Canonical terminology for the HELM open standard.
| Term |
Definition |
| Execution Authority |
The layer that determines whether a proposed side effect may execute under policy, scope, and proof requirements. |
| HELM OSS |
The open execution kernel — fail-closed enforcement, ProofGraph, EvidencePacks, policy surfaces. |
| HELM Platform |
The commercial control plane around the kernel — Mission Control, workspaces, pack distribution, enterprise governance. |
| Mission Control |
The authoritative operator surface for managing governed execution across an organization. |
| Term |
Definition |
| OrgDNA |
The evolving organizational model: structure, authority, and constraints as code. |
| OrgGenome |
The compiled specification of an organization: role lattice, authority graph, policy, budgets, jurisdictions. |
| OrgPhenotype |
The runtime artifact produced by compiling an OrgGenome. |
| Principal |
A human, agent, or system actor capable of holding authority. |
| OrgUnit |
A recursive organizational hierarchy node (team, division, squad, pod). |
| Role |
A set of responsibilities and permissions assignable to principals. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) |
The deterministic boundary that allows or denies side effects. |
| Constraint and Proof Interface (CPI) |
The validator that checks plans and execution context before the PEP decides. |
| Verified Genesis Loop (VGL) |
The protocol for compiling and activating OrgGenome with deterministic reflection and explicit approval. |
| Verified Policy Loop (VPL) |
The protocol for applying policy changes with deterministic evaluation and receipted approval. |
| KernelVerdict |
The signed decision output of the PEP (PASS/FAIL/DEFER). |
| EffectPermit |
Single-use, scoped, signed authorization token binding a verdict to a specific connector action. |
| Authority Evaluation |
The Stage 2 pipeline determining scope, delegation, and approval requirements. |
| Term |
Definition |
| ProofGraph |
Immutable causal graph of intents, decisions, receipts, and effects. |
| EvidencePack |
Deterministic evidence bundle for replay and verification. |
| Receipt |
Cryptographic proof that a governed allow or deny decision happened. |
| InterventionReceipt |
Cryptographic proof that a human made a governance decision. |
| DenialTrace |
Post-hoc forensic analysis of why an execution was denied. |
| Term |
Definition |
| TruthObject |
An immutable versioned governance artifact (policy, schema, regulation). |
| Truth Registry |
The versioned store of all governance truth — what rules were active when. |
| PolicyEpoch |
A monotonically increasing identifier for a specific policy snapshot. |
| Lineage |
The provenance chain linking truth objects through DERIVED_FROM, SUPERSEDES, AMENDS relations. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Effect |
A typed side effect produced by agent execution (READ, WRITE, DELETE, EXECUTE, NETWORK, FINANCE). |
| Connector |
A bounded execution adapter that performs exactly the action permitted by an EffectPermit. |
| Effects Gateway |
The single execution chokepoint — ALL external effects transit through this gateway. |
| NonceStore |
Anti-replay protection ensuring each EffectPermit is consumed exactly once. |
| Term |
Definition |
| Reference System |
A real system used to prove HELM under demanding operational conditions. |
| Organizational Execution Substrate |
The long-horizon category HELM defines: infrastructure where humans, agents, software, policy, and physical systems become co-executors. |
| Pack |
A distributable, versioned capability bundle with an ABI surface. |
| Surface Compiler |
The compiler that transforms Packs into provider-specific deployable bundles. |
