---
title: Glossary
description: Every RoutineOS term in one place, with a one-line meaning and the page that explains it.
sidebar:
  order: 8
---

| Term | Meaning | See |
|---|---|---|
| **Action** | A `[[action]]` in `routine.toml`. `send`, `post` and `delete` actions need a gate | [routine.toml](/reference/routine-toml#action) |
| **App** | A routine folder with `app.toml`: routines, store, budget, integrations, environment, risks | [routine.toml and app.toml](/reference/routine-toml#apptoml) |
| **Approval-gated** | A routine type whose external action waits for a person's yes | [Gates and approvals](/concepts/gates-and-approvals) |
| **Batch** | One ordered file of writes, tagged with a phase, applied whole with ArtifactData `batch` | [Write contract](/reference/write-contract#batches) |
| **Budget** | `[budget] max_runs_per_day`. Prompt-enforced, not guaranteed | [routine.toml and app.toml](/reference/routine-toml#budget) |
| **Catalog** | An index of packs, `routineos.catalog.v1`. Since 0.6.0 | [Catalog](/templates/catalog) |
| **Connector** | In a pack, a declared need for a builtin tool, connector, MCP server or HTTP host. Since 0.6.0 | [Connectors in packs](/templates/connectors) |
| **Decision** | A person's answer to a gate or message, at `decisions/<id>`. Never written by a run | [Store collections](/reference/store-collections) |
| **Definition** | `definition.json`: the record types, fields, views and learning a routine declares | [Definition](/concepts/definition) |
| **Desk** | The private web page, published as an artifact, where people read and act on what routines found | [Desk](/desk) |
| **Drop reason** | Why a settings filter dropped a record, such as `not in title_keywords`. The record is kept | [Records](/concepts/records) |
| **Entity** | A record as stored, at `entities/<type>--<slug>` | [Write contract](/reference/write-contract#entity) |
| **Environment** | The claude.ai environment a scheduled task runs in: network level, allowed domains, setup script | [Scheduling](/infrastructure/scheduling) |
| **First run** | `report-only` by default: the run records and reports but takes no external action | [Routines](/concepts/routines) |
| **Gate** | A point where a run stops for a person's decision, written to `pending/` | [Gates and approvals](/concepts/gates-and-approvals) |
| **Identity** | The rule that turns a record into its key: `domain`, `name` or `field:<field>` | [Definition schema](/reference/definition-schema#identity-rules) |
| **Inbox** | Messages a run writes for people: `match`, `proposal`, `approval`, `alert` | [Inbox](/desk/inbox) |
| **Integration** | An `[[integration]]` in `app.toml`: something a run reaches, with direction and purpose (`what`) | [routine.toml and app.toml](/reference/routine-toml#integration) |
| **Learning** | Tallies of people's feedback, turned into proposals by `learn` | [Learning](/concepts/learning) |
| **Merge** | A type's merge policy (`merge` or `separate`), or a hand merge a person records at `merges/` | [Merges](/concepts/merges) |
| **Network secret** | A secret held by the environment and sent only to one host; the alternative to a connector | [Scheduling](/infrastructure/scheduling#environments-and-secrets) |
| **Pack** | One JSON file holding a whole routine, `routineos.pack.v1`. Since 0.6.0 | [Pack schema](/reference/pack-schema) |
| **Pending** | A gate waiting for a decision, at `pending/<runId>--g<n>` | [Write contract](/reference/write-contract#gates) |
| **Permission screen** | What `permissions` prints, read before anything is created | [CLI reference](/reference/cli#permissions) |
| **Phase** | A step of a run's writes: `started`, `entities`, `summary`, `inbox`, `done` | [Stages](/concepts/stages) |
| **Producer** | A routine that writes to a workspace. Its id is the routine name | [Ownership](/concepts/ownership) |
| **Proposal** | An Inbox message suggesting a setting change, accepted or rejected by a person | [Suggestions](/desk/suggestions) |
| **Record** | One company, role or other typed thing a routine found | [Records](/concepts/records) |
| **Registry** | `registry/capabilities.toml`: platform capabilities with a status and date | [CLI reference](/reference/cli#platform) |
| **Report-only** | A run that records and reports but takes no external action. Every run is report-only until `state/verified` exists | [Routines](/concepts/routines) |
| **Routine** | A scheduled Claude task with a folder: `routine.toml`, `prompt.md`, and optionally a definition | [Routines](/concepts/routines) |
| **Routine kind** | A design pattern for a routine's steps: code, skill, workflow or hybrid | [Routine kinds](/routine-kinds) |
| **Routine type** | `serverless`, `watch`, `approval-gated` or `interactive`, set in `[routine] type` | [routine.toml](/reference/routine-toml#routine) |
| **Run** | One execution, recorded at `runs/<runId>` | [Write contract](/reference/write-contract#run-record) |
| **Seed** | The one-time Desk setup: `meta/workspace`, `meta/definition` and default settings | [CLI reference](/reference/cli#seed) |
| **Setting** | A value people own and change on the Desk, declared as `[[setting]]` | [Settings](/concepts/settings) |
| **Settings filter** | A rule that drops records whose field does not pass a list setting | [Definition schema](/reference/definition-schema#setting-filters) |
| **Sighting** | One run's observation of a record, kept on the record (the last 30) | [Sightings](/concepts/sightings) |
| **Signal** | A kind of feedback learning tallies, such as `override` or `dead_item` | [Learning](/concepts/learning) |
| **Stage** | A lifecycle stage, a write phase, or a workflow step declared in a pack | [Stages](/concepts/stages) |
| **Store** | The database behind a published Desk artifact | [Store and write contract](/concepts/store-and-write-contract) |
| **Template** | A ready routine folder in `templates/`, such as `jobs-watch` | [Templates](/templates) |
| **View** | A saved filter, sort and column set for one type | [Views](/concepts/views) |
| **Workspace** | One Desk and its store, shared by one or more producers | [Add a Desk](/guides/add-a-desk) |
| **Write contract** | The rules every producer write follows, planned by `write` | [Write contract](/reference/write-contract) |