lAItest / AI field guide · edition 2026-09-26
Know the language. Build with clarity.
Plain-English definitions for the concepts, patterns, protocols, and tools behind modern AI work.
414 defined terms · 16 topic areas · 50 essentials
Coding-agent internals terms
25 matching terms.
- Skill Concept · Coding-agent internals
A reusable procedure or knowledge package that an agent can load when relevant.
- AGENTS.md File convention · Coding-agent internals
Repository guidance for coding agents, such as conventions, architecture, test commands, and constraints.
- Artifact Concept · Coding-agent internals
A concrete output such as a patch, screenshot, report, test log, or build result.
- AST Concept · Coding-agent internals
Abstract syntax tree: a structural representation of parsed source code.
- Browser automation Concept · Coding-agent internals
Programmatic interaction with a browser to inspect or operate a running application.
- CLAUDE.md File convention · Coding-agent internals
A project instruction file used by Claude Code; loading and precedence are product-specific.
- Computer use Concept · Coding-agent internals
Operate an application through a computer interface rather than a purpose-built domain API.
- DOM snapshot Concept · Coding-agent internals
A representation of webpage structure or accessibility information used for inspection and automation.
- Git worktree Concept · Coding-agent internals
A separate working directory linked to a repository; it is not a security isolation boundary.
- Glob Concept · Coding-agent internals
A pattern-based file discovery operation.
- Grep Concept · Coding-agent internals
A text-search operation over file contents.
- Handoff artifact Concept · Coding-agent internals
A durable record of progress, decisions, unresolved issues, and next actions.
- Hook Concept · Coding-agent internals
Code triggered at a lifecycle event, such as before or after a tool call.
- LSP Protocol · Coding-agent internals
Language Server Protocol: standardized communication between editors and language-analysis services.
- MCP plugin Concept · Coding-agent internals
A product-dependent integration exposing or connecting MCP capabilities; not a universal packaging format.
- Patch / edit tool Concept · Coding-agent internals
A controlled file-change operation that modifies selected content rather than regenerating the entire artifact.
- Read Concept · Coding-agent internals
A tool primitive that returns selected file content.
- Repository map Concept · Coding-agent internals
A compact structural overview of important files, symbols, or dependencies.
- Rules / steering files Concept · Coding-agent internals
Product-specific instructions scoped to a project, file type, situation, or workflow.
- Sandbox Concept · Coding-agent internals
An execution environment with enforced isolation and access or resource restrictions.
- Shell / terminal tool Concept · Coding-agent internals
An operation for running commands, builds, tests, and local programs.
- SKILL.md File convention · Coding-agent internals
A skill's metadata and procedural instructions, optionally accompanied by scripts and reference files.
- Slash command Concept · Coding-agent internals
A user-facing shortcut that invokes a prompt, skill, or workflow.
- Symbol indexing Concept · Coding-agent internals
Index names, definitions, references, and relationships in a codebase.
- Tool allowlist / denylist Concept · Coding-agent internals
Explicitly permitted or prohibited operations enforced by a runtime or policy layer.
Browse by topic
- Agents & architecture 23 — Who decides, what executes, and where control lives.
- Goals, specs & plans 23 — Describe the outcome before delegating the implementation.
- Loops, critics & adversaries 33 — Understand how work is challenged, repaired, and stopped.
- Multi-agent coordination 21 — Delegation, ownership, context boundaries, and aggregation.
- Context & memory 29 — What the model sees now, and what persists for later.
- Tools & output contracts 20 — Model proposals become validated, authorized operations.
- Protocols & interoperability 19 — Name the boundary: tools, agents, editors, or interfaces.
- Coding-agent internals 25 — Instructions, skills, hooks, tools, and durable artifacts.
- Retrieval & knowledge 31 — Find evidence, rank it, and preserve source boundaries.
- Evals & observability 29 — Measure outcomes and inspect the execution path.
- Inference & performance 28 — Latency, throughput, compute, and memory are different constraints.
- Models, reasoning & training 36 — Separate weight changes from context and inference-time work.
- Security & reliability 27 — Make privileges explicit and side effects recoverable.
- Generative UI & voice 18 — The interaction layer has its own contracts and timing.
- Generative & physical AI 8 — Broader model families beyond text-based assistants.
- Tools & ecosystem 44 — Recognize the role before choosing the dependency.