Glossary

Many novel terms and acronyms are used by the Arweave ecosystem as well as some new ones introduced by AR.IO. The list below is intended to serve as a non-exhaustive reference of those terms:

AO Computer (AO):

The AO Computer is an actor-oriented machine on the Arweave network, creating a unified computing environment across diverse nodes. It supports many parallel processes through an open message-passing layer, linking independent processes into a cohesive system, similar to how websites are interconnected via hyperlinks.

Arweave Name System (ArNS):

a decentralized and censorship-resistant naming system enabled by AR.IO gateways which connects friendly names to permaweb applications, pages, data or identities.

Arweave Name Token (ANT), “Name Token”:

A an AO Computer based token, that is connected to each registered ArNS Name. Each ANT gives the owner the ability to update the subdomains and Arweave Transaction IDs used by the registered name as well as transfer ownership and other functions.

Arweave Network Standards (ANS):

Drafts and finalized standards for data formats, tag formats, data protocols, custom gateway features and anything that is built on top the Arweave Network. Specific standards are denoted by an associated number, e.g., ANS-###.

Base Layer Transaction:

refers to one of up to 1,000 transactions that make up a single Arweave block. A base layer transaction may contain bundled data items.

Bundle, bundling:

an Arweave concept introduced in ANS-104 that allows for a way of writing multiple independent data transactions into one base layer transaction. Bundled transactions contain multiple independent transactions, called data items, wrapped into one larger transaction. This offers two major network benefits:

• A scaling solution for increasing the throughput of uploads to the Arweave network,

• Allows delegation of payment for an upload to a third party, while maintaining the identity and signature of the person who created the upload, without them needing to have a wallet with funds.

Bundled Data Item (BDI):

A data item / transaction nested within an ANS-104 bundled transaction.

Bundler:

A third-party service and gateway feature that bundles data files on a user’s behalf.

Chunk:

A chunk is a unit of data that is stored on the Arweave network. It represents a piece of a larger file that has been split into smaller, manageable segments for efficient storage and retrieval.

Decentralized, decentralization, etc:

A nonbinary, many axis scale enabling a system or platform to be: permissionless, trustless, verifiable, transparent, open-source, composable, resilient, and censorship resistant. Ultimately, something that is decentralized is not prone to single points of failure or influence.

Epoch:

a specific duration (e.g., one day) during which network activities and evaluations are conducted. It serves as a key time frame for processes such as observation duties, performance assessments, and reward distributions within the network's protocols.

Gateway:

A node operating on the Arweave network that provides services for reading from, writing to, and indexing the data stored on the permaweb. Sometimes referred to as “permaweb nodes”.

Gateway Address Registry (GAR):

a decentralized directory maintained in the AR.IO smart contract. It serves as the authoritative list of all registered gateways on the AR.IO Network. The registry provides detailed metadata about each gateway to facilitate discovery, health monitoring, and data sharing among apps, users and other infrastructure. The GAR is designed to be easily queryable, sortable, and filterable by end users and clients, allowing for tailored selections based on various criteria to meet specific use cases.

Indexing:

The act of organizing transaction data tags into queryable databases.

Layer 2 Infrastructure:

Layer 2 refers to the technology / infrastructure stack built “above” a base layer. In this use, the AR.IO Network would be considered Layer 2 infrastructure to the base Arweave protocol.

Manifest (aka Path Manifest, Arweave Manifest):

Special “aggregate” files uploaded to Arweave that map user-definable sub-paths with other Arweave transaction IDs. This allows users to create logical groups of content, for example a directory of related files, or the files and assets that make up a web page or application. Instead of having to manually collate these assets, manifests group them together so that an entire website or app can be launched from a single manifest file. Gateways can interpret this structure, so that users can then reference individual transactions by their file name and/or path.

Mempool:

Short for "memory pool," is a component of Arweave mining nodes that temporarily stores valid transactions that have been broadcasted to the network but have not yet been added to a block.

Message:

An interaction with an AO Process, including action and tags. Every interaction with AO takes the form of a message.

Miner (aka Arweave Node):

A node operating on the Arweave network responsible for data storage and recall.

Native Address:

The way public addresses are commonly (or by spec) represented in their native blockchain. Arweave keys are 43 character base64url representations of the public key, while Ethereum keys use a different hashing algorithm and start with 0x etc.

Normalized Address:

43 character base64url representation of the sha256 hash of a public key. Public keys for other chains can be normalized by this representation.

Observer:

A gateway selected to evaluate the performance of peer gateways in resolving ArNS names. Observers assess and report on the operational efficacy of other gateways.

Optimistic Indexing:

Indexing transaction or data item headers before the associated L1 transaction has been accepted and confirmed in a chain block.

Owner:

Generally, the public key of the signer.

Owner Address:

The normalized address of the owner

Period:

Refers to a predefined time span (e.g., a day) that serves as a cycle for network activities such as dynamic pricing. It is a fundamental unit of time for operational and protocol processes within the network.

Permanent Cloud Network:

A decentralized network that securely stores, distributes, and serves data and applications in a timeless, tamper-proof, and universally accessible way. Unlike traditional clouds, it ensures data permanence and user sovereignty by eliminating reliance on centralized providers and creating a resilient, censorship-resistant infrastructure.

Permaweb:

The permaweb is the permanent and decentralized web of files and applications built on top of Arweave.

Process ID (PID):

Every process in AO is assigned a unique immutable identifier code.

Protocol Balance:

The primary sink and source of ARIO tokens circulating through the AR.IO Network. This balance is akin to a central vault or wallet programmatically encoded into the network’s smart contract from which ArNS revenue is accumulated and incentive rewards are distributed.

Protocol Rewards:

IO Token incentive rewards distributed by the protocol to the network’s eligible users and gateway operators.

Public Key:

The publicly known keys for a signer (wallet). Public keys are different byte lengths depending on the signer type (e.g. Arweave vs. Ethereum (ECDSA), vs Solana, etc.)

Seeding:

Refers to the act of propagating new data throughout the network. Miner nodes seed Arweave base layer transaction data to other miners, while gateways ensure that the transactions they receive reach the Arweave nodes. Both gateways and Arweave nodes seed base layer transactions and data chunks.

Staking (of tokens):

Refers to the process of locking ARIO tokens into a protocol-facilitated vault, temporarily removing them from circulation until unlocked. This action represents an opportunity cost for the gateway operator and serves as a motivator to prioritize the network's collective interests.

Stake Redelegation:

The process by which stakers move their delegated tokens from one gateway to another.

Stake Redemption:

A feature allowing stakers to use their staked tokens for ArNS-related activities, such as purchasing names, extending leases, or increasing undername capacity.

Transaction ID (txID):

Every transaction and data file uploaded to Arweave is assigned a unique identifier code known as the Transaction ID. These txID’s can be referenced by users to easily locate and retrieve files.

Trust-minimization:

Relates to enacting network security by minimizing the number of entities and the degree to which they must be trusted to achieve reliable network interactions. A network with trust-minimizing mechanisms means that it has reduced exposure to undesirable third-party actions and built-in incentives to reward good behavior while punishing bad behavior.

Vault:

Token vaults are protocol level mechanisms used to contain staked tokens over time. Each vault contains a starting timestamp, ending timestamp (if applicable), along with a balance of tokens.

Wayfinder Protocol:

The Wayfinder protocol provides applications with a pattern for dynamically switching / routing between network gateways. It also allows for abstraction of top level domain names from Arweave data and verifies the responses from AR.IO Gateways. It forms the basis of the ar:// schema, so users can seamlessly access ArNS names, Arweave base layer transactions, and bundled data items without the user providing a top-level domain.