Mental Models

Syllago borrows ideas from package managers, virtual environments, build tools, and version control. If a word feels unfamiliar, the chances are good you already have a working mental model from somewhere else.

Vocabulary cheat sheet

Syllago term	Familiar analog	Why it’s similar
Registry	npm registry, Homebrew tap, apt source	A networked source of installable content that someone else maintains.
Library	~/.npm/, ~/.cargo/, your local dotfiles	The on-machine store of content you own and edit.
Loadout	Python venv, docker-compose.yml, a Terraform workspace	A named bundle you apply as a unit and revert cleanly.
Provider	A deploy target (Vercel, Netlify, Heroku)	The thing your content ships to — --to <provider> is the destination.
Content type	A package or artifact format	The kind of thing (rule, skill, agent, hook…). Each type has its own conventions.
Canonical key	An interface, or a portable IR	The tool-neutral name for a capability (e.g. hierarchical_loading) that providers implement differently.
Format conversion	A transpiler (Babel, esbuild target)	What syllago does between its internal representation and each provider’s native format.
Hub-and-spoke model	A compiler’s intermediate representation, GraphQL between front and back ends	One neutral middle format; providers connect through it instead of converting pairwise.
Privacy gate	A .gitignore for AI content	A guard that stops marked-private content from leaking to public registries.
MOAT trust tier	Sigstore, npm provenance attestation	The signed-and-verified provenance level of a registry.
Sandbox	Docker, bubblewrap, an unprivileged user	A confined environment for running an AI provider with restricted FS, network, and env access.

When you’d reach for each one

• Trying things out on your own machine? Library + install.
• Need a coworker to use the same content? Registry (or commit .syllago/ to the repo — see Local vs. Global).
• Want to switch between a “Python backend” and a “frontend review” context? Loadout.
• Targeting a tool other than the one you authored in? Format conversion runs automatically on install.
• Asking “will this work in Kiro?” Run syllago compat.

Related

• Why syllago — the problem these models exist to solve.
• Core Concepts — the formal definitions.
• Format Conversion — how the hub-and-spoke model works in practice.