Glossary
Terms and definitions for the vCon MCP Server.
A
Analysis
A component of a vCon containing results from AI/ML processing such as transcription, sentiment analysis, or summarization. Stored in the analysis array. See Section 4.5 of the vCon spec.
Attachment
A component of a vCon for supporting files, notes, or metadata. Used for tags, documents, and custom data. Stored in the attachments array. See Section 4.4.
Async/Await
JavaScript/TypeScript pattern for handling asynchronous operations. Used throughout the server for database queries and API calls.
B
Base64url
URL-safe base64 encoding scheme defined in RFC 4648. One of three valid encoding values in vCon. See Encoding Options.
C
CCPA
California Consumer Privacy Act. US state law regulating data privacy for California residents. Supported by the Privacy Suite plugin.
Consent
Permission from a data subject for processing their personal data. In vCon, stored as special attachments. See Enterprise Features.
CRUD
Create, Read, Update, Delete. Basic database operations implemented as MCP tools.
D
Database Inspector
Tool for examining vCon database structure and contents. Part of the development toolset.
Dialog
A component of a vCon representing conversation content (recordings, text, transfers). Stored in the dialog array. See Section 4.3.
Dialog Type
One of four valid values for dialog.type: recording, text, transfer, incomplete. See Dialog Types.
E
Embedding
Vector representation of text used for semantic search. Generated by AI models like OpenAI's text-embedding-ada-002. See Embeddings Guide.
Encoding
Format of content in body fields. Valid values: none, base64url, json. Must be explicitly set, no defaults. See Encoding Options.
Extension
Custom functionality added to vCon spec. Declared in extensions array, required ones in must_support array. See Extensions.
F
Full-Text Search
Search using PostgreSQL's text search capabilities with trigram matching. Implemented in search_vcons_keyword RPC function.
G
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation. EU law regulating data privacy and protection. Supported by the Privacy Suite plugin.
Group
Optional vCon component for linking related conversations. Stored in group array. See vCon spec Section 4.6.
H
HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. US law regulating healthcare data. Supported by the Privacy Suite plugin with PHI detection.
Hook
Extension point in the plugin system. Examples: beforeCreate, afterRead. See Plugin Development.
HNSW
Hierarchical Navigable Small World. Algorithm for approximate nearest neighbor search used by pgvector for vector similarity. See Vector Search.
Hybrid Search
Search combining keyword matching and semantic similarity. Implemented in search_vcons_hybrid RPC function. See Search Guide.
I
IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force. Standards organization that publishes the vCon specification.
J
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation. Data format used for vCon objects. Also a valid encoding value.
JSON Schema
Format for validating JSON structure. Used in MCP tool definitions.
JWE
JSON Web Encryption. Standard for encrypting vCon objects. See Security.
JWS
JSON Web Signature. Standard for signing vCon objects. See Security.
L
Lifecycle Hook
Plugin callback executed at specific points in vCon operations. Examples: initialization, creation, deletion. See Plugin Interface.
M
Materialized View
Precomputed database query result stored as a table. Used for fast tag lookups (vcon_tags_mv). See Tag System.
MCP
Model Context Protocol. Standard protocol for connecting AI assistants to data sources and tools. See MCP Protocol.
Migration
Process of updating database schema or code from one version to another. See Migration Guide.
N
Normalization
Database design technique of organizing data to reduce redundancy. vCon data is stored in normalized form (separate tables for parties, dialog, etc.). See Database Schema.
O
OpenAI
AI company providing models for embeddings, transcription, and analysis. Used for semantic search and content analysis.
P
Party
A participant in a vCon conversation. Stored in the parties array. See Section 4.2.
pgvector
PostgreSQL extension for storing and querying vector embeddings. Enables semantic search. See Vector Search.
PII
Personally Identifiable Information. Data that can identify individuals. Detected and protected by Privacy Suite plugin.
Plugin
Extension module that adds functionality to the vCon MCP Server. See Plugin Development.
Prompt
Named template for common queries in MCP. Provides guidance to AI assistants. See Prompts.
Q
Query
Database request for data. Implemented in src/db/queries.ts. Also refers to search terms.
R
Redaction
Process of hiding or removing sensitive information. Supported via privacy levels. See Privacy Features.
