---
title: Glossary
description: Acronyms and domain terms that show up across TnsAI docs, in one place.
---

# Glossary

Quick lookup for the abbreviations and TnsAI-specific terms that appear in the rest of the documentation. Linked terms go to the page that explains the concept in depth.

| Term | Definition |
|------|------------|
| **Action** | A unit of work an agent can execute. Declared via `@ActionSpec` on a role method. |
| **Agent** | Long-lived orchestrator. The chat loop is LLM + registered tools, not a BDI interpreter. `Agent` has no belief/desire/intention getters. |
| **AgentAdvisor** | **Planned** interceptor SPI (`beforeModel` / `afterModel` / `beforeTool` / `afterTool`). Not on Maven Central 0.14.1. See [TAN-5769](https://linear.app/tansuasici-workspace-1/issue/TAN-5769) and [AOSE](../community/aose.md). |
| **AOSE** | Agent-oriented software engineering. TnsAI’s contributor framing — roles, goals, organizations, protocols — mapped onto types in [AOSE methodology](../community/aose.md). |
| **BDI** | Belief–Desire–Intention model types (`Belief`, `Desire`, `Intention`) plus the `CognitiveModel.bdi()` SPI. Not seeded on `AgentBuilder` (TNS-541). |
| **Capability** | A reusable contract (interface with default-method actions) a role can implement. |
| **Channel** | Adapter for an external messaging platform — Telegram, Slack, CLI, Email, etc. |
| **FSM** | Finite State Machine. The agent lifecycle (`CREATED → STARTING → RUNNING → STOPPING → STOPPED` + `FAILED`) is one. |
| **GOAP** | Goal-Oriented Action Planning. One of the planners under `tnsai-intelligence`. |
| **HTN** | Hierarchical Task Network — the other built-in planning style. |
| **KB / Knowledge Base** | Vector + BM25-indexed corpus that backs `@KnowledgeSource` / `@Retrieval`. |
| **LAM** | Language-Action Model — the pattern that maps LLM output to typed action calls. See [LAM pattern](lam-pattern.md). |
| **MagenticFormation** | **Planned** orchestrator + specialist `Agent` roster (WebSurfer, FileSurfer, Coder, Terminal). Not on Maven Central 0.14.1. See [TAN-5773](https://linear.app/tansuasici-workspace-1/issue/TAN-5773) and [AOSE](../community/aose.md). |
| **MCP** | Model Context Protocol. Lets agents expose tools to (or consume tools from) MCP-compatible peers. |
| **PlannerType** | **Planned** public enum `GOAP \| UTILITY \| HYBRID`. Not on Maven Central 0.14.1. See [TAN-5767](https://linear.app/tansuasici-workspace-1/issue/TAN-5767) and [AOSE](../community/aose.md). |
| **RAG** | Retrieval-Augmented Generation. |
| **ReAct** | Reasoning-and-Acting pattern: interleave LLM "thought" steps with tool calls. |
| **ResolutionMode** | **Planned** `FOCUSED \| CLOSED \| OPEN` agent selection. Not on Maven Central 0.14.1. See [TAN-5768](https://linear.app/tansuasici-workspace-1/issue/TAN-5768) and [AOSE](../community/aose.md). |
| **Role** | Bundle of capabilities and actions an agent plays. |
| **SCOP** | A separate Java multi-agent framework — see [scop-framework.netlify.app](https://scop-framework.netlify.app/). TnsAI ships an [integration bridge](../integrate/scop.md). |
| **SPI** | Service Provider Interface — Java's `ServiceLoader` discovery pattern, the framework's main extensibility seam. |
| **ToT** | Tree of Thoughts — branching reasoning pattern that explores multiple lines before committing. |