Vocabulary and concept map

Concept map

Familiar concept	Septa term	Key difference to retain
A service’s state owner	Durable actor	Identity and saved state can outlive an executing process
A long-running operation	Workflow	Progress is retained at supported boundaries
An I/O operation	Effect	The typed interaction is visible to the compiler and runtime
Permission to act	Scoped grant	Typed capability access still requires authority and admission
A package version	Content identity	Identifies exact content rather than only a name or label
A test report	Evidence receipt	Describes observed inputs, outcomes, origin and applicability
A runtime trace	Observed view	Describes retained observations with explicit coverage

Actor

A state owner with an identity, mailbox and message handlers. A durable actor preserves state and progress under a persistence and recovery contract. Actor isolation does not imply a distinct operating-system sandbox or deployment.

Admission

The decision whether a particular request may proceed under the runtime’s applicable checks, authenticated context and authority.

Capability

A typed interface or handle for requesting operations. Its use is governed by scoped grants and runtime admission. Possessing a handle or declaring an effect does not itself grant authority.

Grant

An authorization under a defined scope and policy context. Runtime checks determine whether it permits a particular request. A grant and a typed capability handle serve different roles.

Cast and call

A cast sends a message without asking for a typed reply. A call requests a typed reply. Delivery, admission, timeout and recovery remain part of the operation’s contract.

Content identity and pin

A content identity names a defined object by its content. A pin selects that exact identity. Source, library, archive and bundle identities cover different objects and inputs; they are not interchangeable labels.

Declared, permitted and observed

• Declared: the interactions described by the checked program.
• Permitted: the operations allowed in a named authority context.
• Observed: the interactions represented by retained execution evidence.

Deterministic core

The supported execution surface with defined semantics, arithmetic and effect boundaries. Repeatability depends on the applicable code and execution contract, including recorded inputs.

Effect

A typed interaction understood by Septa’s compiler and runtime. “First-class” does not imply native Rust language support for arbitrary algebraic-effect handlers.

Evidence applicability

A comparison between an observation’s relevant recorded inputs and the current target. Applicability is separate from whether the observed outcome passed or failed.

Graph

In commands such as graph check, the application source graph and its libraries. This command group is distinct from the reusable temporal graph database built on Septa.

Managed core and native component

The managed core is code executing under Septa’s supported profile and runtime contract. A native component executes through its separate native route, with its own build process and operating-system authority.

Profile

The documented set of Rust syntax, types, operations and constraints admitted by a particular execution route. Acceptance outside an enumerated stable surface does not automatically establish a compatibility guarantee.

Workflow

Work progressing toward completion with a supported place to suspend and resume. An actor commonly continues receiving messages; a workflow commonly represents a particular operation.

Zero-build development

The installed runtime handles supported application and library edits without a separate native application build per edit. Parsing, checking and lowering still occur. Native components retain their own build path.