Vocabulary

llm-core gives portable values and live values different names. A portable value is JSON-compatible and safe to validate, store, or send. A live value holds behavior or a handle to work executing now.

This page describes the currently shipped contracts. Not every public type belongs to ordinary application usage:

Level	When you need it	Typical language
Common	Describe portable intent and evidence	agent definition, tool, workflow intent, result, conversation state
Extension	Implement a runtime, store, adapter or safety boundary	runner, port, policy, receipt, checkpoint
Internal	Understand core implementation mechanics	binding provenance, registration, coordinator

Current low-level composition APIs expose some extension types directly. Their presence here does not mean every application owns their implementation. The sections below document them precisely so you can identify where application, runner, adapter and storage responsibilities differ.

Agents

Term	Meaning
AgentRun	Live handle exposing AgentEvent values, controls, and one terminal result.
AgentResult	Terminal result: completed, failed, denied, or cancelled.
AgentEvent	Typed lifecycle event for one agent run. It is distinct from controlled-effect evidence.
AgentDefinition	Portable identity, instructions, requirements, metadata, and skills.
PreparedAgentDefinition	Definition prepared and provenanced by one compatible runner.
AgentRunner	Extension port that reports a profile, prepares definitions, starts runs, and may support resume.
AgentRunnerProfile	Supported runtime behavior and optional controls.
AgentStartRequest	Extension request containing a prepared definition, invocation context, and portable input.

Workflows

Term	Meaning
WorkflowExecutionPlan	Portable declarative workflow intent projected by an explicit runtime target.
Native workflow	Graph or durable workflow owned and executed by a qualified integration.

A recipe may be an application pattern or a preconfigured workflow in your own code. It is not a public llm-core type or package export.

Models and tools

Term	Meaning
ModelRef	Logical model selection intent, separate from provider, deployment, endpoint, and credentials.
ModelRequest / ModelResponse	Provider-neutral portable model boundary.
ModelProfile	Input description of one model binding and its evidence-backed capabilities.
RegisteredModelProfile	Validated, cloned, immutable profile accepted by the resolver.
Tool	Ready common object created with defineTool.
ToolConfig	Common name, description, input contract, effect, and execute function.
ToolDefinition	Extension identity, registered schema, effects, and execution semantics.
ExecutableTool	Provenanced runtime tool that validates before execution.
ToolCall / ToolExecutionResult	Portable request and result at the runtime tool boundary.
BoundAction	Canonical action document bound to authority, effects, and an exact digest.

Control and evidence

Term	Meaning
PolicyDecision	Evidence-backed policy verdict for an exact action.
ApprovalRequest / ApprovalDecision	Authenticated decision boundary bound to an exact action and time window.
InterventionRequest	Structured request that hands control back during a run.
ToolExecutionEvent	Redacted projection of one controlled tool-execution transition. It is not an agent event or a trace.
EventSink	Best-effort projection port. It is not authoritative storage.
ToolExecutionReceipt	Durable storage-neutral lifecycle record for one controlled effect.

State and durability

Term	Meaning
LiveContinuation	Process-local handle. It is intentionally not portable.
Snapshot	Portable point-in-time observation with no resume guarantee.
ResumableCheckpoint	Portable runtime-owned checkpoint before registration.
RegisteredResumableCheckpoint	Validated checkpoint accepted for compatibility checking and resume.
ProviderSessionRef	Opaque continuity reference owned by a provider session.
DurableExecutionHandle	Reference to work whose history, timers, retries, and signals are owned by an external durable runtime.

Context, artifacts, and evaluation

Term	Meaning
ContextEntry	Portable context item with scope, provenance, priority, cost, and closed content.
ContextSelection	Immutable context selection with explicit budget accounting and derived identity.
Artifact	Portable output identity, integrity, content reference, and provenance.
ArtifactRef	Stable reference to an artifact without a physical locator.
EvaluationCase	Immutable evidence-bound subject and criteria for evaluation.
EvaluationEvaluatorDescriptor	Portable evaluator identity and version.
EvaluationResult	Deterministically ordered judgements stamped from the validated case and registered evaluators.

Bindings and interaction

Term	Meaning
Capability binding	Evidence-backed portable descriptor paired with an exact immutable live port facade.
InvocationContext	Portable identity and authority passed separately through a capability port.
ConversationEvent	User-facing event projected from canonical interaction facts.
ConversationSnapshot	Portable point-in-time conversation state with no runtime-resume guarantee.
ConversationMessage	Portable role-and-content message stored by the memory capability.
ConversationRunRecord	Terminal run history stored in a durable conversation snapshot.
InteractionEvent	Extension union of agent, controlled-execution, and registered content events accepted by interaction projection.
InteractionProjection	Extension state reduced deterministically from ordered interaction events.
InteractionSession	Extension service that reserves conversation revisions, starts explicit runners, persists snapshots, and exposes raw events.

Boundaries

Term	Meaning
Capability	Stable contract and behavior owned by core.
Qualified adapter	Explicit integration subpath that maps native values to a core contract or projects core events to a host.
Contract	Typed portable shape at a process, runtime, storage, or integration boundary.

Qualify broad nouns such as Context, State, Memory, Runtime, Profile, Result, and Thread so the name identifies its exact lifetime and owner.