Resource
URI-based data access in MCP. Examples: vcon://v1/vcons/{uuid}, vcon://v1/vcons/recent. See Resources.
RLS
Row Level Security. PostgreSQL feature for access control at the row level. Can be enabled for multi-tenant deployments.
RPC
Remote Procedure Call. Database functions callable via Supabase. Examples: search_vcons_keyword, search_vcons_semantic.
S
Schema (Analysis)
Field in Analysis object identifying result structure. Not schema_version. See Analysis Object.
Schema (Database)
Structure of database tables, columns, and relationships. See Database Schema.
SCITT
Supply Chain Integrity, Transparency, and Trust. Standard for transparency services. Used by Privacy Suite for consent receipts.
Semantic Search
AI-powered search using meaning rather than keywords. Uses vector embeddings and cosine similarity. Implemented in search_vcons_semantic. See Search Guide.
Stdio
Standard Input/Output. Transport used by MCP for communication between server and client.
Supabase
PostgreSQL database platform with REST API, authentication, and real-time features. Backend for vCon MCP Server.
T
Tag
Key-value pair for metadata. Stored as special attachments with type: "tags". See Tag Guide.
Tool
MCP operation that can be invoked by AI assistants. Examples: create_vcon, search_vcons. See Tools.
Transcript
Text version of audio/video conversation. Created by analysis tools like Deepgram or Whisper. Stored as Analysis object.
Type Safety
Programming language feature ensuring values match expected types. Enforced by TypeScript compiler.
TypeScript
Programming language adding static types to JavaScript. Used throughout the server codebase.
U
URI
Uniform Resource Identifier. Used by MCP resources. Examples: vcon://v1/vcons/{uuid}, vcon://v1/vcons/recent/{count}.
UUID
Universally Unique Identifier. RFC 4122 format. Required field in vCon main object and optional in Party object.
V
vCon
Virtual Conversation. Standard container format for conversation data. Defined by IETF spec. See vCon Specification.
Validation
Process of checking data correctness against rules. Includes spec compliance and business rules. See Validation Guide.
Vector
Array of numbers representing semantic meaning of text. Used for similarity search. Typically 384 or 1536 dimensions.
Vendor
Required field in Analysis object identifying who produced the analysis. Examples: "Deepgram", "OpenAI". See Analysis Object.
Vitest
Testing framework used for unit and integration tests. See Testing Guide.
VitePress
Static site generator used for documentation. Powers the docs website.
W
Webhook
HTTP callback for event notifications. Supported for vCon lifecycle events. See Open Source Features.
Z
Zod
TypeScript library for schema validation. Used for runtime type checking of MCP tool inputs and vCon objects.
Symbols & Numbers
0.3.0
Current version of the vCon specification. Value for the vcon field. See vCon Specification.
Related Documentation
vCon Specification - Complete IETF vCon reference
MCP Protocol - Model Context Protocol details
Quick Reference - Field corrections checklist
API Reference - Tools, resources, and prompts
Acronyms Quick Reference
API
Application Programming Interface
Interface for software interaction
CCPA
California Consumer Privacy Act
California privacy law
CRUD
Create, Read, Update, Delete
Basic data operations
DID
Decentralized Identifier
Distributed identity system
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation
EU privacy law
HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
US healthcare privacy law
HNSW
Hierarchical Navigable Small World
Vector search algorithm
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Web protocol
IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force
Internet standards body
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation
Data format
JWE
JSON Web Encryption
Encryption standard
JWS
JSON Web Signature
Signing standard
MCP
Model Context Protocol
AI assistant protocol
PII
Personally Identifiable Information
Identifying data
REST
Representational State Transfer
API architecture
RFC
Request for Comments
IETF standard document
RLS
Row Level Security
Database access control
RPC
Remote Procedure Call
Database function call
SCITT
Supply Chain Integrity, Transparency, and Trust
Transparency standard
SQL
Structured Query Language
Database query language
URI
Uniform Resource Identifier
Resource location
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
Web address
UUID
Universally Unique Identifier
Unique identifier format
vCon
Virtual Conversation
Conversation container format
Need to add a term? Submit a pull request or open an issue on GitHub.
Glossary maintained as part of the technical reference documentation.
Last updated