or repeatable structured output (see ADR-009). | `.goat-flow/decisions/ADR-009-skill-consolidation.md` | -- |
| State Declaration | The required format (`State: [MODE] \| Goal: [one line] \| Exit: [condition]`) an agent must announce before acting. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | -- |
| Stop-the-Line | A Level 2 VERIFY escalation requiring the agent to fully stop, preserve error output, and wait for human review. | `workflow/setup/reference/execution-loop.md` | Level 2 escalation |
| Triangular Tension | Deprecated in v1.1.0. Was a mob elaboration technique. Now part of goat-critique's SKEPTIC/ANALYST/STRATEGIST core trio. | - | - |
| Working Memory | Progress tracking via milestone file checkboxes (`.goat-flow/tasks/`). On `/compact`, session log written to `.goat-flow/logs/sessions/`. | `.goat-flow/skill-reference/skill-conventions.md` | Working Notes |
