Glossary
Short definitions of every term that recurs in the docs. Links go to the page that explains the concept in depth.
A
Addon. A self-contained module that adds tables, endpoints, actions and UI to a host. Defined by a manifest and packaged as a bundle.
Action. A non-CRUD operation declared in manifest.actions[]. The runtime mounts a route and renders a button (with a dialog for input); the addon provides the body. See the manifest concept.
Audit. Structured log of every capability check, permission check, and CRUD operation. Routed through the kernel's audit hook to a host-defined sink.
B
Bundle. A .mcbundle file — a signed tarball containing the manifest, optional WASM module, optional frontend assets, and the manifest signature. The unit of distribution and installation.
C
Capability. A subsystem the addon promises to use, declared in manifest.capabilities[]. Enforced by the kernel's security enforcer at every call. See Permissions.
CLI. metacore-sdk, the command-line tool. Scaffolds, builds, signs and publishes addons.
D
Dynamic CRUD. The kernel's generic store + handler that serves list / get / create / update / delete for any table declared in any installed addon's manifest. Pagination, sort, filter and tenancy are built in. See the concept page.
<DynamicTable>. SDK component that reads the kernel's column metadata and renders a fully featured CRUD table. The frontend mirror of dynamic CRUD.
E
Embedded addon. An addon registered in code with kernel.RegisterAddon() instead of installed as a .mcbundle. Used for first-party features that ship with the host binary.
Enforcer. security.Enforcer, the kernel subsystem that checks capabilities. Runs in shadow or enforce mode.
Event. A real-time message published on the WebSocket hub. Declared in manifest.events[] and gated by event:emit / event:subscribe capabilities.
H
Host. A product that embeds the kernel and exposes installed addons to users. Has a backend (Go) and a frontend (Vite + React + SDK). Hosts can take many shapes — operator panels, customer-facing portals, marketplace + admin surfaces, embedded settings inside an existing product. See Hosts.
Host.App / host.Host. Helper types in the kernel that wrap config, DI, routing, and lifecycle for a typical host backend.
I
Installer. The kernel subsystem that handles install / upgrade / uninstall transactionally. See Lifecycle.
Identity. kernel.Identity, the per-request user context — user ID, org ID, roles, plus any host-specific claims. Set by the host's auth middleware, read by the kernel's permission service.
K
Kernel. The Go runtime — asteby/metacore-kernel. Owns persistence, REST, permissions, lifecycle, the WASM sandbox, the WebSocket hub. See Kernel.
M
Manifest. manifest.json, the source of truth for an addon. Declares schema, capabilities, permissions, actions, slots, lifecycle hooks. See the concept page.
Migration. A schema change applied during install or upgrade. Generated by the kernel from the manifest diff; supplemented by addon-declared upgrade hooks for data transformations.
Model definition. The runtime representation of a tables[] entry — column metadata, validators, indexes. Used by both the dynamic store and the SDK's components.
P
Permission. A user-grantable identifier declared in manifest.permissions[], e.g. tickets.create. Enforced by the kernel's permission service. Distinct from a capability — capabilities are about the addon, permissions are about the user. See Permissions.
permission.Service. The kernel subsystem that resolves a user's effective permissions and enforces them on every request.
S
Sandbox. The wazero-based WebAssembly runtime that executes addon code. Has access only to the kernel ABI declared by the addon's capabilities; no host memory, no host filesystem.
SDK. asteby/metacore-sdk — the npm packages and CLI that declare addons and render UI. See SDK.
Slot. A named UI extension point in a host. Addons contribute components for slots via manifest.frontend.slots; the host renders them with <Slot name="..." />.
T
Tenancy. Multi-tenant scoping by org_id. Built into dynamic CRUD; every query is auto-filtered by the current identity's organization.
W
WASM ABI. The set of host functions exposed to addon code running in the sandbox. Capability-gated; an addon can call only the functions matching its declared capabilities.
WebSocket hub. The kernel's real-time fanout. Tenants and channels are first-class; addons emit, clients subscribe via useDynamicQuery and friends.
See also
- Manifest · Dynamic CRUD · Permissions · Lifecycle
- Architecture for how these pieces fit together.