Concepts

A quick reference for the terms you will encounter throughout the Apothem documentation.

Shared profile

A schema-validated YAML file at ~/.config/apothem/profile.yaml (override with --profile PATH). It is the single source of truth for your identity, preferences, and configuration; every harness adapter reads it on install and derives that harness's native config from it.

Harness adapter

A per-platform adapter that translates the shared profile into the native config format for a specific harness. The supported runtimes are listed in:

Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, etc.

Installing Apothem always means: install the shared profile, then materialize one or more adapters.

Behavioral rule

A Markdown file under src/apothem/rules/ that is loaded on every interaction (always-on) or only when editing files under a specific path (path-filtered). Rules codify how the harness should behave.

Hook

A Python script registered in settings.json that fires on harness lifecycle events (PreToolUse, PostToolUse, SessionStart, PreCompact, Stop, PostCompact). Hooks enforce conformity mandates in real-time before output reaches disk. The hook event model is a Claude Code surface today; adapters for harnesses without a hook mechanism simply omit it.

Conformity gate

The mechanical fraction of the fifteen-bar pre-emission gate (M1-M15) — the standalone validators that must pass before any artifact is emitted. The pre-emission gate is the quality floor; the conformity gate runs its machine-checkable bars, and hooks enforce individual bars in real-time.

Plan suite

A structured directory at <project-root>/.apothem/plans/<suite-name>/ containing a spec, a master plan, per-phase PHASE.md files, and output artifacts. The /plan pipeline manages plan suites.

Skill

A reusable, slash-command-invocable technique bundled as a SKILL.md file under src/apothem/skills/<name>/. Skills extend the slash-command surface beyond the built-in /plan pipeline.

Delegated worker

A persistent, purpose-scoped assistant defined at the canonical path:

src/apothem/agents/<name>.md

Delegated workers handle research, auditing, quality checking, and memory management.