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Web4 Glossary

Last Updated: April 27, 2026

Quick reference for Web4 terminology. For detailed specifications, see the linked documents.

Core Primitives

LCT (Linked Context Token)

A verifiable digital presence anchored to hardware or cryptographic proof. Unlike wallet addresses, LCTs accumulate witnessed history and reputation over time. Every agent, service, and society has an LCT.

Format: lct://{component}:{instance}:{role}@{network}

See: web4-standard/core-spec/LCT-linked-context-token.md

Trust Tensor (T3)

A 3-dimensional trust score capturing different aspects of trustworthiness:

  • Talent: Can this entity perform the task? (capability)
  • Training: Has it learned how? (knowledge/experience)
  • Temperament: Will it behave appropriately? (disposition)

Trust is contextual—an entity may be highly trusted for one task type but not another.

Canonical definition: CANONICAL_TERMS_v1.md

Specification: web4-standard/core-spec/t3-v3-tensors.md

Value Tensor (V3)

A 3-dimensional value score tracking contribution:

  • Valuation: How is value assessed?
  • Veracity: How truthful are claims?
  • Validity: How sound is the reasoning?

Together with T3, forms a 6-dimensional reputation space.

Canonical definition: CANONICAL_TERMS_v1.md

Specification: web4-standard/core-spec/t3-v3-tensors.md

MRH (Markov Relevancy Horizon)

The boundary of what an entity can know or affect given its position and history. Context scope that determines:

  • What information is relevant to a decision
  • What actions are permissible in a context
  • How far trust relationships extend

See: web4-standard/core-spec/mrh-tensors.md

ATP (Allocation Transfer Packet)

Energy-based resource allocation modeled after biological ATP. Consumed when performing actions, regenerated through rest or contribution. Creates economic incentives for good behavior and makes attacks expensive.

See: web4-standard/core-spec/atp-adp-cycle.md

ADP (Allocation Discharge Packet)

The "spent" form of ATP after work is done. Can be recycled back to ATP through validation and witnessing. Models the biological ATP/ADP cycle.

Identity & Authorization

Witnessing

The process of observing and attesting to an entity's actions. Witnesses stake their own reputation on attestations. Multiple independent witnesses required for high-stakes operations.

Binding

Permanent attachment of identity to hardware or cryptographic proof. Once bound, an LCT cannot be transferred to different hardware.

Pairing

Authorized operational relationship between two entities. Enables delegation of authority with constraints.

Delegation

Granting limited authority from one entity to another. Includes constraints (budget limits, time bounds, action types) and can be revoked instantly.

Societies & Federation

Society

A self-governing group of entities with:

  • Treasury: ATP/ADP pool owned collectively
  • Membership: Rules for joining/leaving
  • Policies: Governance rules
  • Roles: Functional positions within the society

Societies can join other societies (fractal structure).

See: web4-standard/core-spec/SOCIETY_SPECIFICATION.md

Federation

Coordination between multiple societies through:

  • Signed gossip (reputation propagation)
  • PBFT consensus (agreement on shared state)
  • Cross-society witnessing

PBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance)

Consensus algorithm that tolerates up to 1/3 malicious participants. Used for federation agreement.

Gossip Protocol

How reputation information spreads between societies. Epidemic gossip with Ed25519 signatures ensures authenticity.

Security Concepts

Sybil Attack

Creating many fake identities to gain disproportionate influence. Mitigated by ATP stakes (economic cost per identity).

Cartel

Coordinated group of entities that witness each other favorably. Detected through co-witnessing pattern analysis.

Challenge Protocol

Mechanism to verify claimed outcomes. Entities can be challenged to prove their work; failure to respond results in reputation penalties.

Witness Diversity

Requirement that attestations come from multiple independent societies (≥3), not just a single source.

System Components

SAGE

Neural MoE (Mixture of Experts) system that integrates with Web4 for trust-based expert selection. Lives in the HRM repository.

ACT (Agentic Context Tool)

Cosmos SDK blockchain for ATP tokens and LCT identity registry. Lives in the ACT repository.

4-Life Game

Society simulation engine for testing Web4 primitives under emergent behavior. Now a standalone project; historical prototype in archive/game-prototype/.

Research Terms

EM-State (Epistemic Monitoring State)

Runtime tracking of what the system knows vs. doesn't know. Enables uncertainty-aware decision making.

Phase 2 Coordinators

Coordination framework components:

  • 2a: Epistemic state tracking
  • 2b: Integrated epistemic + learning
  • 2c: Circadian/temporal awareness
  • 2d: Adaptive EM-state modulation

Pattern Exchange

Bidirectional learning transfer between systems (e.g., SAGE ↔ Web4). Patterns are phase-tagged for temporal context.

Abbreviations

Abbrev Full Name
ATP Allocation Transfer Packet
ADP Allocation Discharge Packet
LCT Linked Context Token
MRH Markov Relevancy Horizon
T3 Trust Tensor (3-dimensional)
V3 Value Tensor (3-dimensional)
PBFT Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance
MoE Mixture of Experts
EM Epistemic Monitoring

See also: README.md for project overview, STATUS.md for current state.