Glossary

The words these docs use, in plain terms.

Word	Meaning
Adoption	When a plugin becomes one of Coder's defaults, after a Better result, three confirming checks by different people, and a Better validation. An OpenAgents operator signs it; it's never automatic.
Better, No clear change, Worse	The three verdicts of a plugin test: whether Coder did better with the plugin than without it.
Check	Rerunning someone else's published result. It confirms the result when you get the same verdict and disputes it when you don't.
Chat	Talking with OpenAgents. The same chat on the website, the Mac app, the iPhone app, and the Terminal.
Coder	Our coding agent. It does coding work on your own computer, with a coding agent you're signed in to there.
Coding agent	Codex, Claude Code, Grok Build, OpenCode, or Devin: the programs Coder runs to do the work. Also called engines.
Computer	A Mac, Linux, or Windows computer where Coder can run, which your phone can connect to.
Deck	A slide presentation the Mac app shows full screen.
Defaults	The plugins Coder uses for everyone, once their test results hold up.
Device key	The key your phone or computer makes the first time it runs. It signs your messages and holds access to your computers.
Grid	The Verse's shared world, where players walk around live and the Gym stands.
Gym	Where plugins are tested on Coder, with and without, and the results are published and checked.
Host	The background helper on a computer that keeps your chats, runs Coder, and answers your phone. The Mac app runs it for you.
Jev	A small, fast decision model from TypeSafe. It decides how we reply to each message, and estimates how much of Coder's work is done. It writes no reply text.
Knowledge	Cited reference entries, such as a method or how a command is used. A plugin can carry it; our product notes are knowledge too.
Level	Your trainer level, worked out from your XP. Level 2 at 100 XP, 3 at 283, 4 at 520.
Map	The Mac app's graph of how OpenAgents routes a message.
Microcoder	The engine Coder runs its turns through. It is part of Coder: it installs with Coder and comes inside the Mac app, with nothing separate to download.
Nostr	The open protocol of signed records OpenAgents runs on.
npub, nsec	A Nostr public key and secret key. Share an npub; never share an nsec.
Pairing	Connecting your phone to a computer by scanning its QR code.
Plugin	Anything you add to OpenAgents: skills, workflows, knowledge, Wasm, and the tests that show whether it helps.
Prepared answer	A reviewed answer we show at once when it fully answers a question.
Project	A Git checkout Coder works in.
Relay	A server that carries Nostr records. Ours is relay.openagents.com; it sees chat messages only encrypted.
Result	A published plugin test: what Coder passed with the plugin and without it, and the verdict.
Router	The part of OpenAgents that reads each message first and decides what serves it: a prepared answer, our notes, the chat model, Coder, or a screen.
Skill	Instructions the agent reads before a task. A plugin made in chat is a skill.
Test, test set	A test is one task for Coder with checks on how it went. A test set is a plugin's tests.
Thread	One conversation: one row in your chat list.
Trainer	You, in the Gym. Your trainer card shows your level and XP.
Validation	A second test set, written by someone else, that shows a plugin helps beyond its author's own tests.
Verse	The shared world in the apps. The Grid is its first place.
Wallet	The iPhone app's bitcoin wallet.
Wasm	Small sandboxed code a plugin can carry to do one bounded job. A workflow runs it.
Workflow	A typed, step-by-step program a plugin carries.
World key	A separate key for the Verse and your XP, kept apart from your device key.
Worktree	The separate copy of your project Coder works in, so your checkout stays as it was.
XP	Credit for work other people used. It isn't money.

The full engineering glossary is on GitHub.