H·AI·K·U Glossary
Quick reference for all H·AI·K·U terminology and concepts.
B
- BoltSee in paper
- An iteration cycle within a unit — each bolt advances the work and produces a reviewable increment
C
- Collaboration Mode
- The human-AI interaction pattern: Supervised, Observed, or Autonomous
D
- Deliverable
- The work output of a unit — the thing being produced
E
- Elaboration
- The first phase: defining intent, decomposing into units, setting success criteria
- Execution
- The second phase: doing the work through hat-based workflows
F
- Feed Forward
- The mechanism by which reflection outputs inform future elaboration
H
- HAIKU
- Human AI Knowledge Unification — a universal framework for structured human-AI collaboration
- Hat
- A behavioral role assumed during execution (e.g., planner, executor, reviewer)
I
- IntentSee in paper
- The top-level goal or initiative — the thing being accomplished
O
- Operation
- The third phase: managing what was delivered
- Operational Plan
- An artifact produced during execution that defines how the deliverable should be managed
P
- Pass
- A typed iteration through Elaboration and Execution within a single intent, refining work through a specific disciplinary lens; passes are optional and profile-defined; output of one pass becomes input to the next
- Phase
- A stage in the lifecycle: Elaboration, Execution, Operation, or Reflection
- Profile
- A domain-specific implementation of HAIKU (e.g., AI-DLC for software, SWARM for marketing)
Q
- Quality GateSee in paper
- A configurable verification checkpoint that provides enforcement
R
- Reflection
- The fourth phase: learning from what happened and feeding forward
S
- Success Criteria
- Measurable conditions that define when work is done
U
- UnitSee in paper
- A discrete piece of work within an intent
- Unit DAGSee in paper
- The Directed Acyclic Graph formed by unit dependencies, enabling parallel execution (fan-out) and convergence (fan-in)
W
- Workflow
- An ordered sequence of hats that defines how a unit progresses
- Workspace
- A standalone knowledge base where HAIKU artifacts live — can be local, cloud-synced, or MCP-backed, and can nest hierarchically
- Workspace Memory
- Organizational knowledge stored in a workspace's memory directory — learnings, patterns, and domain models that compound across intents and inherit upward through workspace hierarchy