Glossary

Glossary

Short definitions for terms used throughout the Beez wiki.

Pipeline entities

Term	Definition
Step	Smallest executable unit. Has a name, phase, scope, and run (shell string or Lua function).
Task	Named shortcut invoked as beez <taskname>. Runs shell commands and/or references steps.
Workflow	Ordered sequence of phase+scope pairs (and optional parallel groups). Invoked as beez <workflowname>.
Target	Generic name for whatever the CLI runs: a task, workflow, phase filter, or single step.
Phase	Label on a step that groups related work (for example compile, test). User-defined.
Scope	Second grouping axis within a phase (for example code, docs). User-defined.
Phase+scope pair	The combination phase + scope that selects which steps run in a workflow step or -p filter.

Execution

Term	Definition
Registry	In-memory catalog of steps, tasks, and workflows loaded from build.lua.
Orchestrator	Runtime engine that schedules steps, workers, cache, and logging.
Worker	Thread (or pool slot) that runs a shell command or Lua callback.
Parallel workflow step	Workflow entry with parallel = { ... }; child phase+scope pairs run concurrently.
order()	DSL declaration that constrains step execution order within the same phase+scope.
Dry run	--dry-run: load build.lua, build the graph, show progress; skip shell commands and Lua callbacks.
ReqPack	External dependency manager (rqp). Declared in build.lua via reqpack { ... }; installed by Beez before runs.
reqpack block	Top-level DSL table mapping ReqPack plugin names to package lists. See ReqPack Declaration.

Artifacts and caching

Term	Definition
input	Glob patterns for files the step reads; used in cache fingerprints.
output	Glob patterns for files the step produces; must exist for a cache hit.
mutate	Glob patterns for files the step may change in place.
Step cache	Skips entire steps when inputs/outputs/config/env fingerprint are unchanged.
Success cache	Per-file skip inside Lua callbacks via ctx API.
Glob metadata cache	In-run cache of glob expansion results (performance.cache_fs_metadata).
Cache hit	A skipped step or file because cache determined nothing changed.
Fingerprint	Hash of inputs, config, env vars, and patterns that invalidates cache when changed.

Configuration

Term	Definition
Global config	~/.config/beez/config.lua, applied to all projects.
Project config	Settings from beez.config() / config.lua in the project.
Merge order	global → project → environment → CLI overrides.
hash_vars	Environment variable names included in cache fingerprints.
env.vars	Default environment variables injected before runs.

CLI

Term	Definition
Output mode	clean, verbose, errors, or silent; controls terminal noise.
Invocation priority	When flags conflict: --list > -s > -p > positional target.
Phase spec	Argument to -p: phase name, optional scopes (compile:code, comma lists, bracket syntax).
User options	Arguments after -- on the CLI; parsed but not yet used by Beez.

UI and logging

Term	Definition
Progress line	category | detail shown while a step runs.
Run summary	End-of-run block (minimal, simple, compact, data).
Run log	Text file of the run (default .cache/logs/latest.log).
Worker log	Captured subprocess output under ui.logging.workers_dir.

Development (repository)

Term	Definition
Vertical feature	End-to-end implementation across core, plugins, CLI, and tests.
make all	Full QA pipeline: build, test, format, lint, analyze, security, coverage, sanitize, fuzz.

Related pages

• Core Concepts - expanded explanations with examples
• How Phases and Scopes Work - phase/scope mechanics
• Caching Overview - cache layers
• Appendix - appendix index