docs: add glossary of canonical bot-bottle terminology

Defines Agent Provider, Agent Runtime, Agent/Agent Definition, Bottle/Bottle Definition, Sealed Bottle, Bottled Agent, and Active Bottle. Links from docs/README.md and AGENTS.md for discoverability. Closes #474 Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-24 04:08:23 +00:00
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+# Glossary
+
+Canonical terminology for bot-bottle. Prefer these names in docs, comments, and UI.
+
+---
+
+## Agent Provider
+
+The component that connects to an external model provider and sets up the model
+harness inside the agent runtime. Configured in a bottle manifest under
+`agent_provider:`; built-in templates are `claude` and `codex`. Responsible for
+provider-specific auth, startup args, and egress routes.
+
+## Agent Runtime
+
+The OCI image (and the container or VM it runs in) that houses the model
+harness. On the macOS-container backend this is an Apple Container; on
+Firecracker it is a microVM; on the legacy Docker backend it is a Docker
+container. The agent runtime is built from the agent provider's Dockerfile
+(built-in or custom).
+
+## Agent / Agent Definition
+
+A Markdown file with YAML frontmatter that declares the system prompt and
+identity of the model harness. Lives under `~/.bot-bottle/agents/` or a repo's
+`.bot-bottle/agents/`. Specifies which bottle to run under (`bottle:`) and
+which skills to load. Agent definitions are safe to commit; they contain no
+secrets or egress policy.
+
+## Bottle / Bottle Definition
+
+A Markdown file with YAML frontmatter that declares the security and runtime
+boundaries for one agent runtime: egress allowlist, git remotes, env vars,
+nested-container flag, and agent provider config. Lives under
+`~/.bot-bottle/bottles/`. Bottles are scoped to `$HOME` so a cloned repo
+cannot override host egress policy.
+
+## Sealed Bottle
+
+The fully-resolved bottle after all `extends:` inheritance is applied and every
+field has been validated. The sealed bottle is the immutable boundary spec that
+the launcher enforces — no further overrides are possible once it is sealed.
+
+## Bottled Agent
+
+The combination of an Agent Definition and a Sealed Bottle, representing a
+single deployable agent with a fixed identity and fixed boundaries. A bottled
+agent has two observable states:
+
+- **Active** — the agent runtime is running and the agent is executing.
+- **Frozen** — the agent runtime has been snapshotted (Firecracker committed
+  image); the agent is not running but can be resumed from the snapshot.
+
+## Active Bottle
+
+Shorthand for an active (running) Bottled Agent. Used in the supervisor TUI
+and discovery layer to mean "a bottle whose agent runtime is currently up."