Glossary¶
Key terms and concepts used in the IVCAP Client SDK.
Artifact¶
A binary or structured data blob stored in the IVCAP platform — images, CSV files, NetCDF datasets, model checkpoints, etc. An artifact has two parts: the raw blob (stored in GCS/S3-compatible object storage) and metadata aspects in the Datafabric.
Aspect¶
A typed, time-bounded assertion attached to any entity URN. Aspects are the building blocks of the Datafabric. They are immutable once created — "updates" create a new aspect and retract the old one, preserving the full history.
Datafabric¶
IVCAP's single source of truth for all platform state. An append-only, aspect-oriented, provenance-preserving information store. Every job status update, service description, artifact metadata record, and provenance link is an aspect in the Datafabric.
Dispatcher¶
The platform component that launches service containers. IVCAP has four dispatchers: Lambda (long-running K8s Deployment), Batch (fresh K8s Job per invocation), Nextflow (Nextflow pipeline), and Argo (Argo Workflow).
Job¶
One invocation of a service. A job tracks the full lifecycle from pending through
executing to succeeded or failed/error. The job record is an aspect in the
Datafabric under schema urn:ivcap:schema.job.2.
JobContext (service-side)¶
The context object passed to a service's job-processing function when running inside an IVCAP service container. Not relevant to client-side SDK usage. See the ivcap-service-sdk.
JWT (JSON Web Token)¶
The access credential used to authenticate with the IVCAP API. Obtained via the
ivcap-cli with
ivcap context get access-token.
Policy¶
An access control descriptor (urn:ivcap:policy:<name>) that governs who can read
or retract an artifact or aspect. Common policies include
urn:ivcap:policy:ivcap.open.artifact for publicly readable artifacts.
Provenance¶
The chain of evidence linking artifacts to the jobs that produced and consumed them, and jobs to the services that executed them. Provenance is recorded automatically as aspects in the Datafabric.
Request Model¶
A Pydantic BaseModel class dynamically constructed from a service's
urn:sd-core:schema.ai-tool.1 aspect. Use service.request_model to access it.
Schema¶
A URN identifying the shape and meaning of an aspect's JSON content. Well-known
platform schemas use urn:ivcap:schema.*. You can use any URN for your own schemas.
Service¶
A registered, executable analytic capability on the IVCAP platform. Services are Docker images with a defined input/output schema, published by providers and discoverable by any authorised client.
Service Sidecar¶
A platform-managed component running alongside each service container in Kubernetes. Handles authentication, artifact I/O, and result reporting on behalf of the service. Transparent to client-side SDK users.
TUS Protocol¶
The resumable upload protocol used by IVCAP for artifact uploads. The SDK handles TUS
transparently — you just call ivcap.upload_artifact().
URN (Uniform Resource Name)¶
The globally unique identifier for every IVCAP entity. Format:
urn:ivcap:<type>:<uuid>.
| Entity type | URN pattern |
|---|---|
| Service | urn:ivcap:service:<uuid> |
| Job | urn:ivcap:job:<uuid> |
| Artifact | urn:ivcap:artifact:<uuid> |
| Aspect | urn:ivcap:aspect:<uuid> |
| Account | urn:ivcap:account:<uuid> |
| Policy | urn:ivcap:policy:<name> |