Target
A named operation (build, test, ...) you invoke with magus run <target>; it may compose a spell's tool-native operations and depend on other targets. Target in full.
Op
A single tool-native command a target composes (long form: operation); the middle of the work hierarchy (Spell to Op to Target). Op in full.
Spell
A language/runtime adapter (e.g. go, md) that maps generic targets onto a toolchain's real commands. Spell in full.
Charm
An execution modifier attached with : (lint:rw) that changes how a target runs, not which one; the built-in rw flips a check-only target to mutate in place, and ci always strips it. Charm in full.
CI
An ordinary target you compose yourself with ctx.needs; magus does not hardcode its stages. It is the anchor magus affected ci keys off, and ci strips the rw charm. CI in full.
Knowledge graph
The queryable graph of a workspace's spells, targets, docs, and code relationships; query it with magus query/explain/path. Knowledge graph in full.
Scope test
The question every proposed capability has to answer: does it read the model magus already had to build, or does it make magus learn something new about the world? Reads stay small; acquisitions are where a tool loses its shape. Scope test in full.
One-vocabulary rule
Each concept gets one name, used everywhere: target, spell, charm, op. A second word for the same thing is a house dialect, and it costs every reader (and every agent) a lookup that never ends. One-vocabulary rule in full.
Agent
A model working through an agent host such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenCode. magus treats an agent as one more caller of its CLI, MCP tools and console, held to the same checks as a person. Agent in full.
Job
The unit of delegated work, and one row of the job store: what an orchestrating agent handed out, with its goal, the checkpoint it was cut against, the paths it may write or must not touch, and the one check it runs. A job's holder is either a session, for work an orchestrator handed out, or the daemon, for its own maintenance. The store records; the agent guard is what reads those facts back when grading a write. Job in full.