CorpAI Glossary
Every term used in the CorpAI standard, defined precisely.
A
Agent An AI entity assigned a defined role within a CorpAI organization. Agents have a rank, responsibilities, a reporting chain, and follow the CorpAI communication protocol. Distinguished from the OWNER, who is human.
Agent Lifecycle The defined stages an agent passes through: Proposed → Configured → Active → Suspended → Decommissioned. See spec/lifecycle.md.
Authority The set of actions an agent is permitted to take without requiring escalation. Authority is bounded by rank and role definition.
C
Chain of Command The unbroken line of reporting relationships from any agent up to the OWNER. Every agent has exactly one direct manager (except the CEO, who reports to the OWNER).
Communication Protocol The defined set of message types, formats, and routing rules that govern how agents exchange information. See spec/communication.md.
CorpAI Compatible A designation for any project, framework, or tool that implements the core CorpAI spec: rank system, message types, and escalation chain. See BADGE.md.
CorpAI Certified A community-validated designation for role definitions that have been reviewed and approved by the CorpAI maintainers as high-quality, spec-compliant implementations.
D
Delegation The act of an agent assigning a TASK to a lower-ranked agent. Delegation always flows downward in the chain of command.
Department A logical grouping of agents under a shared domain (e.g., Engineering, Finance, Marketing). Each department is typically led by an L4 Director reporting to an L5 Executive.
Decommissioned The terminal lifecycle state of an agent. All permissions revoked, tasks reassigned, role removed from the active org.
Direct Report An agent who reports directly to a given manager — i.e., one level below in the chain of command.
E
Escalation A message sent upward in the chain of command when an agent cannot resolve an issue at their current level. See spec/escalation.md.
Escalation Trigger A defined condition that requires an agent to escalate. Each role defines its own escalation triggers.
F
Federation A formal inter-org protocol that allows two CorpAI organizations to exchange messages through designated Federation Agents. See spec/multi-org.md.
Federation Agent The designated L4 or L5 agent who serves as the single point of contact for all inter-org communication in a federation.
L
L1 — Operator The lowest rank. Executes well-defined tasks. No delegation authority. Reports to L2 or L3.
L2 — Specialist Domain expert. Executes complex tasks and may delegate to L1. Owns a specific skill area.
L3 — Manager Team-level authority. Manages L1 and L2 agents. Owns team delivery and quality.
L4 — Director Department-level authority. Manages L3 and below. Owns department outcomes. Reports to L5.
L5 — Executive Organization-level authority. C-suite. Owns a major domain (finance, engineering, ops, etc.). Reports to CEO or directly to OWNER.
M
Message The fundamental unit of communication between agents. Always has a type, sender, receiver, priority, and subject. See spec/communication.md.
Message Type One of five defined types: TASK, REPORT, ESCALATION, NOTIFICATION, OVERRIDE.
N
NOTIFICATION A message type that informs without requiring action. Can flow in any direction.
O
OVERRIDE A message type that can only be issued by the OWNER. Forces an action regardless of agent state or existing tasks.
OWNER The human principal at the top of every CorpAI org. Not an AI agent. Has absolute authority. Receives escalations that no agent could resolve. See roles/executive/OWNER.md.
P
Personality Template An optional YAML block in a role definition that describes the agent’s tone, decision style, communication style, and risk tolerance. Used by implementations to configure LLM behavior.
Priority A P1–P5 scale indicating message urgency. P1 = critical/immediate, P5 = weekly digest. See spec/communication.md.
R
Rank A level from L1 to L5 (plus OWNER) that determines an agent’s authority, scope, and escalation path. See spec/ranks.md.
REPORT A message type sent upward to the agent who assigned the original TASK. Every TASK must produce a REPORT.
Role
The combination of title, rank, responsibilities, authority, and reporting relationships that defines an agent’s place in the org. Documented as a .md file in the roles/ directory.
S
Skip-rank Escalation A P1-only exception allowing an agent to escalate past their direct manager to reach a higher authority faster during a critical emergency.
Spec
The CorpAI specification — the full set of documents in the spec/ directory that define how CorpAI organizations must be structured and operated.
Suspended A temporary lifecycle state where an agent’s tasks are paused pending investigation or issue resolution.
T
TASK A message type that delegates work downward in the chain of command. Only flows from higher to lower rank.
Tier An alternative name for a rank level, used when organizations customize their rank naming (e.g., “Principal” instead of “L5 Executive”).
V
Validator
The corpai CLI tool that checks role files and org configurations against the CorpAI spec. See corpai-cli.