AI Agent & Infrastructure Glossary
Precise definitions of the technical terms behind osModa's AI-native platform. Each entry covers the general concept, how osModa implements it, and links to deeper documentation. Built on real architecture: NixOS + Rust, 10 daemons, 92 tools.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
The open protocol for connecting AI agents to external tools and data sources via structured JSON-RPC.
Agentic AI
AI systems that perceive, reason, and act autonomously to accomplish goals without step-by-step human instruction.
Tool Use in AI Agents
The mechanism by which AI agents invoke structured functions to interact with external systems and APIs.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
An architecture that augments LLM generation with retrieved context from external knowledge stores.
Atomic Rollback
A deployment mechanism where system changes either apply completely or not at all, enabling instant reversion to a previous state.
Watchdog Daemon
A supervisor process that monitors services and automatically restarts them on crash or health check failure.
Hash Chain Audit Log
A tamper-evident logging structure where each entry is cryptographically linked to the previous one via SHA-256 hashes.
x402 Protocol
An HTTP-native payment protocol that uses USDC stablecoins for signupless, pay-per-request API access.
NixOS
A declarative Linux distribution where the entire system configuration is defined in a single reproducible specification.
Multi-Agent System
An architecture where multiple autonomous AI agents coordinate to solve problems beyond the scope of a single agent.
Self-Healing Infrastructure
Infrastructure that automatically detects, diagnoses, and recovers from failures without human intervention.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this glossary for?
This glossary defines the core technical terms used across osModa's documentation, including AI agent concepts (agentic AI, tool use, RAG, multi-agent systems), infrastructure concepts (NixOS, atomic rollback, watchdog daemons), security concepts (hash chain audit logs), and protocol concepts (MCP, x402). Each definition uses real platform data from osModa's architecture.
Who is this glossary written for?
Engineers, DevOps practitioners, and AI builders who are evaluating or using osModa and need precise definitions of the technical concepts underlying the platform. Each term is defined with enough depth for a practitioner, not just a surface-level marketing definition.
How are these terms related to osModa?
Every term in this glossary maps directly to a component or capability of the osModa platform. MCP relates to osmoda-mcpd, watchdog daemons to osmoda-watch, hash chains to the SHA-256 audit ledger, atomic rollback to NixOS SafeSwitch, and so on. The definitions explain both the general concept and how osModa implements it.
Are these definitions vendor-neutral?
Each entry starts with a vendor-neutral definition of the concept, then explains how osModa implements it. The general definition is accurate regardless of which platform you use. The osModa-specific context shows how the concept applies in practice on this particular infrastructure.
How often is the glossary updated?
The glossary is updated whenever osModa adds new capabilities or when industry terminology evolves. Each entry includes context about how the term is used in current production AI agent infrastructure as of 2026.
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