# Modern Technical Translation Map **Domain:** Software Architecture / AI / Publishing / Knowledge Systems **Doc Type:** Concept Router **Related:** [[wiki/Technical Terms|Technical Terms]], [[projects/welcome|Projects — Welcome]] This page translates recurring designs in Bryant McGill's recovered systems into vocabulary a contemporary technical reader is likely to recognize. The relationship is usually **architectural correspondence**, not identity: an older system may have solved a problem now discussed under a newer name without having used today's product, protocol, or implementation. ## AI and agent systems - [[wiki/Context Engineering|Context Engineering]] — curating the information, instructions, tools, memory, and state available to a model or agent. - [[wiki/Layered Context Architecture|Layered Context Architecture]] — combining document, project, account, system, and runtime context without flattening their scopes. - [[wiki/Hierarchical Instruction Files|Hierarchical Instruction Files]] — directory-scoped guidance inherited from broad to specific contexts. - [[wiki/Repository-Scoped Instructions|Repository-Scoped Instructions]] — project rules stored beside the work they govern. - [[wiki/Progressive Disclosure|Progressive Disclosure]] — loading summaries first and detailed resources only when relevant. - [[wiki/Just-in-Time Context|Just-in-Time Context]] — retrieving needed files, links, schemas, or records at the moment of use. - [[wiki/Filesystem-Based Agent Skills|Filesystem-Based Agent Skills]] — reusable instruction, code, reference, and asset packages represented as directories. - [[wiki/Capability Discovery|Capability Discovery]] — finding the relevant tool or skill without loading every implementation. - [[wiki/Agentic Memory|Agentic Memory]] — durable state and notes that survive beyond one model context window. - [[wiki/Agentic Workflow|Agentic Workflow]] — multi-step retrieval, transformation, decision, tool-use, and output sequences. - [[wiki/Durable Execution|Durable Execution]] — restartable, inspectable work with checkpoints, provenance, and clear handoff artifacts. - [[wiki/Model Context Protocol|Model Context Protocol]] — a standard boundary for tools, resources, prompts, and application context. - [[wiki/Tool Contract|Tool Contract]] and [[wiki/Structured Outputs|Structured Outputs]] — schema-governed calls and results. - [[wiki/Resource Addressing|Resource Addressing]] — stable names or URIs for documents, blocks, datasets, tools, and templates. - [[wiki/Retrieval-Augmented Generation|Retrieval-Augmented Generation]] and [[wiki/Semantic Retrieval|Semantic Retrieval]] — grounding model work in retrieved records. - [[wiki/Metadata Grounding|Metadata Grounding]] — using provenance, lineage, ownership, scope, and document metadata to constrain interpretation. ## Document and knowledge systems - [[wiki/Document-Centric Computing|Document-Centric Computing]] — documents as active containers of content, data, state, and workflow. - [[wiki/Executable Markdown|Executable Markdown]] — readable Markdown containing bounded computational instructions. - [[wiki/Human-Readable Intermediate Representation|Human-Readable Intermediate Representation]] — an inspectable plan between natural language and execution. - [[wiki/Knowledge Graph|Knowledge Graph]], [[wiki/Document Graph|Document Graph]], and [[wiki/Lexical Knowledge Graph|Lexical Knowledge Graph]] — explicit entities and relations across knowledge, documents, or language. - [[wiki/Information Architecture|Information Architecture]] — deliberate organization, naming, hierarchy, navigation, and findability. - [[wiki/Hybrid Retrieval|Hybrid Retrieval]] — combining symbolic, lexical, graph, and vector retrieval. ## Portable software architecture - [[wiki/Convention over Configuration|Convention over Configuration]] — predictable paths and names replace repetitive setup. - [[wiki/Local-First Software|Local-First Software]] — useful, inspectable local data remains primary rather than merely cached from a service. - [[wiki/Capability-Oriented Architecture|Capability-Oriented Architecture]] — reusable behavior is organized as named capabilities. - [[wiki/Modular Monolith|Modular Monolith]] — one deployable