Domain — ubiquitous language

Make the caller's domain language precise enough to use consistently in acceptance examples, code and conversation. A bounded context is the area in which a term has one agreed meaning and an owner for its rules. Different contexts may legitimately use the same word differently.

Procedure

1. Locate the caller repository's existing vocabulary owner from its instructions, domain docs or contracts. Read only the terms and context boundaries relevant to the task. Cite the source when returning a definition; a lookup is read-only. If no definition exists, distinguish an observed code name from a proposed term.
2. For an ambiguous term, identify the actor, state, operation and observable result it denotes. Compare the intended meaning with relevant callers, types and tests. Report a disagreement between code and accepted intent explicitly; neither silently rewriting intent to match code nor renaming a bug fixes it.
3. Use a concrete example to distinguish competing meanings. For branching behavior, express the consequential boundary as Given/When/Then. Reuse the accepted example in implementation and validation. Ask only when an unresolved distinction would change behavior or ownership; do not interview for a lookup.
4. Use the settled term in scenario names, operations, types and documentation. When a word crosses contexts, name each meaning and the translation between them instead of imposing one global definition. Keep naming changes within authorized scope; exported names, serialized fields and stored values may require compatibility work, not a cosmetic replacement.
5. When vocabulary refinement is authorized, update its existing source owner with the meaning, relevant context and distinguishing example. Preserve useful aliases as explicit translations. Without an owner, return the proposal in the caller's existing intent or conversation; create no glossary by default. Return unresolved distinctions and stop when the next change can be named and judged consistently.

AgentOps terms

When AgentOps is the subject, its owners remain docs/contracts/ubiquitous-language.md and, for responsibilities and ports, docs/contracts/bounded-contexts.yaml. Return their exact definitions and source paths. Do not apply AgentOps vocabulary to an unrelated caller domain.

The synonym smuggling failure substitutes a word that changes a term's authority: calling a verdict a closure quietly assigns a tracker transition to judgment. The operations layer, federated integration graph, semantic work-and-proof protocol and RPI traversal retain their distinct meanings in the live contract. Queue, claim, lease, close, land, release and delivery remain caller-system responsibilities. Vocabulary edits do not authorize those transitions.

References

• Caller vocabulary examples
• Upstream capability reference — Matt Pocock; original AgentOps adaptation.

Applicable engineering standards

Load only the language or risk guidance needed for the current change from standards references. Repository contracts and the actual toolchain take precedence. A vocabulary lookup does not require a coding-standards survey, and these references do not create a second approval or validation lane.

Choose just the applicable reference:

• Languages: Go, Python, Rust, JavaScript, TypeScript, shell.
• Data and prose: JSON, YAML, Markdown.
• Relevant risk: concurrency, SQL, LLM trust.
• Test design: test pyramid; package form: skill structure.