> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.hex-rays.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.hex-rays.com/add-ons/assist/reference/glossary.md). # Glossary Terms used across the Assist documentation: | Term | Definition | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **ACP (Agent Client Protocol)** | The JSON-RPC protocol over which Assist drives the external **OpenCode** agent subprocess (`opencode acp`). | | **Action conversation** | A dedicated conversation opened by a right-click action or `/fulltriage`, pinned to a snapshot of the view context where the action was triggered and starting from a read-only baseline with only the permission groups declared by that action that are already **On** in your session. | | **AMTP (Assist Mesh Transport Protocol)** | Assist's authenticated, encrypted local transport protocol (`X25519` + `XChaCha20-Poly1305` + `BLAKE2b`) used over Unix domain sockets and Windows Named Pipes between linked IDA instances and the MCP bridge. | | **Capability prompt card** | An inline prompt card shown in the Assist chat transcript when the built-in agent calls a tool in a capability group set to **Ask when needed**, offering **Deny**, **Allow once**, or **Allow for this session**. | | **Composer** | The message input box above the **Model** bar in the Assist panel where you type prompts, `@function` and `#address` mentions, and `/slash` commands. | | **ctree** | The Hex-Rays decompiler's C abstract syntax tree representation of a decompiled function, inspected by tools such as `get_ctree` and `recover_struct_layout`. | | **DACL (Discretionary Access Control List)** | A Windows security descriptor list that specifies which security principals (SIDs) are allowed or denied access to a file, directory, or named pipe. | | **DPAPI (Data Protection API)** | The Windows cryptographic interface used by Assist to encrypt local key files (`node.key` and fallback API key files) under the current Windows user's credentials. | | **Evidence anchor** | A concrete database artifact — a string hit, import, export, segment, local type, entrypoint, FLIRT match, or tool result — required before a binary triage finding in an evidence-gated category is saved to memory. | | **FLIRT (Fast Library Identification and Recognition Technology)** | IDA's pattern-matching signature system for identifying standard library functions (`apply_flirt_signature`). | | **FTS5** | The SQLite full-text search extension used to index and query Assist's per-binary persistent memory store. | | **HCLI** (`hcli`) | The Hex-Rays command-line tool used to install and upgrade IDA plugins (`hcli plugin install hexrays/assist`, `hcli plugin upgrade hexrays/assist`). | | **IDB** | An open IDA database (`.i64` or `.idb`). | | **MCP (Model Context Protocol)** | An open protocol for connecting AI agents to external tool servers. Assist's bundled bridge (`plugins/assist/bin/assist --mcp`) exposes Assist's database tools over stdio MCP. | | **Microcode** | The Hex-Rays decompiler's intermediate representation between processor instructions and the decompiled C [ctree](#ctree), inspected at selectable maturity levels via `get_microcode`. | | **Prototype convergence** | Pre-checking a candidate function prototype (`verify_prototype_convergence`) against the target function and its direct callers to verify whether decompiler diagnostics improve or regress before applying the change (gated by **Modify this IDA database** even when `dry_run: true`, because it temporarily applies and restores the candidate prototype in IDA). | | **RAX** | Assist's embedded CPU and user-mode process emulation engine (controlled via the `emulate*` tools and disabled when `ASSIST_RAX_DISABLE=1` is set). | | **Saved session** | An automatically stored conversation transcript for an open database (persisted under `/assist/sessions/`, keyed to the database's file path, and browsed via **Settings → Sessions** or `/sessions`) — distinct from the current panel session for capability grants (**Allow for this session**) and from stateful [RAX](#rax) emulation sessions (`emulate_start`). | | **SID (Security Identifier)** | A unique Windows identifier representing a user account or group in a [DACL](#dacl). | | **Suggestion pill** | A clickable, dismissible action chip displayed in the suggestion strip above the [composer](#composer) based on your current cursor location, function diagnostics, or recent turns. | | **Symbolic execution** | An emulation mode in [RAX](#rax) that represents chosen register or memory inputs as symbolic expressions rather than fixed concrete values, recording how output registers and branch conditions depend on those inputs. | | **Taint tracking** | Dynamic dataflow tracking during emulation that marks specific input registers or memory bytes as tainted and records how those values propagate to instructions, registers, and memory writes. | | **User-mode OS personality** | The emulated operating-system environment (`windows`, `linux`, or `darwin`) selected in `emulate_process` to provide loader conventions, thread state, and modelled system/runtime services for a guest executable. | --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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