system with explicit internal capability boundaries. - [[wiki/Plugin Architecture|Plugin Architecture]] — separately discoverable modules extend a stable host. - [[wiki/Ports and Adapters|Ports and Adapters]] — core behavior is insulated from filesystems, HTTP, databases, editors, and other hosts. - [[wiki/Polyglot API|Polyglot API]] — aligned behavior across programming languages. - [[wiki/Portable Contract|Portable Contract]] — canonical names, inputs, outputs, errors, and fixtures define the behavior. - [[wiki/Reconciliation Loop|Reconciliation Loop]] — compare desired and actual state, then converge safely. - [[wiki/Materialized View|Materialized View]] and [[wiki/Rebuildable Projection|Rebuildable Projection]] — fast derived views rebuilt from canonical records. - [[wiki/Component-Based Development|Component-Based Development]] and [[wiki/Rapid Application Development|Rapid Application Development]] — reusable components and visual tooling accelerate application construction. ## Publishing and distribution - [[wiki/Flat-File CMS|Flat-File CMS]] and [[wiki/Headless CMS|Headless CMS]] — portable content separated from one presentation host. - [[wiki/Content Atomization|Content Atomization]] — meaningful units such as quotes and passages become separately addressable. - [[wiki/Derivative Asset Pipeline|Derivative Asset Pipeline]] — pages, posters, feeds, indexes, and search records derive from one source. - [[wiki/Create Once Publish Everywhere|Create Once, Publish Everywhere]] — author once and project into many channels. - [[wiki/Content Syndication|Content Syndication]] and [[wiki/Parameterized Syndication|Parameterized Syndication]] — reusable feeds distribute scoped, transformed content. - [[wiki/Content Negotiation|Content Negotiation]] and [[wiki/Output Projection|Output Projection]] — one underlying value can be represented as HTML, Markdown, JSON, CSV, XML, RSS, a table, or another declared form. ## Project translations - [[projects/AutoSites - Folder-Native Publishing and Distribution|AutoSites]] — folder-native multi-tenancy, flat-file/headless publishing, derivative assets, and programmable syndication. - [[projects/Shazam - A Portable Perl Capability Library|Shazam]] — capability-oriented modules, lazy loading, generated packaging, and filesystem-based discovery. - [[projects/X and XApps - Drop the Folder and It Runs|X and XApps]] — polyglot contracts, host adapters, minimal-dependency deployment, and portable application bundles. - [[projects/XDO - Executable Markdown and Portable Workflows|XDO]] — executable Markdown, human-readable IR, scoped state, tool use, resource addressing, and output projection. - [[projects/Ten Years Building a Symbolic Language Engine|Symbolic Language Engine]] — computational linguistics, corpus engineering, lexical graphs, specialized indexes, hybrid retrieval, and constrained generation. - [[projects/Software I've Bought and Used Over the Years|Software Toolchain]] — RAD, component engineering, backend and infrastructure work, creative technology, full-stack systems, and knowledge tooling. ## Primary contemporary references - [OpenAI — How Codex discovers and applies `AGENTS.md`](https://developers.openai.com/codex/guides/agents-md) - [OpenAI — Agent Skills](https://developers.openai.com/codex/skills) - [OpenAI — Inside our in-house data agent](https://openai.com/index/inside-our-in-house-data-agent/) - [OpenAI — Function calling](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/function-calling) - [OpenAI — Structured Outputs](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/structured-outputs) - [Anthropic — Effective context engineering for AI agents](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/effective-context-engineering-for-ai-agents) - [Anthropic — Agent Skills](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/agents-and-tools/agent-skills/overview) - [Anthropic — Claude Code memory and hierarchical instructions](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/memory) - [Anthropic — Building effective agents](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents) - [Model Context Protocol — Specification](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/draft/index)