# Glossary

Terms used in `writing-great-bcps`. Each is a lever, not decoration.

## Predictability

The agent takes the same *process* every run. Not the same sentence. A BCP that forces "fetch claims.md before stating a figure" is predictable. A BCP that hopes the model will be careful is not.

## Context pointer

A reference held in context that names out-of-context material and the condition for reaching it. `brand.md` is the package's pointer. A `daughter_files` entry is a pointer. Weak wording in the root is a variance bug: sharpen the fetch map before inlining the daughter.

## Branch

A distinct case the package handles, so different runs take different paths. Voice work fetches `voice.md`. A statistic fetches `claims.md`. Synonyms that rename one case are one branch written twice.

## Context load

Tokens and attention spent because the root was fetched. Always-on. Prune `brand.md` harder than any daughter.

## Cognitive load

What the human must remember: that the package exists, who owns it, when to revise it, where the human-readable overview lives. Not a cost to minimise everywhere. Spend it where human judgement matters (approval of claims, DNS verification). Remove it where a pointer can do the work.

## Information hierarchy

The ladder: in-root step, in-file reference, disclosed daughter. Progressive disclosure moves material down the ladder so the top stays legible. Co-location keeps a concept's definition, rules, and caveats under one heading.

## Sprawl

A file that is too long even when every line is live. Attention thins. Cure: disclose and split by branch.

## Completion criterion

The condition that tells the agent the step is done. Must be checkable. "Understanding reached" is not. "Every number in the package appears in claims.md" is.

## Leading word

A compact concept the model thinks with (`plainspoken`, `wayfinding`, `elephant`). Recruits priors. A made-up word pays definition tokens. Reach for an existing word first.

## Negation

Steering by prohibition. Naming the forbidden behaviour makes it more available. Cure: prompt the positive. Keep a hard no only as a guardrail, paired with the allowed alternative.

## Negative space

What the package omits is delegated to the agent's priors, not left neutral. Silence on official vs demonstration reads as official. Decide each omission.

## Single source of truth

One authoritative place per meaning. For figures, `claims.md`. Duplication inflates prominence and drifts.

## Cache

Markdown that restates a live environment (the website, a pricing table, a DNS record). Earns its load only when the lookup is expensive. Otherwise point, or date the snapshot and say when to reverify.

## No-op

An instruction the model already obeys by default. "Be clear." Delete the sentence. The test is whether behavior changes versus the unconditioned model, not whether a human reader finds it nice.

## Sediment

Stale layers that settle because adding feels safe and removing feels risky. Prune on every revise.

## Elephant

A boundary that only names the forbidden thing. Don't think of an elephant.

## Wayfinding

The root's job: identity, provenance, and which file to fetch. Not the brochure.

## Claimed vs verified

Registry publications are integrity-signed. `claimed` means live and account-managed, not domain-proven. `verified` plus `official_brand_source: true` requires a current DNS attestation. Do not use the words as synonyms.

## Internal consumption

Using the BCP inside the company: authors, vendors, the brand's own agents. A package that only works as an external GEO file is half a product.

## Human layer

An HTML overview of the same package so a non-technical reader can see what the files do. Agents read markdown. Buyers read pages. Both are required.