Glossary

Definitions for terms used across Lamina documentation. Terms link to deeper pages where available.

Actor

A role that interacts with the product — e.g. traveler, hotel operator, admin. Actors have goals, permissions, and distinct workflows. Defined in .lamina/personas.json during /lamina-init and referenced in run.json.

See Personas and Global artifacts.

Brownfield

An existing codebase with a running product. Lamina reads the repo, walks the live UI, and may verify without a prior design run. Contrast with greenfield.

See Brownfield and greenfield.

Business context

The domain charter in .lamina/business-context.md. Output of /lamina-init. Scopes problem statement, goals, scope boundaries, and constraints before any flow design.

Complete

Run status set by /lamina-verify when persona walks finish. A run can be complete with open findings — check findings[] in run.json.

Contract

The complete product behavior specification for a run. Composed of run.json (machine contract) and implement.md (build handoff). Your agent implements the contract; Lamina verifies against it.

See Contracts & runs.

Dependency

A reachability rule in dependencies[]. If workflow A requires entity B in state X and B is unreachable, A fails — not as an ad-hoc edge case but as a structural dependency violation.

See run.json schema.

Designing

Initial run status during /lamina-design. The contract is in progress — entities, workflows, and scenarios are being written.

Direct mode

Invoking /lamina with a focused question routes to a single capability skill (e.g. invariants, error handling) without a full design run.

See /lamina command.

Domain

The problem space you are designing for — e.g. “hotel booking marketplace” or “exam hall ticket system.” Broader than a single feature or workflow.

Domain charter

Synonym for business context. The output of /lamina-init.

Finding

A verification observation recorded during /lamina-verify — a product gap, contract gap, or operational note. Stored in findings[] on run.json with expected vs observed behavior. Product and contract findings appear in fix.md; fix_target: ops observations stay in report.md only.

See Working with findings.

fix_target

Required per-finding field naming who addresses the gap:

• product — your coding agent fixes app code from fix.md
• contract — re-run /lamina-design with a scoped update
• ops — report-only observation in report.md; excluded from fix.md; does not block product/contract exit

Greenfield

A new product with no existing app. Lamina designs from stakeholder input via /lamina-init and /lamina-design. Contrast with brownfield.

Hook

Field on run.json indicating which phase started the run: design or verify.

Implement brief

The implement.md file written at ready_to_build. Stack-agnostic build handoff for your coding agent.

Invariant

A rule that must always hold — e.g. “at most one active booking hold per room-night” or “payment requires a confirmed hold.” Defined in invariants[] and enforced by referenced operations.

Init gate

Prerequisite enforced by Lamina: /lamina-design and /lamina-verify require a valid .lamina/business-context.md from /lamina-init. Cannot be bypassed.

Persona walk

A verification pass where a subagent navigates your live application as a specific actor, checking workflows and invariants against the contract. One subagent per primary actor during /lamina-verify.

See Personas.

ready_to_build

Contract status indicating the design is complete enough for your agent to implement. Set by /lamina-design when actors, states, workflows, scenarios, and dependencies are specified.

Run

A single design-verify cycle identified by a run id (e.g. havenstay-platform-2026-07-10). All per-run artifacts live in .lamina/runs/<id>/.

Scenario

An edge case in run.json scenarios[] — permission denial, unmet dependency, invariant violation, or conflict recovery. Categories include permission and precondition.

Screen

A structural UX surface in run.json surfaces[]. Tied to workflows but contains no styling — only new vs existing status and optional repo source path.

State

A condition an entity can be in — e.g. pending_payment, confirmed, cancelled. States have defined transitions and may have recovery paths when transitions fail.

Verifying

Run status during /lamina-verify. Persona walks, accessibility checks, invariant probes, and reachability probes are in progress.

Walkthrough

Evidence captured in .lamina/runs/<id>/walkthrough/ during verify — screenshots and annotations from live-app navigation at base_url.

Workflow

A sequence of operations an actor follows to accomplish a goal — e.g. traveler checkout: search → select room → hold → pay → confirm. Workflows reference dependencies via requires[] and steps via operation.

See The loop.

Next steps

• Per-run artifacts — file reference
• run.json schema — complete field reference
• Skill map — capability skills behind Lamina