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Version: 0.2.0 (Latest)

Glossary

Quick reference for terms you’ll see in the UI, docs, and logs. Deeper behaviour: Configuration & Runtime Engine, REST API Reference, Security.

Names and capitalization​

TermFormMeaning
Padas MotionTitle CaseProduct line and install SKU.
Motion EngineTitle Case (then engine)Streaming runtime (padas-core tree). Not the product-line name.
Padas UITitle Case on first mentionThe operator app; introduce it as Padas UI, the console.
consolelowercaseThe short name in running prose after Padas UI is introduced. The console is the control plane.
control planelowercaseRole of the console—not a product or page name.
Control TowerTitle CaseOne Management screen (live graph / start-stop on the selected Core)—not the whole console.
Cores / CoreTitle Caseconsole inventory of engines (Services → Cores). Each row is a registered Motion Engine (host/port + enroll).
core/, padas-core-*, [core], padas-core.servicemonospacePath, package, TOML table, systemd unit.

Runtime & Architecture​

Core​

A Core in the console is a registered Motion Engine instance (host/port). The engine process routes events (StreamRouter), runs tasks and connectors, optional WAL, and serves /api/v1/*. Registry rows live under [api.persistence].config_dir (for example streams.json, tasks.json, connectors.json). Tune paths and limits in padas.toml — see Motion Engine TOML and Configuration & Runtime Engine.

Motion Engine​

The streaming runtime inside Padas Motion. Same process as Core in the inventory: there is no separate “pipeline service” per workflow.

Runtime Engine​

Synonym for Motion Engine.

StreamRouter​

In-process component that buffers and routes events per stream to subscribers (tasks, consumers, WAL). Shared across all pipelines on that engine.

Streams & Processing​

Stream​

Named channel events flow through inside the engine. Sources publish in; tasks read and write; sinks read out. Optional WAL enables durability and historical reads.

WAL​

On-disk write-ahead log for a stream when enabled. Trades disk (and sometimes latency) for crash recovery and replay. If WAL is off for a stream, some query paths may fail — check stream settings and Configuration & Runtime Engine.

Consumer lag​

How far a consumer’s offset is behind the stream head. Large lag may push reads toward WAL; tune [core.subscriber.lag] and sink throughput.

Task​

Registry object that reads from source stream(s), runs PDL, writes to sink stream(s). Start / stop control execution on the engine after deploy. See Tasks.

Processing task​

Task mode: typically one PDL evaluation per inbound event on the hot path (plus window state for aggregates). Distinct from detection rule evaluation.

Detection task​

Task mode: multiple saved conditions (queries/rules), evaluated for alerting-style matches.

PDL​

Padas Domain Language — pipeline expressions (|-separated stages: parse, filter, eval, aggregate). Full syntax: PDL Reference.

Aggregation​

Windowed summarisation (timespan, group_by, …). Emits flat result rows; processing tasks may fan out one downstream event per group when configured.

Watermark​

Signal that a time window is ready to flush idle aggregates — ties to [core.task.aggregation.*] and shutdown behaviour.

Replay​

Reading past events via stream consume APIs or POST /api/v1/query, bounded by retention and WAL. Operational replay datasets (saved slices for tests) live under Testing.

Connectors & Pipelines​

Connector​

Source or sink integration: moves data between external systems and streams. Stored in connectors.json; start / stop after deploy.

Source connector​

Ingests from outside (syslog, HTTP, Kafka, …) into a stream.

Sink connector​

Reads from a stream (or task output path) and delivers outward.

Connector class​

Implementation type (http, syslog, kafka, …) — sets config schema and behaviour.

Pipeline​

Registry workflow: one source, ordered tasks, one or more sinks. Defined under Configuration; assigned and deployed under Management. See Pipelines.

Operations & Deployment​

Deploy​

Silent bind (if needed) + push entity config onto Core(s). Bind is transactional with the push: if push fails, a membership bind added in that request is rolled back. On Management, the Deploy picker excludes cores that already have the entity; Deploy is hidden when there is no target left.

Sync​

Equalize fingerprint drift / desired set. Entity Sync = PUT-only; pipeline Sync = scoped reconcile; Core Sync = desired-set equalize including orphan DELETE.

Remove​

Selective unbind + delete from selected Core(s). Bulk orphans also clear via Core Sync. Not available on Home.

Drift​

Desired fingerprint no longer matches the observed Core registry — often needs Sync (or Deploy to add missing placement), restart, or fixing partial file edits.

Monitoring & Testing​

Monitoring​

Live EPS (events per second), drops, stream/task/connector rows, Query, Monitor, and metrics for the selected Core — shows what’s happening now, not the registry editor. See Monitoring.

Testing​

Capture or upload events, run PDL against them on an engine without changing production pipelines. See Testing.

Capture​

Saved event slice from Monitoring (or uploads) used as input for Testing.

Security & Identity​

Service account token​

JSON file on the engine host (service-account.token) used for direct API access (automation, Troubleshooting & Logs → leftover API objects). The token field is sent as Authorization: Bearer to /api/v1/*. The console uses enrollment instead—operators do not paste this token into Cores. See Security.

Enrollment​

One-time CLI setup that binds a Motion Engine (or Lookup service) to the console. For engines: Services → Cores → Create → Enroll code → padas enroll on the engine host. Lookup enroll SPA is not shipped yet—see Enable lookup enrichment.

Operator session​

Browser session to Padas UI, the console (HTTP-only cookies after POST /auth/login). Used for operator login and console API authorization—not sent to the engine for normal console workflows. See Users, roles & permissions.

JWT session​

Older synonym for operator session; the console issues signed access and refresh tokens in cookies.

Bearer authentication​

When [api.auth].enabled, every /api/v1 route requires a valid Bearer header (including /health and /metrics).

Token rotation​

The engine can issue a new service-account secret (/api/v1/auth/token/refresh); update automation clients that call the engine directly. The console's enroll credentials are managed separately—see Installation — padas-motion.

Lockout​

Too many bad Bearer attempts from one client IP can temporarily block auth — check proxy X-Forwarded-For headers. Details: Security.

API & Runtime Control​

REST API​

The engine’s /api/v1 HTTP surface (Axum): CRUD and lifecycle for streams, tasks, connectors, query, reload, auth. Handlers use EmbeddedApiState, not a forked CLI per request. See REST API Reference.

Runtime status​

GET /api/v1/status (and per-resource …/status) — snapshot of health and resources for triage.

Configuration & Runtime Engine · REST API Reference · Security · Monitoring · Testing