Execution Naming Glossary

Execution Naming Glossary

FractalOps has too many surfaces that can “run” something. Do not use runtime as the generic word for all of them.

Canonical Names

Name	Owns	Does not own
Harness Runtime	AgentSquad lifecycle, graph state, retry, replay, next action	Provider machines, source files, deploy artifacts
Temporal workflow	durable schedule, deadline, retry policy, activity execution	Agent graph memory, Studio projection, file sync
execution surface	provider surface where work can run	Lifecycle policy or proof
execution workspace	one leased workspace for an agent attempt	Shared product meaning, Git ownership
agent process adapter	one CLI/browser/LangGraph attempt executor	Workspace provisioning or graph lifecycle
workspace bootstrap asset	file delivery before an agent starts	Source truth or delivery proof
source ref bundle	read-only source/reference archive	Agent-owned output
agent-owned worktree	writable Git checkout for one agent lane	Cross-agent shared context
assembly worktree	shared read/observation checkout	Git ownership for an agent lane
deploy image	CI-built container artifact	Agent lifecycle or workspace lease
runtime asset	typed platform/API machine selector	AgentSquad prose default
runtime asset control	application contract for machine command/HTTP control	Generic workflow orchestration
executor URL	machine-facing control URL	Human navigation
public URL	browser-facing human URL	Internal command execution

Replacement Rules

• Say Harness Runtime only for LangGraph/AgentSquad lifecycle.
• Say Temporal workflow for deadlines, retries, and durable activities.
• Say execution surface for Daytona, Dokploy, PlaywrightGrid, or any provider surface in AgentSquad prose.
• Say execution workspace for the leased per-attempt workspace.
• Say agent process adapter for Claude/Codex/ZAI/browser execution mode.
• Say deploy image for CI image artifacts.
• Say runtime asset only at platform/API compatibility boundaries.

Compatibility Fields

Existing payloads may still contain these names. Treat them as wire fields, not new product language.

• runtime_kind = delivery graph kind.
• runtimeKind = agent process adapter kind.
• runtime image = platform release artifact field.
• BOARD_STATUS = legacy AGENT_HUD_STATUS.

Naming Smells

Change new prose or code review comments when they use:

• runtime to mean workspace.
• runtime to mean provider surface.
• runtime to mean deploy image.
• runtime to mean agent process.
• workspace to mean Git ownership.
• handoff to replace a delivery reference.

The narrow rule: one noun, one owner, one time axis.