Nomenclature & Glossary
Clear definitions. No ambiguity. Know exactly what every term means.Core Terms
Component
What: A versioned artifact stored in Git that can be independently versioned and deployed. Types: Prompts (.md), configs (.json/.yaml), queries (.sql), scripts (.js/.ts), schemas, templates
Purpose: Reusable building blocks that agents reference during execution
Managed by: Edgit versioning system
Example:
Agent
What: An executable unit that performs tasks using operations and components Types:- Custom agents - Defined by you using operations
- Pre-built agents - Ships with Conductor (scraper, validator, RAG, etc.)
- Use components
- Use operations
- Access tools (MCP)
- Call other agents
- Call ensembles
Operation
What: A primitive execution type that defines HOW something runs Purpose: The “verb” of what an agent does - the execution primitive Types:think- AI reasoning (LLMs, embeddings, classification)code- JavaScript/TypeScript executionstorage- Database/KV/R2/D1 operationshttp- HTTP requests to external servicestools- MCP/skill accessemail- Email operationssms- SMS operationshtml- HTML renderingpdf- PDF generationpage- Full-stack pages
Ensemble
What: An orchestration workflow that coordinates multiple agents Format: YAML files in your Git repository Purpose: Defines workflow logic and execution flow Capabilities:- Orchestrate agents
- Call other ensembles
- Define flow control (sequential, parallel, conditional, loops)
- Manage state
- Map inputs/outputs
- Use operations directly (must go through agents)
- Access components directly (must go through agents)
Tool
What: External capability accessed via MCP (Model Context Protocol) or other protocols Access: Through thetools operation in agents
Examples: GitHub MCP, filesystem MCP, Claude skills, custom MCP servers
Usage:
Execution Terms
State
What: Shared data across agents in an ensemble execution Properties:- Immutable (each update creates new version)
- Scoped to ensemble execution
- Schema-validated
- Access-tracked
Context
What: The runtime environment and data available during agent execution Includes:- Input data
- Previous agent outputs
- State variables
- Environment variables
- Request metadata
Interpolation
What: Template syntax for referencing dynamic values Syntax:${source.path.to.value}
Sources:
input.*- Ensemble input<agent-name>.output.*- Agent outputsstate.*- State variablesenv.*- Environment variables
Versioning Terms
Tag
What: A Git tag in the formatcomponents/{name}/{version} or agents/{name}/{version}
Purpose: Mark specific commits as versions of components or agents
Examples:
Deployment
What: The act of marking a specific version as active in an environment Environments: Typicallyprod, staging, dev, canary (you define these)
Example:
Version Multiverse
What: The ability to run multiple versions of components and agents simultaneously Purpose: A/B testing, gradual rollouts, bug reproduction Example:Platform Terms
Workers
What: Cloudflare Workers - V8 isolates that run your code at the edge Properties:- Sub-50ms cold starts
- 200+ global locations
- Automatic scaling
- No server management
KV
What: Cloudflare KV - Distributed key-value storage Use cases:- Caching HTTP responses
- Caching agent outputs
- Storing deployment metadata
- Eventually consistent
- Global replication
- Low latency reads
D1
What: Cloudflare D1 - Distributed SQL database Use cases:- Storing structured data
- Analytics and reporting
- Audit trails
- SQLite-compatible
- Strongly consistent per location
- Global replication
R2
What: Cloudflare R2 - Object storage (S3-compatible) Use cases:- Document storage for RAG
- Large file uploads
- Backups
- No egress fees
- S3-compatible API
- Global availability
Vectorize
What: Cloudflare Vectorize - Vector database for embeddings Use cases:- Semantic search
- RAG pipelines
- Similarity matching
- Native integration with Workers AI
- Global distribution
- Low-latency queries
Durable Objects
What: Cloudflare Durable Objects - Strongly consistent, stateful objects Use cases:- HITL (human-in-the-loop) state
- Execution state tracking
- Coordination and locking
- Strongly consistent
- Single-threaded per object
- Global distribution
AI Gateway
What: Cloudflare AI Gateway - Caching and observability layer for AI providers Benefits:- Persistent caching of LLM responses
- Usage analytics and logging
- Rate limiting and cost control
- Works with OpenAI, Anthropic, Workers AI, etc.
Conductor-Specific Terms
Catalog
What: Pre-built components and agents that ship with Conductor Location:catalog/ directory in Conductor repository
Includes:
- Pre-built agents (scraper, validator, RAG, etc.)
- Example components (prompts, queries, configs)
- Example ensembles
Pre-built Agent
What: Production-ready agents that ship with Conductor Available:scraper- Web scraping with 3-tier fallbackvalidator- Quality scoring with multiple evaluatorsrag- RAG pipeline with R2 storagehitl- Human-in-the-loop approval workflowsfetcher- HTTP client with retry logictransformer- Data transformation utilitiesscheduler- Delayed/scheduled execution
Flow Control
What: Mechanisms for controlling agent execution order Types:- Sequential - Default, one after another
- Parallel - Multiple agents run simultaneously
- Conditional - Run based on conditions
- Loops - Iterate over collections
- Retry - Automatic retry with backoff
Edgit-Specific Terms
Component Registry
What: The.edgit/components.json file that tracks all components
Contains:
- Component names and types
- File paths
- Metadata
- Dependencies
Discovery
What: The process of finding potential components in your repository Commands:Deployment Tag
What: A Git tag marking which version is deployed to an environment Format:components/{name}/{environment} or agents/{name}/{environment}
Example:
Common Patterns
Component Versioning Pattern
Agent Definition Pattern
Ensemble Orchestration Pattern
Capability Matrix
What each entity can do:| Entity | Use Components | Use Operations | Use Tools | Call Agents | Call Ensembles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ensemble | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Agent | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Operation | ✗ | N/A | N/A | ✗ | ✗ |
| Component | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |

