Glossary
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Repository Root:
The nearest ancestor of the working directory containing a .git file or directory. It is the sole boundary for repository-wide documentation, configuration, and validation.
Avoid: Project folder, working directory, target folder
Documentation Directory: A directory within the repository root whose documentation is governed by a profile. A repository may contain more than one documentation directory. Avoid: Docs folder, folder contents
Root Document: A profile-recognized agent document located directly in the repository root. Repository configuration may add root documents to those declared by the selected profile. Avoid: Top-level agent file, special file
Profile: A complete repository-wide documentation policy containing rules, defaults, templates, documentation directories, and root documents. Selecting a profile replaces the default profile rather than extending or merging with it. Avoid: Preset, ruleset, configuration
Built-in Profile: A complete profile distributed with Presswork and selectable by name. Avoid: Default rules, bundled config
Profile Version: The explicit contract version of a built-in profile. A configured repository selects a profile version so upgrading Presswork does not silently adopt new documentation requirements. Avoid: Presswork version, schema version
Basic Profile: The built-in profile Presswork applies when repository configuration does not select another profile. Avoid: Default profile, fallback profile
Matt Pocock Profile:
The complete Built-in Profile selected as mattpocock@1 by repositories using Matt Pocock agent-skill documentation conventions.
Avoid: Matt profile, skills profile
Presswork Configuration:
The repository-root presswork.json document that selects one complete Profile and may add repository-specific documentation locations, declarative Document Types, index policies, and Markdown semantics.
Avoid: Profile, manifest
Configuration Version:
The required version of the presswork.json contract, independent of the selected Profile Version.
Avoid: Profile version, schema URL
Recognized Document: A root document or a non-ignored document discovered recursively within a documentation directory. A directly encountered symbolic link is eligible when it resolves to a regular file inside the Repository Root. Discovery does not traverse directories reached through symbolic links. Rules inspect recognized documents as sources, while links may target other resources inside the repository. Avoid: Input file, Markdown file
Rule: A read-only check that evaluates documentation against one requirement of a profile. Avoid: Validator, check
Rule Scope: The recognized repository-relative documents to which a rule applies. Repository-wide rules cover every recognized document, while path-specific rules cover only matching locations. Avoid: Glob, target files
Template: A readable Markdown definition of a document’s required shape, ordering, and authored inputs, augmented only by Presswork template directives. The same format validates existing documents and initializes new drafts. Avoid: Scaffold, text fixture
Template Directive:
A non-executable presswork: HTML comment that marks optional sections or unresolved authoring instructions. Every directive must be resolved and removed before a document is complete.
Avoid: Template code, embedded configuration
Strict Template: A template that permits only its declared headings in their declared order, while still allowing authored prose and omission of declared optional sections. Avoid: Exact template, locked document
Document Type: A repository-specific document convention defining its location, naming, template strictness, required creation inputs, index membership, and preferred creation workflow. Avoid: Document format, file type, template
Document Creation: Atomic initialization of one new document draft and its index entry from a template and explicitly supplied identifying and discovery inputs. Creation never overwrites an existing document and does not claim the draft is complete. Avoid: Generation, scaffolding, authoring
Document Draft: A newly created document that satisfies naming and index requirements but retains explicit template instructions for an agent to resolve before validation can pass. Avoid: Generated document, completed document
Creation Policy: A Document Type’s preferred creation workflow: Presswork, an external workflow, or manual creation. It guides agents without making one creation mechanism mandatory for validity. Avoid: Creation rule, generator
Validation: Read-only evaluation of repository documentation against a profile’s rules, defaults, and templates. Avoid: Enforcement, linting system
Check: A repository validation run that discovers the repository root, applies the selected profile, and reports violations. Avoid: Scan, test run
Violation: A failed rule evaluation identified by a stable rule identifier, repository-relative source location, relevant target, explanation, and recovery guidance. Avoid: Error, warning, finding
Operational Diagnostic: A structured explanation of a condition that prevented Presswork from completing a check, distinct from a violation in documentation that was successfully evaluated. Avoid: Violation, crash
Markdown Dialect: The repository-wide link and heading semantics used when validating documents, such as GitHub or Obsidian Markdown. Avoid: Markdown flavor, Markdown mode, parser
Index Document:
The document containing a documentation directory’s index section. It defaults to the directory’s README.md but may be configured as another document, including a root document.
Avoid: Index file, generated index
Index Section: An explicit authored section that references every document and child documentation directory relevant to its directory and explains when readers should load them. Avoid: Link list, generated section
Orphaned Document: A direct child document relevant to an index but omitted from its containing directory’s index section. Avoid: Unlinked page, unreachable document
Check Report: The complete or explicitly incomplete result of a check, containing deterministically ordered violations and any operational diagnostics. Avoid: Lint output, command result
See Concepts for how these terms work together and Check Report for the public report contract.