Glossary
draftWorking version; details still being settled.
A single dictionary of Astrolune terms and abbreviations. When a new term is introduced in any document, record it here.
Consensus
| Term | Expansion | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| PoTB | Proof of Trusted Behavior | The network's consensus model: the right to finalise blocks is determined by time spent behaving honestly, by observable behaviour and by the trust graph, not by a purchasable resource. |
| TBS | Time-Behavior Score | A component of node weight: the logarithm of uptime × correctness, plus a loyalty bonus for tenure beyond one year. |
| TGW | Trust Graph Weight | A component of node weight: the node's position in the trust graph (SybilRank + TDI + external challenges). |
| NDM | Network Diversity Multiplier | A soft multiplier over ASN diversity. A supporting layer only — evadable with residential proxies. |
| COD | Cluster Ownership Dampening | An anti-correlation multiplier: it suppresses the combined weight of statistically related groups of nodes. |
| TDI | Temporal Dispersion Index | The dispersion of the arrival times of a node's inbound attestations; a low TDI is a signature of a coordinated farm launch. |
| VRF | Verifiable Random Function | A verifiable random function; selects the per-block committee. |
| VDF | Verifiable Delay Function | A function with a verifiable delay; protects the seed against timing manipulation. |
| BFT | Byzantine Fault Tolerance | The class of finalisation algorithms tolerant of some fraction of malicious participants. |
| Committee | — | A set of 100 nodes selected by VRF that finalises blocks. Partial rotation, ~10% per block. |
| Epoch | — | A period (1 day) at the end of which TGW is recomputed and external challenges are issued. |
| Quorum | — | Votes required for BFT finality: floor(2n/3) + 1. |
| Slashing | — | Reduction of a node's TBS for an observed offence. Multiplicative, so repeated offences compound and no sequence can drive a score negative. |
| Operational bond | — | A voluntary stake serving as evidence of infrastructure investment. Carries no consensus weight; it affects only 15% of the reward. |
Execution and contracts
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| VM | The Astrolune virtual machine — executes contract bytecode deterministically on every node. |
| ISA | Instruction Set Architecture — the VM bytecode instruction set. |
| Trocto (.tc) | The high-level contract language, safe by default. Compiles to Regol. |
| Regol (.rg) | The low-level language / intermediate representation (IR); compiles to VM bytecode. |
| Gas | The unit of account for computational resources consumed during contract execution. |
| Account | A state entity: either external (controlled by a key) or contract (controlled by code). |
Services
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| .lune | The network's own DNS zone: human-readable on-chain names → addresses/resources. |
| Storage | The network's own layer for storing large off-chain data (deferred; skeleton). |
| Proxy | The network's own traffic anonymisation / anti-censorship layer (deferred; skeleton). |
Node levels
| Level | Name | Entry condition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full/Relay node | Started the client — immediately |
| 2 | Committee candidate | TBS above the minimum threshold (weeks of operation) |
| 3 | Full validator | TBS and TGW above their thresholds, no penalties in history |
Implementation vocabulary
Terms that appear in the C core rather than in the protocol design. Full detail in ../08-implementation/core-api.md.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
al_fixed | Q32.32 fixed-point number in an int64_t. Every consensus-visible non-integer quantity is one of these; there is no floating point in the core. |
| Arena | A bump allocator with scoped reset. Block execution allocates from one and reclaims the whole burst with a single store. |
| Domain tag | A string prefix (AL_TAG_*) mixed into a structural hash so that two different object kinds can never produce the same digest from the same bytes. |
| Dev backend | The deterministic, deliberately insecure signature/VRF/VDF stand-in currently compiled in. See ../02-architecture/cryptography.md. |
| Protocol day | A day index derived from block height, never from a local clock. All PoTB time arithmetic uses it. |
Edit on GitHubSource: 00-overview/glossary.md