Concepts

Cognidesk has a precise domain language. Understanding these concepts will make the guides and API reference much clearer.

Core building blocks

Concept	What it is
Agent	A compiled definition that owns instructions, tools, knowledge, and journeys
Journey	A state machine that guides a conversation through structured steps
Tool	A typed function the agent can invoke during a conversation
Knowledge Source	A retrieval-augmented source the agent can query for context
Runtime Event	A typed event emitted during conversation execution
Transport Neutrality	The principle that core has zero transport dependencies

How they fit together

graph TD
    A[Agent Definition] --> B[Runtime]
    B --> C[Conversation]
    C --> D[Journey Activation]
    D --> E[State Transitions]
    E --> F[Tool Execution]
    E --> G[Knowledge Retrieval]
    B --> H[Runtime Events]
    B --> I[HTTP Adapter]
    B --> J[Voice Adapter]

The Runtime is the execution engine. It takes a compiled Agent definition and manages Conversations. During a conversation, the runtime may activate a Journey (a state machine), execute Tools, retrieve Knowledge, and emit Runtime Events.

Adapters (HTTP, Voice, Storage) connect the transport-neutral runtime to the outside world.