HELM Lexicon

Canonical terminology for the HELM open standard.

Core Product Terms

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.

Organizational Terms

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.

Governance Terms

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.

Evidence Terms

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.

Truth & Registry Terms

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.

Effect Terms

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.

Strategic Terms

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.