CKB Glossary

This page explains the CKB words that appear throughout the CellScript wiki. Keep it nearby while reading the tutorials. The goal is not to replace the CKB documentation; the goal is to make CellScript examples easier to read.

Cell

A Cell is CKB's basic piece of state. A transaction consumes input Cells and creates output Cells. CellScript tries to keep that movement visible with effects such as consume and create.

In CellScript, a resource, shared, or receipt is a typed view over Cell-backed state.

Input Cell

An input Cell is a Cell being spent by the current transaction. When an action consumes a resource, or when a lock protects a spend, you should think about the input Cells involved.

In lock syntax, protected T means a typed view of one selected input Cell guarded by the current lock invocation.

Output Cell

An output Cell is a new Cell created by a transaction. In CellScript, create materializes typed output data and attaches it to a lock:

create Token {
    amount,
    symbol
} with_lock(owner)

The output is not just a return value. It is new chain state.

Lock Script

A lock script decides whether a Cell may be spent. CellScript lock entries compile into spend-boundary predicates.

Use require inside locks for checks that should fail the current script validation when false.

Type Script

A type script checks state transition rules for Cells. CellScript action entries are closer to type-script style transition logic: they describe the inputs, invariants, and outputs of a state change.

Use assert_invariant inside actions for business-state transition checks.

Witness

Witness data is user-supplied transaction data. It can carry signatures, parameters, or other bytes, but the data itself is not automatically authority.

In CellScript, witness T means typed data decoded from the transaction witness surface. A witness Address is still just data unless a lock verifies a real signature binding.

Script Args

Script args are bytes stored in the executing script. They are often used to bind a script to a particular owner, policy, or configuration.

CellScript reserves the spelling lock_args T for typed script-args decoding. That binding is intentionally fail-closed until the compiler and CKB profile define it exactly.

Lock Group

CKB groups script execution by matching script. A lock may run over a script group rather than an isolated Cell.

When CellScript says protected T, read it narrowly: one selected input Cell in the current script group, not every Cell of type T in the transaction.

Capacity

Capacity is CKB's storage resource. Output Cells must have enough capacity for their data and scripts. Compiler metadata can describe capacity requirements, but release evidence still needs builder-backed occupied-capacity checks.

CellDep

A CellDep is a referenced Cell dependency. It lets a transaction use code or read-only data without consuming that Cell.

CellScript records read-only accesses and deployment metadata so builders and reviewers can see which dependencies must be present.

DepGroup

A DepGroup packages multiple CellDeps behind one dependency reference. Release metadata reports DepGroup policy so deployment and builder workflows can audit which dependencies are being used.

Sighash

Sighash is the transaction digest scope used for signature verification. A signature is only meaningful if you know what it signed.

CellScript does not hide sighash defaults. Future signature verification syntax must expose digest mode, script group scope, witness layout, and replay assumptions.