7.5 KiB
Project Thoth Glossary
Version: 1.0
Status: Canonical Terminology
Purpose
This glossary defines the canonical vocabulary used throughout Project Thoth.
The purpose of this document is to ensure that humans, AI assistants, and automated tooling use the same terminology consistently.
Where possible, each concept has exactly one preferred term.
A
Archive
The permanent collection of canonical source artifacts captured by Project Thoth.
The archive is the authoritative source of knowledge for the project.
Examples include:
- conversations
- images
- attachments
- audio
- video
The archive is immutable.
Artifact
Any file produced or managed by Project Thoth.
Artifacts fall into two categories:
- Canonical Artifacts
- Generated Artifacts
C
Canonical Artifact
An artifact considered the permanent source of truth.
Examples:
conversation.md- Original attachments
- Images
- Audio
- Video
Canonical artifacts are preserved indefinitely.
Capture
The act of preserving information from an external source.
Capture is deterministic.
Capture never interprets the information being preserved.
Capture Connector
A platform-specific adapter responsible for preserving source material.
Responsibilities include:
- Discovering conversations
- Preserving formatting
- Preserving ordering
- Producing canonical source artifacts
Capture Connectors never perform semantic analysis or AI reasoning.
Examples:
- ChatGPT Connector
- Claude Connector
- Gemini Connector
- Open WebUI Connector
Capture Pipeline
The sequence of stages that transforms external content into canonical Project Thoth artifacts.
Defined in ADR-002.
Discovery
↓
Intermediate Representation
↓
Transformation
↓
Serialization
Collection
A logical grouping of related canonical artifacts.
Collections may represent:
- projects
- research topics
- books
- clients
- domains
Collections organize knowledge without altering source artifacts.
Conversation
A chronological exchange between one or more participants.
A conversation is preserved as a canonical artifact.
Conversation Turn
A single exchange within a conversation.
A turn represents exactly one logical contribution from a participant.
A turn may contain:
- paragraphs
- lists
- tables
- images
- code blocks
- attachments
A turn is never divided into multiple Project Thoth messages.
D
Derived Artifact
An artifact generated from canonical source material.
Derived artifacts may always be regenerated.
Examples include:
- metadata
- manifests
- harvests
- embeddings
- search indexes
Discovery
The process of locating logical content within an external system.
Discovery is platform-specific.
Discovery does not perform formatting or interpretation.
G
Generated Artifact
See Derived Artifact.
H
Harvest
A synthesized knowledge artifact produced from one or more canonical sources.
Harvests represent interpretation rather than preservation.
Harvests are always generated.
I
Intermediate Representation (IR)
The platform-neutral model produced after discovery.
The IR separates platform-specific extraction from platform-independent processing.
The IR is not normally stored permanently.
K
Knowledge Repository
The organized collection of canonical and generated artifacts managed by Project Thoth.
The repository represents the project's complete preserved knowledge.
M
Manifest
A generated document describing a collection of artifacts.
A manifest typically records:
- included files
- relationships
- metadata
- processing status
Manifests are generated and may be regenerated at any time.
Markdown
The canonical document format used by Project Thoth.
Markdown is preferred because it is:
- human-readable
- portable
- version-control friendly
- widely supported
Metadata
Structured information describing an artifact.
Examples include:
- title
- author
- capture date
- source platform
- tags
- relationships
Metadata is generated from canonical artifacts.
P
Philosophy
The enduring principles that guide architectural decisions.
The philosophy explains why Project Thoth is designed the way it is.
Processor
A platform-independent component that transforms canonical artifacts into generated artifacts.
Examples include:
- Metadata Generator
- Manifest Generator
- Harvest Generator
Processors never modify canonical artifacts.
Project Self-Description
The collection of documents contained within the .thoth directory.
These documents allow humans and AI systems to understand the project without relying on external knowledge.
R
Repository
The complete Project Thoth project, including:
- applications
- archive
- processors
- documentation
- specifications
- work orders
- canonical project description
S
Serialization
The process of writing transformed content into a canonical Project Thoth document.
Examples include:
conversation.md- metadata files
- manifests
Source Artifact
A canonical artifact captured directly from an external source.
Source artifacts are never regenerated.
Source Platform
The external system from which information was captured.
Examples:
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
- Microsoft Copilot
- Open WebUI
Specification
A document defining the canonical structure of Project Thoth artifacts.
Specifications describe formats rather than implementations.
T
Transformation
The process of converting source content into canonical Project Thoth formats.
Examples include:
- HTML → Markdown
- DOM → Intermediate Representation
Transformation does not alter meaning.
Turn Renderer
A component responsible for converting one Conversation Turn into canonical Markdown.
A Turn Renderer never discovers conversation turns.
V
Vault
A user-managed knowledge repository containing canonical Project Thoth artifacts.
The vault is tool-independent.
Applications such as Obsidian, VS Code, or future tools may operate on the same vault.
The vault is not defined by any particular application.
W
Work Order
A structured engineering document describing a discrete unit of implementation work.
A Work Order contains:
- context
- objectives
- constraints
- acceptance criteria
- architectural guidance
Work Orders are intended to be executable by either human developers or AI assistants.
Work Orders are stored under the codex/ directory.
Canonical Terminology
The following preferred terms should be used consistently throughout Project Thoth.
| Preferred | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Archive | Database (when referring to preserved knowledge) |
| Capture Connector | Scraper |
| Conversation Turn | Message Block |
| Derived Artifact | Output File |
| Discovery | DOM Parsing |
| Intermediate Representation | Temporary Object |
| Markdown Serialization | Export |
| Processor | Script |
| Source Artifact | Raw File |
| Vault | Obsidian Vault |
Naming Principles
When introducing new terminology:
- Prefer nouns over verbs.
- Use one canonical term for each concept.
- Avoid vendor-specific language.
- Prefer platform-neutral terminology.
- Preserve consistency over novelty.
Final Principle
A shared vocabulary is part of the project's architecture.
When every contributor—human or AI—uses the same words to describe the same concepts, communication becomes more precise, architectural decisions become easier to understand, and knowledge becomes more durable.